15 Foods That Can Be Regrown From Scraps
I love gardening.
Well, not actually the work behind the gardening so much – it’s the harvesting that I really look forward to. There is nothing like fresh veggies from your own personal garden! I actually just planted a bunch of things in my vegetable garden, and may have gone a little plant happy at the feed & seed store. Oops.
Obviously, we all know about the normal ways to grow plants – from seeds. But, did you know that there are a ton of plants that you can grow from scraps? Plants, that will in turn, produce more food. I did some research on this through various sources, and compiled this list.
Let’s count them out – from 1 to 15…
1, 2, 3, & 4. Spring Onions, Leeks, Scallions, & Fennel
These are the ones I regrow the very most, I always have a mason jar of green onions regrowing above my kitchen sink. The technique is quite simple. Once you are done with them (any of the above four), simply place the root end in a jar of water & it will begin to regrow within just a few days. Just make sure to replace the water with fresh as need be.
5. Lemongrass
You can regrow lemongrass the same way you regrow the green onions. Simply place the root ends in a glass of water, refreshing the water as needed. You will want to wait to harvest your lemongrass until it is about 12 inches tall.
6. Ginger
Plant a small chunk off of your piece of ginger in potting soil with the newest buds facing up. Ginger enjoys non-direct sunlight in a warm moist environment. Before long, it will begin to regrow shoots and roots. Once the plant is established and you’re ready to harvest, pull up the whole plant, including the roots. Remove a piece of the ginger, and re-plant it to repeat the growing process.
7. Potatoes
Pick a potato that has a lot of good formed eyes, and cut it into 2-3 inch pieces, taking care to be sure that each piece has at least 1-2 eyes on it. Leave the cut pieces to sit at room temperature for a day or two, which allows the cut areas to dry. Potato plants thrive on a high-nutrient environment, so it is best to flip compost into your soil before you plant. Plant your potato pieces about 8 inches deep with the eye facing up. Cover it with 4 inches of soil, leaving the other 4 inches empty. As your plant begins to grow and more roots appear, add more soil.
8. Sweet Potatoes
You will need sweet potatoes with good formed eyes, just as you would want with a regular potato. You can bury the entire potato or use pieces under a thin layer of topsoil in a moist place with plenty of sun. When the shoots begin to reach a height of four inches you will need to replant the sweet potatoes, allowing them about 12 inches between each another. It takes about 4-6 months to grow sweet potatoes this way.
9, 10, 11, & 12. Romaine Lettuce, Celery, Bok Choy, & Cabbage
These all are regrown by placing the roots in a dish of water. Cut the leaves or stalks off to about an inch above the roots. Place the root end in a dish of water. Make sure that the roots are inside of the water, but do not submerge the rest of the plant. Place in a sunny window & spray with water 1-2 times a week to keep the top of the plant moist.
13. Onions
Onions are one of the easiest vegetables to regrow from scraps. Just cut off the root end of your onion, leaving a 1’2 inch of onion on the roots. Place it in a sunny location in your garden and cover the top with soil. Make sure to keep the soil moist by watering when needed. As you use your home-grown regenerated onions, keep replanting the root ends you cut off, and you’ll never have to purchase onions at the store again.
14. Garlic
You can re-grow a plant from a single clove. Simply plant it with the root-end down. Sit the plant in a sunny window. Once established, cut back the shoots and the plant will put all it’s forces into producing a nice garlic bulb – full of flavor & capable of repelling sparkly vampires. You can repeat this process with a clove from the new bulb you have just grown.
15. Pineapple
To re-grow pineapples, you will need to remove the green leafy part at the top and take care that no fruit remains attached. Either hold the crown firmly by the leaves and twist the stalk out, or you can cut the top off the pineapple and remove the remaining fruit flesh with a knife. If you do not remove all the fruit parts, it will rot after planting and will likely kill your plant. Carefully slice small, horizontal sections from the bottom of the crown until you see root buds (the small circles on the flat base of the stalk). Remove the bottom few layers of leaves leaving about an inch worth of them at the bottom of the stalk. Plant your pineapple crown in a warm and well drained environment. Water your plant regularly at first. Once the plant is established, you can cut down to about once a week. You will see growth in the first few months but it will take about 2-3 years before you are able to harvest.
