MICROGREEN BUSINESS GUIDE · MELBOURNE, FL

Start a microgreen business in Melbourne, FL.

Most Melbourne residents do not realize the Space Coast has quietly become one of Florida's fastest-growing dining scenes, and almost none of that fresh garnish is grown locally. Sitting in Brevard County between the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic, Melbourne hosts a stream of tourists, aerospace workers, and beachgoers who fill restaurants year-round. That steady traffic means kitchens need fresh product constantly, yet the nearest microgreen growers are often hours away. The gap between what local chefs want and what they can source is where a small grower quietly steps in.

Quick Answer

You can start a microgreen business in Melbourne with under $400 in initial equipment and grow it into a $1,500 to $4,000 per month side income within 90 days. Here is the local demand picture, the unit economics at Melbourne wholesale prices, and the operating system used by working microgreen farms.

When you picture the farm-to-table spots near downtown Melbourne and over on the beaches in Satellite Beach, how many do you think are actually getting their microgreens cut the same week versus shipped in from out of state?

What Melbourne buys today

Melbourne and the surrounding Space Coast beach towns run on restaurants. Between the downtown Eau Gallie and historic districts, the oceanfront spots in Satellite Beach and Indian Harbour Beach, and the tourist flow tied to the ports and aerospace jobs, chefs here go through fresh garnish constantly. A grower who shows up with living trays cut that morning solves a problem the big distributors cannot, because freshness is the entire point of a microgreen.

Brevard County markets and small grocers give you a second channel. Local farmers markets across Melbourne and nearby beach communities draw residents who already pay a premium for fresh, local food, and microgreens carry strong margins per clamshell. Selling direct lets you keep the full retail price instead of splitting it with a distributor.

The indoor-climate angle is your real edge in Florida. Melbourne summers are hot and humid, and that wrecks field-grown greens, which is exactly why anything genuinely fresh commands a premium here. Microgreens grow indoors on shelves in a controlled space, so you produce consistent, clean trays year-round while outdoor growers fight heat, rain, and pests.

If a chef in West Melbourne could choose between a truck delivery that left a warehouse three days ago and a tray you harvested that morning, what do you think they would pay a small premium for?

The math, in Melbourne prices

At typical Brevard County wholesale pricing of roughly $25 to $40 per pound, a few productive trays a week add up faster than most people expect.

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 Melbourne pricing.

Break-even week

Week 4

First positive cash week. Most growers hit it.

What that looks like in Melbourne square footage

A 10 by 10 foot room of shelving in Melbourne can produce enough weekly trays to supply several restaurants and a market stall without ever touching outdoor soil.

Have you noticed how Florida's summer heat makes outdoor growing brutal here, and what that does to the price of anything truly fresh and local on the Space Coast?

Three things every working microgreen farm in Melbourne 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 Melbourne 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 Melbourne. 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 Melbourne 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 Melbourne farm on. The growing happens in your basement.

Try Grown Like A Pro free for 30 days →

Melbourne microgreen FAQ

How much can I make growing microgreens in Melbourne?
A working microgreen farm in Melbourne 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 FL?
Yes. In most of Florida, 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 Florida Department of Agriculture before you sign a wholesale contract.
What microgreens sell best in Melbourne?
Sunflower, pea shoots, and radish are the three highest-volume sellers in nearly every U.S. city, including Melbourne. 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 Melbourne?
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 Melbourne's climate. Vertical shelving is the fastest path to higher revenue per square foot.
What is the best app for tracking microgreen production in Melbourne?
Grown Like A Pro is the operating system used by working microgreen farms in Melbourne. 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 Melbourne 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 Melbourne?
For farmers market and direct-to-consumer sales in Melbourne, most growers operate under Florida'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 Melbourne?
Restaurant wholesale in Melbourne 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 Melbourne restaurants currently buy.

Related guides

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

Microgreens in nearby cities

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