The discovery loop
Five steps from a nervous café conversation to a crop decision you can defend with data. Work them in order — the later steps fill themselves in from the earlier ones.
Intro talk — say this first
first 3 lines under 20 sec, then listen- Open
Hi, I'm Poonam — Goan by roots, but I've lived all over: Mumbai, Hyderabad, Udupi. Now I'm home to settle and build something here.
- What
I'm starting a small fresh-greens farm — lettuce, microgreens, mushrooms — grown local and delivered same-day fresh.
- Ask
I'm not selling anything yet, just talking to people in this space first. Could I borrow 10 minutes of your time?
- Pain
Any trouble you face sourcing fresh greens — stuff that comes wilted, runs short, or you just can't get here?
- Defer
You'd know better than anyone — if you were me, what would you grow first?
- Dishes
Are there dishes where you'd use more microgreens, mushrooms or salad if the supply were reliable?
- Close
Can I take your contact, and bring you a sample once my first batch is ready?
- Exit
Who else should I talk to?
Talk to buyers
Chefs, café owners, caterers. Ask how they source, what's wrong with it now, and what they'd grab if it were fresh and local. Listen 80%.
Log every visit
Right after each chat, capture the answers, the 3–5 crops they'd actually buy, and how warm they were to the idea.
Read the demand
The portal tallies which crops come up most and how willing buyers are — so the pattern shows itself instead of living in your memory.
Score the crops
Rate each candidate on demand, margin, ease, speed, capital and freshness edge. Weight what matters to you. The ranking falls out.
Model the margins
A live costing model — cost per kg, per-rack capex, total build cost, and a crop-mix calculator where changing the proportions reshapes revenue, profit and payback instantly.
Log a visit
One entry per restaurant. Paste a voice-note transcript straight into any box — nothing here has to be tidy.
- How do you currently source your greens / mushrooms?
- Contract or open market? How long with your current supplier?
- Current quality & reliability — any gripes?
- What could be improved? (the gap)
- Anything custom you wish existed?
- What do you pay now? (₹ per kg / pack)
- How much do you use per week?
- Deal-breakers — FSSAI, GST, credit terms, MOQ, delivery?
- Would you pay a premium for fresh & local?
- Which of these would you actually buy? (note 3–5 crops)
- If you were me, what would you grow first?
- Who else should I talk to?
Field log & demand
Every conversation kept whole. The stamps, the tally, and the cards all read from the same records.
Decide the crop
Score each candidate 1–5 on every factor. Set how much each factor matters to you on the right — the weighted ranking updates live. Seeded with our research as a starting point; overwrite freely.
Factor weights (should total ~100)
Scale: 1 = poor, 5 = excellent. For Speed, Low-capital and Freshness-edge, higher = better (faster / cheaper / stronger local advantage).
Dish prompts
Walk in with dish ideas and you stop being a vendor and become someone who gets their kitchen. Use these to spark, not to teach — chefs know how to cook.
How to use
spark, don't lecture- Try
I've seen king oyster done like seared scallops — are you playing with anything like that, or would you if supply was steady?
- LeadOpen the mushroom talk with the two starred dishes — most chefs haven't fully used them, so naming them signals you know the category.
- IndianFor Indian kitchens, pivot to mushroom xacuti / sukka / masala — it can unlock a "need" they didn't think they had.
- Scallop substitute — sliced into discs, scored and seared; looks and bites like a scallop
- "Mushroom steak" — grilled or roasted whole as a vegetarian main
- Skewers / satay — holds shape on the grill
- Thin-sliced into bacon-style strips for plant-based plates
- "Crab cakes" / "crab" rolls — shredded, it mimics crab remarkably well
- Seared "mushroom steak" in butter
- Premium plant-based mains and wellness menus (nootropic / health angle for cafés)
- Tempura / crispy-fried with aioli — a brilliant bar starter
- Pulled "mushroom" tacos & sliders — the vegetarian pulled-pork analogue
- Tossed through pastas, risottos and stir-fries — the everyday workhorse
- Mushroom xacuti / Goan sukka — ties exotic mushrooms to local cuisine
- Pink & golden as a plating colour-pop on mains
- Ramen and Asian broths — chefs always want good shiitake
- Dumpling, bao and dim-sum fillings; stir-fries
- Umami base for sauces, gravies and vegetarian stock
- Roasted as a side or salad topper
- Soups, sautés, pizza, pasta — the safe staples
- Milky mushroom curries & masala — eases a hesitant Indian kitchen in
- Pesto, pasta, pizza, caprese — Italian/Genovese is the staple
- Thai basil in stir-fries, curries and pho (harder to get fresh — your edge)
- Purple basil & basil flowers as a plating / cocktail garnish
- Infused oils, dressings and basil-forward mocktails for bars
- Finishing garnish on mains, soups, desserts (radish micro on tacos, pea shoots on risotto)
- Avocado toast, eggs, grain & Buddha bowls — the café staple
- Cocktail garnish (shiso, micro-basil) for the bar crowd
- Edible-flower + microgreen salads for a premium "fresh-from-the-farm" plate
- Signature house salads — lollo rosso, oakleaf, butterhead, rocket
- Gourmet burgers & sandwiches (rocket / butterhead upgrade over iceberg)
- Grain bowls, wraps and deconstructed salads
- Dessert & cake plating (nasturtium, viola) — patisseries love these
- Cocktail and mocktail garnish — bars pay a premium for the wow
- Fine-dining plate finishing — justifies a higher menu price
Build & sourcing
Everything needed for the Bedroom 1 trial in one place — what to buy, how much, and where from. Every link is editable: paste a better source any time and it saves automatically.