You can watch me give a live demo on this blog post on Fox8 News by clicking here.
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We tried the pineapple one, but apparently we were impatient. I didn’t realize that it took so long to fruit, will have to try it again! 🙂
I did this one and for the second year (5 total) in a row have been blessed with fruit, this year I have harvested one again and have three more growing, the core in the fruit is also edible (soft and yummy) good luck patience is a a must on this one.
Do you plant the onion with the root end up or down?
Down
Are you seriously asking this question?
How many roots do you see on top of the soil on any other plant? lol
Orchids and some parasitic plants have aerial roots….but yes, that was an odd question.
Perhaps she asked because of the fact potatoes must the planted with the eyes facing up. Many people mistake the eyes for being roots.
gheez people are rude. Either answer the question or keep your rude comment to yourself, people.
My thoughts exactly. If you can’t spread kindness, be quiet.
That’s a really stupid question lol. No of fence🙅🙅 full respect🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😊
good tips
I think plant it the same way you plant the garlic that’s what I did and it worked for me
You are a marvel! Thank you for putting this online, it’s going to really help our food situation! And I love the idea of making my kitchen into a garden. Great job!
Do you think Tumeric will work the same as Ginger?
Yes turmeric does work the same as ginger, im growing some right now. I bought the roots from a store.
thanks for these amazing tips!
I have tried some of those and look forward to trying the rest. Thanks for the collection of planting ideas!
Planting potatoes in a stack of old tires is a great way to re-purpose the tires. Just lay a tire flat on the ground fill it with soil, plant the potato eyes, water, set another tire on top of that one and keep repeating for as many tires as you have. I did this one year and got a bushel basket full of potatoes!
Great idea CeGriggs!! Thank-you for posting that!
you put the soil in the center of the tire, using the tire as a boundry?
I don’t have a sunny kitchen window 🙁 Any other ideas? The only windows in our apartment are the big back door (sliding glass) and the window in our bedroom. Hm. Maybe I can build a little greenhouse for our patio! Haha
The patio would definitely work – or even in your bedroom window!
You could also set up a grow light. Try Hydroponic gardening stores and online.
Mushrooms.
Fluorescent lights. Done it.
If you have flourescent lighting, they work great for most plants, but not for flowering plants
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I have romain growing. Am I suppose to transplant it to soil?
this is from blackthumbgardener.com: “Several days later you will begin to see the roots and leaves sprouting. 7 to 10 days in remove the plant from the water and plant it into soil with only the leaves above the soil. Your plant will continue to grow and in several weeks you will have a new head ready to be harvested.
If you want a different way to go with your plant you can try planting directly into the soil, skipping the water staging step from before. Keeping the soil from drying out will be very important that first week.”
Romaine is a winter veggie and needs cool temps to grow. If you’re planting in warm spring or hot summer, plant in shady areas.
I don’t think Milky Way candy Bars can be regrown from scraps.
lol
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My kids love seeing plants regenerate from cuttings. Our fav is celery. Going to try the pineapple next!
I’m growing the celery now and just get tickled to see how much it’s grown every day. Can’t wait to try more 🤗
Great ideas and thanks for passing along! I was wondering if there were outdoor temperatures or seasons that some of these veggies would fare better in?
Nice article. Taking about organic and sustainability. Way to go. Glad you are informing people of how to use what we have to the fullest.
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Don’t forget artichokes.
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Love eating tangy, spicy garlic fresh from the backyard – and it keeps away the foxes too!
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cool I’ll try the garlic
Its not necessary to start the garlic indoors. I got a bulb from the farmers market and split into cloves, put them in the ground a few inches deep around halloween. Around july 4th the stalks turn yellow and fall. by then the new bulbs are huge.
a bulb of garlic yields around 10 new bulbs. Eat the medium sized ones but save the monsters for next years planting
I’m re growing 3 leeks in my kitchen window 🙂
i tried this with celery, i had so many gnats i ended up throwing it out.
