MICROGREEN BUSINESS GUIDE · CARROLLTON, TX

Start a microgreen business in Carrollton, TX.

Most Carrollton growers do not realize they sit at the center of the north Dallas suburbs with reach into Plano, Frisco, Addison, and the Asian restaurant cluster along Old Denton Road. The chef-driven independent and Asian fusion kitchens are buying microgreens from Dallas distributors instead of locally. The Carrollton grower who builds a clean delivery route across north Dallas first locks the kind of standing weekly orders that fund a real income.

Quick Answer

A focused microgreen operation in Carrollton can realistically reach $2,500 to $6,500 per month in net revenue within 90 to 120 days by serving north Dallas chef-driven independents, Korean and Asian fusion kitchens, and direct-to-consumer customers at the metro's tier-2 price range.

When you think about the north Dallas restaurants you actually eat at across Carrollton, Plano, and Frisco, how many of them are plating microgreens that almost certainly came in on a truck from a Dallas distributor?

What Carrollton buys today

Carrollton sits at the heart of north Dallas, with the Korean and Asian fusion restaurant cluster along Old Denton Road driving a unique microgreen demand, the Plano and Frisco chef-driven independents extending the corridor north, and the Addison restaurant row a short drive south. Modern American, contemporary Korean, sushi, and steakhouse kitchens plate microgreens nightly across the north Dallas suburbs.

The climate is the catch and the opportunity. Hot humid summers make outdoor herb gardening a non-starter for chefs across most of the year, while a spare bedroom or garage with a window AC unit can run year round. Heating in winter is minimal and predictable, and the population growth across the north Dallas suburbs keeps adding new buyers every quarter.

Add the Carrollton Farmers Market, the Plano Farmers Market at Haggard Park, the Frisco Fresh Market, and a strong wellness, juice bar, and gym layer across the north Dallas suburbs, and a beginner has three real channels to test. The demographic profile across Plano and Frisco is one of the cleanest microgreen direct-to-consumer buyer profiles in Texas.

If Dallas distributors keep cornering the north suburb restaurant routes for another year, how much harder does it get to break in once those chefs are locked into a supplier they already trust?

The math, in Carrollton prices

Carrollton and the north Dallas suburbs sit in the tier-2 wholesale range, with Plano and Frisco volume protecting margin. Here is what the unit economics look like at conservative Carrollton numbers.

Startup cost

$400

Trays, soil, seed, lights. Used gear cuts this in half.

Per-tray net

$20-$30

After seed, soil, packaging, delivery.

Trays per week

100

Target for $3K-$5K/mo at Carrollton pricing.

Break-even week

Week 4

First positive cash week. Most growers hit it.

What that looks like in Carrollton square footage

A 10 by 10 foot room with two vertical shelving units holds 60 to 80 active trays. That is enough to produce $3,000 to $5,000 per month in Carrollton at standard wholesale prices. A two-car garage doubles it. A basement triples it.

What does it look like for you when a Plano or Old Denton Road chef texts you for a same-week order and you already know the harvest day and the gram count before you reply?

Three things every working microgreen farm in Carrollton runs on

  1. A seed density and watering plan you trust. The number one cause of failed trays for new growers is over- or under-seeding. The cheat sheet inside Grown Like A Pro gives you grams per 10x20, soak hours, blackout days, harvest day, and watering for sixty-one varieties.
  2. A rotation tracker. Once you are running thirty-plus trays per week, you cannot remember what is in blackout, what is in light growth, what harvests Tuesday. A spreadsheet works for the first month. After that you need a system that pings you the day before each harvest and reorders seed before you run out.
  3. A customer + invoice layer. Restaurants in Carrollton want predictable weekly invoices and net-15 terms. Farmers market customers want clamshell tracking. Both want consistency. The app handles both.

The IKEA test

If you can follow an IKEA instruction sheet without screaming at the family, you can grow microgreens at a commercial level in Carrollton. The steps are about that difficulty: open the box, lay out the parts, follow the picture, repeat. Trays are the bookcase. Seed is the dowels.

If you ever did struggle with the IKEA bookshelf, that is exactly why Glappy lives inside the app. Glappy is the in-app coach that breaks every step down barney style, in your own language, from "how do I plant my first tray" to "why is this tray going leggy at day five and what do I do about it tonight." Type the question, get a step-by-step answer. There is no question too basic. The whole point is that a Carrollton grower starting today is not on their own.

What you are not buying

You are not buying a course. You are not buying a hype product. You are not buying seed from us, and you are not buying trays from us. We do not sell either. Grown Like A Pro is the operating system you run your Carrollton farm on. The growing happens in your basement.

Try Grown Like A Pro free for 30 days →

Carrollton microgreen FAQ

How much can I make growing microgreens in Carrollton?
A working microgreen farm in Carrollton produces $3,000 to $8,000 per month within 90 days of starting. The math: 100 trays per week, $20 to $30 net revenue per tray, harvested in a basement, garage, or spare room. The ceiling is set by how many restaurants and farmers market customers you can serve, not by the growing setup.
Is it legal to sell microgreens in TX?
Yes. In most of Texas, microgreens fall under the state's cottage food law for direct-to-consumer retail at farmers markets and to private customers. Restaurant wholesale typically requires a basic food handler permit. Verify with the Texas Department of Agriculture before you sign a wholesale contract.
What microgreens sell best in Carrollton?
Sunflower, pea shoots, and radish are the three highest-volume sellers in nearly every U.S. city, including Carrollton. Broccoli is the highest-margin variety because of its sulforaphane reputation with health-focused buyers. Specialty varieties like amaranth and shiso command premium pricing from chef-driven restaurants.
How much space do I need to grow microgreens in Carrollton?
A 10 by 10 foot room with two shelving units holds 60 to 80 active trays, which is enough to produce $3,000 to $5,000 per month. A basement, garage corner, spare bedroom, or sunroom all work in Carrollton's climate. Vertical shelving is the fastest path to higher revenue per square foot.
What is the best app for tracking microgreen production in Carrollton?
Grown Like A Pro is the operating system used by working microgreen farms in Carrollton. It handles seed density math, watering schedules, harvest timing, inventory, customer orders, and the financial side. Free 30-day trial with no credit card.
How long does it take to learn to grow microgreens commercially?
Most growers in Carrollton are selling their first trays within 30 days of starting. Commercial proficiency, meaning you can run 50-plus trays per week without losing crops to mold or under-seeding, takes 60 to 90 days. The seed density and watering math is the single biggest predictor of how fast you get there.
Do I need a license to sell microgreens in Carrollton?
For farmers market and direct-to-consumer sales in Carrollton, most growers operate under Texas's cottage food law with no special license. For wholesale to restaurants and grocery stores, you typically need a basic food handler permit, a sales tax permit, and depending on volume, an inspection from your county health department.
How do I price microgreens to restaurants in Carrollton?
Restaurant wholesale in Carrollton runs $1.50 to $2.50 per ounce for standard varieties, $3 to $5 per ounce for specialty varieties like shiso, micro basil, or amaranth. Sell by the pound for repeat accounts. Local fresh commands a premium over the shipped-in product that most Carrollton restaurants currently buy.

Related guides

Once you have the Carrollton math in your head, the next read is the density chart that drives every tray you plant.

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