Rack build — bill of materials
5 NFT racks · 6 tiers each · 2 channels per tier
| Item | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NFT racks | 5 | Romaine, Iceberg, Leaf lettuce, Rocket, Basil |
| Channels per rack | 12 | 6 tiers × 2 channels |
| Total NFT channels | 60 | each 4 ft (~1.22 m) |
| NFT channel to buy | ~78–80 m | 60 × 1.22m + cutting waste buffer |
| Closed end caps (inlet) | 63 | 60 + 3 spare |
| Spouted end caps (drain) | 63 | 60 + 3 spare · spout height sets the 4–5mm film |
| 1" PVC elbows | 63 | 60 + 3 spare |
| LED strips — NFT racks | 60 | 2 per tier × 6 tiers × 5 racks · full spectrum |
| LED strips — microgreens tier | 2–4 | separate from the NFT count |
| Total LED strips | 62–64 | one combined supplier quote |
Capacity — one rack, once in full rotation
steady-state figures · only true after the first full crop cycle
| # | Crop | Per month | Per day | Optimistic ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romaine | 40 kg | ~1.3 kg | ~1.6 kg |
| 2 | Iceberg | 48 kg | ~1.6 kg | ~1.9 kg |
| 3 | Leaf lettuce | 38 kg | ~1.3 kg | ~1.5 kg |
| 4 | Rocket | 38 kg | ~1.3 kg | ~1.5 kg |
| 5 | Basil | 25 kg | ~0.8 kg | ~1.0 kg |
| 6 | Microgreens (¼ rack) | ~3.9 kg | ~0.13 kg | ~0.16 kg |
| All racks | ~193 kg | ~6.4 kg/day | ~7.8 kg/day |
Master seed & yield reference
head weights are estimates — weigh your first real harvest and adjust
| # | Crop | Per day | Weight/head | Units/day | Sow/week | Seeds/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romaine | 1.3 kg | ~250 g | ~5–6 | ~42 | ~180 |
| 2 | Iceberg | 1.6 kg | ~400 g | ~4 | ~32 | ~140 |
| 3 | Leaf lettuce | 1.3 kg | ~200 g | ~6–7 | ~52 | ~220 |
| 4 | Rocket | 1.3 kg | cut-and-come-again · 3–4 seeds per net pot | ~400 (resow 4 wks) | ||
| 5 | Basil | 0.8 kg | cut-and-come-again · 2–3 seeds per site | ~250 (resow 6–8 wks) | ||
Microgreens — quarter rack, 70% share
bought by seed weight, not seed count
| # | Variety | Share | Yield/month | Seed per tray | Seed/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pea shoots | 25% | ~0.96 kg | ~120 g | ~480 g |
| 2 | Sunflower | 25% | ~0.96 kg | ~70 g | ~280 g |
| 3 | Radish | ~19% | ~0.72 kg | ~30 g | ~120 g |
| 4 | Rocket (micro) | ~19% | ~0.72 kg | ~25 g | ~100 g |
| 5 | Red amaranth | 12.5% | ~0.48 kg | ~15 g | ~60 g |
| Total | 100% | ~3.85 kg | ~1 kg |
Edible flowers — remaining 30%
a sample crop for the fine-dining tier, not a revenue line
| # | Variety | Yield/month | Plants | Seeds/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasturtium | ~0.2 kg | ~30 | ~35 (resow ~10 wks) |
| 2 | Viola / pansy | ~0.1 kg | ~30 | ~35 (resow ~10 wks) |
Trays & growing media
microgreens vs flowers — same medium, different tray and rhythm
| Microgreens | Flowers | |
|---|---|---|
| Tray type | Flat (1020-size) | Plug/cell (~40 cells) |
| Number of trays | ~12–15 | 2 |
| Cocopeat — first fill | ~2–3 bricks | ~½ brick |
| Cocopeat — ongoing | ~2–3 bricks/month | ~½ brick / 2–3 months |
| Cycle length | 7–14 days | 6–10 weeks |
Standard cocopeat brick (India)
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 20 × 10 × 5 cm |
| Weight (compressed, dry) | 650 g (±20 g) |
| Compression ratio | 8:1 |
| Expanded volume (hydrated) | 9–10 litres |
| pH | 5.7–6.7 |
| Fills roughly | 6–9 flat trays |
Environment targets
| Parameter | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Humidity | 60–70% | ideal for leafy greens |
| Temperature | 25–28°C | what the AC should hold |
| NFT water film | 4–5 mm | thin film leaves an air gap for root oxygen |
| pH (nutrient solution) | 5.5–6.5 | outside this, nutrients lock out chemically |
| Tank top-up | ~10%/day | ~40 L/day on a 400 L tank |
| Light cycle | 14–16 hr/day | on a timer, full spectrum |
| Channel slope | ~1:30–1:40 | ~1 inch drop over a 4 ft channel |