I’m sorry to hear that! Those gnats & fruit flies are bad this time of year, at least around where I live. I can’t even leave a tomato fresh from my garden on my counter right now without the little varmints using it as a hangout spot. Check out the ‘fruit fly remedy’ here on the Mrs – it works great!
so true, i can not believe the ants in my house this week, every where i mean everywhere! help!
Outside your kitchen, spray Raid under where the foundation and siding meet, in the spring as the weather turns to 50 or 60 degrees. They won’t cross the boundary, homing elsewhere and you’ll have an ant free kitchen for the summer.
i have a company come spray the house in side and out, i had tried every thing in the world and it only got worse. Raid did nothing. thanks for thinking of me! have a great next moment.
Put some vinegar in a spay bottle then spray all around the area where you have ants. This works great. I tried all the poison sprays and they did nothing. The vinegar got rid of them for food. It also works outdoors on ant hills. I just poor it straight into the hill.
This post has used a copyrighted image without permission or attribution. The sweet potato photo comes from my website here:
http://containergardening.about.com/od/containersyearround/ss/Growing-Sweet-Potatos_4.htm
Please remove this photo.
It looks like this blog post was ripped also:
http://beforeitsnews.com/self-sufficiency/2013/06/foods-that-can-be-regrown-from-scraps-2458644.html
So you might want to contact them as well.
Interesting information you wrote here, keep posting
For the plants regrown in water, would they have any nutrients since these normally come from the soil that the plant is grown in?
i think milky ways can be regrown from the wrappers.
haha good one ! but not so healthty ! stay well !…
I re grow pineapples all the time by just cutting off the top and placing it frimly in the soil– in a pot so that I can bring it in when the temps go below freezing. It takes like two minutes, which is a good thing since I usually have company coming when I splurge on a pineapple!
Excellent! Can’t wait to try it, especially the celery 🙂
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This is awesome!
http://mumx3x.blogspot.co.uk
Has anyone heard of “leaf lettuce”? I’m sure it must have a name but I have no clue what that would be. It’s very easy to grow.. just wondered if anyone had heard of it.
Leaf lettuce is a general word for such strands of lettuce like green leaf lettuce & romaine.
Yes. I grew some. They weren’t “heads” of lettuce-just leaves. So I’d go out to my big planter, cut and clean a fresh salad (adding other goodies from nature!)
Very useful advices!
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Awesome! I knew about some of these but didn’t realize you could regrow garlic. Thanks!
http://www.surveysavvy.com/?m=2063399
We have our celery in our window as we speak. Love this!
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This is so great to know! Pinning and Stumbling for future reference!
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I planted a dollar in the garden to grow a money tree and it didn’t work. What am I doing wrong?
The bad news is no, it won’t grow a money tree. The good news, if you planted it in a glass jar, it’ll still be there in it’s entirety whenever you go dig it back up.
Get Sims 4. You’ll get a money tree. Lol
Where are these regrown veggies getting their nutrients from in a dish of water? I don’t understand. Does the regrown food have as much nutrients density as food grown from seed in fertilized soil?
They’re only in water to get them off and running. It’s really quite a trip to see a scallion regrowing from the cut edge, looks very Tim Burton. Anyways, when it regrows and inch or three, plant it in regular potting soil, put it in a window and it’ll take off.
I’m so glad to learn this. My cores from 3 cabbages are growing (one has formed 2 inch head already), plus I bought about 60 green onion plants for a really cheap bargain at the grocery store that were going bad and have them growing in water. They are doing great! I’m going to plant them this week. Garlic and onions are doing great too.
when i have A tomato the goes too soft or rotten on my counter, i squeeze out he seeds and plant them. i always get new tomatoe plants this way. (I call it second generation” plants. )
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Has anyone heard of using cinnamon as a deterent for knats, and for stimulating root growth as well as delaying rot? I’ve just tried that on some fennel I’m trying to regrow, but it is too early to know if it has worked.
I’ve been trying to regrow an onion. It’s been in the pot for at least a month. The stalks have grown like crazy but the bulb has only barely risen. How long does it take for an onion to regrow? I know gardening takes time/ it’s not overnight. I just want to know what is the time span I am looking at?
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Grow carrot tops also greens are edible!