ZipGrow MICROGREENS STATION User manual

THE ZIPGROW™
DIY MICROGREENS STATION
ASSEMBLY GUIDE
This manual provides guidance for operating and troubleshooting the ZipGrow™
DIY Microgreens Station. Feel free to reach out to our skilled team of growers with
questions at any time. Happy growing!
– The ZipGrow team
www.ZipGrow.com
[e-mail]
855-ZIPGROW
Copyright © 2020Copyright © 2020

Table Of Contents
OVERVIEW
Purpose of the Guide....................................................................................3
About the Microgreens Station........................................................................3
ASSEMBLY
Rack Assembly ............................................................................................4
Reservoir Placement .....................................................................................5
LED Light and Placement.............................................................................6-9
Flood Trays and Plumbing.......................................................................10-16
Pump Installation..................................................................................17-19
OPERATIONS
Microgreens Station...............................................................................20-21

Purpose of this Guide
This manual was created to walk Microgreens station owners through the installation and operation of
their Microgreens station.This manual will provide you with the information you need to install and operate
your Microgreens station eectively. If you have questions about anything covered (or not covered) in
this guide, feel free to reach out to our team via email at [e-mail] or call 1-855-ZIPGROW.
About the Microgreens Station
• Microgreens are densely planted seedlings (bigger than a sprout, smaller than a mature plant). They
are usually leafy greens or crops with dramatic avors like radishes or peas.
• Typically grown in fodder systems, seeds are planted in an even layer, germinated, and grown for a
week or two before being harvested.
• The appeal of microgreens is that they’re protable for farmers, valuable to chefs who use them as
garnishes and avor-adders, and they add a spike of avor and nutrition for consumers.
• Everything in this station has been carefully selected to help you grow microgreens without a mess
and without a hassle. We have saved you the time of searching for and shipping pieces individually.
The kit includes: (for Microgreens station base kit and add-on kit)
• (3) 4’ X 2’ Flood Trays
• (12) 10” X 20” Mesh Trays
• Bottom draw Grower’s Pump (530GPH)
• 25 Gallon Black Plastic Reservoir w/Cover
• (6) Full-Spectrum 4’ LED Strip Lights
• Danner Supreme Hydroponic Air Pump - 2W
• Airline Tubing and 6” Air Stone
• (24) BioStrate® Biobased Microgreen Propagation Felt
• ½” Rubber Hose and Various Plumbing Fittings
To order a ZipGrow™ DIY MicroGreens Station, please click here.
3
Overview

Assembly
Rack Assembly
• Assemble your rack based on manufacturer instructions.
• Leave a space of approximately 18” between the oor and the bottom shelf of the rack to ensure space
for the reservoir.
• Leave 12 inches of height clearance between all other shelves.
• Note: if using Husky Rack Model# ERZ782478W4C, use the shelf-hole pattern shown in Figure 1.
• When choosing a rack for this, ensure a grating space of at least 1.75”in the smallest dimension as
shown in Detail 1.A in Figure 1.
Figure 1
4
Note: this assembly guide is for the Microgreens station base kit + add-on kit. If only assembling the base
kit, the guide still applies with some minor changes that will be mentioned.
Detail 1.A

5
Reservoir Placement
• Place the reservoir underneath the bottom shelf towards the left side of the rack. Ensure that the reservoir
lid is oriented such that the cutout in the lid is on the left side as shown in Figures 2 & 3.
• If assembling the base unit, place the reservoir in the centre of the rack with the cutout in the lid closer to
the right side of the rack.
Figure 2 Figure 3

6
LED Light and Placement
• Unbox the six included LED lights in the long white boxes, and locate the light clips located in the small
ziploc bags - the light clips are shown in Detail 4.A in Figure 4.
• Fasten two light clips to each light, placing a light clip approximately 5” from either end of each light as
shown in Figure 4.
• Attach an S-hook to either side of each chain-link provided, as shown in Figure 5.
• Attach one S-hook to the light clips that were attached to the LED lights in the previous step, as shown in
Figure 6.
• Use the free side of the S-hooks to hang two LED lights from the bottom of each of the top three shelves
using the shelf gratings.
Figure 5
Figure 4
Detail 4.A
Figure 6

7
• Place the lights on the leftmost side of the rack as shown in Figure 7.
• Center the lights along the width side of each shelf as shown in Figure 8.
• These lights are daisy-chained together, so take note of the connectors on each end of the lights before
hanging them (ie. ensure that the lights on each shelf are hanging opposite of each other so that you have
access to both connector shapes from one side of the lights - as shown in Figure 8).
• Note: the lights have a rounded connector on one end, and a square connector on the other end.
Figure 7
Figure 8

8
• Use a daisy chain wire link to connect the right side of the pair of lights on the top shelf, as shown in Figure 9.
• Repeat for all three pairs of LEDs as shown in Figure 10. To keep the daisy chains out of the way, you could
run them through the shelf gratings as shown in Figure 11.
Figure 9
Figure 10 Figure 11

9
• Use a daisy chain to connect the other light on the top shelf to a light on the second shelf. Then use another
daisy chain to connect a light on the second shelf to a light on the third shelf. All lights should now be
connected to power via daisy chains, and the result will look like Figure 13.
• On the left side of the rack, connect one of the lights on the top shelf to power via the power cable
provided, as shown in Figure 12.
Figure 12
Figure 13

10
Flood Trays and Plumbing
• Locate the top tray (the top tray is the one with a circular cutout on the edge with the“Active Aqua” text, as
shown in Figure 14).
• Place this tray on the top shelf, with the “Active Aqua” side closest to the right side of the rack.
Figure 14

11
• Unscrew the ½”elbow tting shown on the right in Figure 15.
• Insert this tting into the inlet hole in the top tray, as shown in Figure 16 (two gaskets are included with
the tting - there should be one on either side of the tray when the tting is in place).
• Insert the ¾” elbow (shown on the left in Figure 15) into the ½”elbow tting inside the tray as shown in
Figure 16. Point both elbows downwards as shown in the gure.
Figure 15
Figure 16

12
• Locate the high end and low end of the ood trays (the low end will be the one with the drain hole in the
bottom).
• Unscrew the included drain ttings, as shown in Figure 17.
• Install the ½” drain ttings on the drain holes in all three trays as shown in Figures 18 & 19.
Figure 17
Figure 18 Figure 19

13
• Place the ood trays on the racks, one on each shelf.
• Orient the tray on the top shelf so that the drain side (low side) of the tray is closest to the left side of
the rack.
• Alternate the remaining two trays so that the drains are at the opposite end of the previous tray, as
shown in Figure 20.
• If assembling the base kit, orient the trays as the top two trays shown in Figure 20.
Figure 20

14
• Cut a ½”hose long enough to reach from the drain tting of a shelf to the bottom of the ood tray on the
shelf below it.
• Install these hoses onto the drain ttings of each ood tray as shown in Figure 21. Note that for the bottom
tray, the drain hose will extend into the reservoir (see Figure 22) - cut this segment to length accordingly.
Figure 21 Figure 22

15
• Use the zip ties included to fasten the dangling hoses to the high side of the second and third shelf ood
trays, utilizing the predrilled holes as shown in Figure 23.
• As shown in Figure 24 below, attach the remainder of the ½” hose to the ½” elbow tting fastened to the
ood tray on the top shelf.
Figure 23
Figure 24

16
• As shown in Figure 25, run the ½” hose through the shelf gratings along the right side of all three shelves,
then pull the hose to the left and put it in the reservoir through the hole in the lid. If only assembling the
base kit, the hose will go straight down, as the reservoir will be positioned dierently.
• Cut the hose so that it reaches from the inlet hole of the top tray to the bottom of the reservoir
comfortably.
Figure 25

17
Pump Installation
• Identify the included pump and the ½” adapter included with the pump, as shown in Figure 26.
• Connect the ½” adapter to the inlet hose from step 16, as shown in Figure 27.
• Screw the ½” adapter with the hose attached to the top of the pump, as shown in Figure 28. (Do not
overtighten this tting as it may crack if overtightened)
• Note: the included water pump may vary depending on your region.
Figure 26 Figure 27 Figure 28

18
• As shown in Figure 29, place the pump in the reservoir, utilizing the hole in the top of the reservoir
lid.
• Pull the pump power cord through the hole in the top of the reservoir lid, and attach it to the timer
included, as shown in Figure 30. (*Do not plug the pump into the wall at this time - running the
pump dry could cause irreversible damage)
• Program the timer according to manufacturer instructions so that it is on for two 5-minute intervals
per day and o the rest of the day.
• Note: depending on your region, the included timer may be dierent from the one shown in
Figure 30.
Figure 29 Figure 30

19
• Identify the air pump, the blue ¼” air tube, and the 6”air stone - all shown in Figure 31.
• Note: the included air pump may vary depending on your region.
• As shown in Figure 32, attach one end of the air tube to the 6” air stone, and the other end to the air
pump outlet.
• Place the air pump to the side of the reservoir, and put the air stone inside the reservoir, running it
through the hole in the top of the reservoir lid.
Figure 31 Figure 32

20
Operation
Microgreens Station
• Place the Biostrate sheets into the mesh trays and soak the sheets with water using a spray bottle (not
included).
• Seed the biostrate sheets with your desired seeds uncover seeds after ~95% of seeds show germination.
• When the seeds have germinated, green or yellow shoots will emerge from seeds.
• Place tray under T5 lights.
• Continue to check saturation of growth media at least twice per day.
• Place the mesh trays with the seeded Biostrate sheets into the ood trays, as shown in Figure 33.
Figure 33