16 Kitchen Scraps That You Can Re-grow

food-that-will-regrow

All of us want to be able to have fresh fruit and vegetable at our disposal when working in the kitchen, preparing a delicious meal. The truth is you can have your veggies and eat them too! There are a number of plants which you can throw away after eating, not knowing they can be re-grown in the most easy of methods. Here is the list of those vegetables and how you can make some more in the comfort of your home.

• Fennel, Scallions, Onions and Leeks can be re-grown if using the white root end. Put it into a glass jar and pour a bit of water over it. Keep it in a well lit area (like the kitchen window) and soon enough you will be able to notice the green leaves sprouting. When it’s of a decent size, cut it away and use in your dishes. Freshen up the water supply and your vegetable is ready to grow again.

Leeks-Fennel-and-Green-Onions

• Cabbage, Celery, Romaine Lettuce and Bok Choi are very similar to the previous category. Meaning the secret of re-growing powers lie in its white root end. Like before, cut and put it into a bowl with a bit of water in, under direct sunlight and after a couple of days new leaves will begin to rise once more. You could do this with soil, but then you should water it excessively in the first week.

Romaine-Lettuce

• Lemongrass is not much different than a normal grass. The root end should go into a jar with little water but transferred into a pot when it begins to grow again. Ready to be harvested when the stalks have one foot height.

lemongrass-3

• Potatoes are maybe the easiest of the foods to re-grow at home. If a potato has `eyes` than it can be made to give some more potatoes. Cut the potato into pieces of 2 inch square which each must have an `eye` on it. Place it in a dry area and after a couple of days plant them in a high-nutrient soil, with the `eye` facing up at 8 inches deep. Add extra soil when the plant begins to grow.

• Ginger is also very easy to work with. The part you are interested in is the thick knobby bit, known as the rhizome. Put one such piece in some potted soil with the buds facing up and in a moist and warm setting, although not in direct sunlight. When the new roots rise up and the plant is fully grown, just repeat the instruction here to re-re-grow a ginger fruit.


63 Responses to “16 Kitchen Scraps That You Can Re-grow”

  1. Anna Brown says:

    Every time I try to open a link to see/get instructions, I don’t get anything except this advertisements, why? thanks

  2. Louise Webster says:

    your instructions are not very clear. More detail is needed on planting ( re growing)

    • Micki says:

      Just google how to grow the ones you’re interested in. There is stuff all over the web.

    • John says:

      not clear??? hardly..!!! put in water..on a window…. or put in good nutritious siol an water well…… keep using ,keep watering !!! is there much more???

  3. Tammy says:

    Can you send this article on growing the 16 plants from scraps? Or tell me how to save it? Also can you elaborate a bit on how to grow the garlic? When does the garlic get eaten, does the same clove regrow each time? What is the cycle I guess is what I’m asking. The mushroom, does one stem yield one mushroom?
    Thank you!

    • Deb says:

      I’ve had cloves of garlic start to sprout in the fridge or cupboard and have re-planted them as they were. It helps if they have new little root fibers in addition to the sprout at the top. They will grow a new whole head of garlic from a single clove.

    • Lucy says:

      Hi Tammy,

      If you use facebook, Twitter, or anything like that, you should be able to click the button at the bottom where it says, “Sharing is caring”. If you have an email client installed on your computer, just pick the grey “envelope” button.

      Otherwise, you can always send an article or web page by right-clicking on the web address (the code beginning with “www” in the bar at the top) and selecting “copy” and then going to your email, right-clicking into the email box, and click “paste”.

    • Dave says:

      Garlic can be grown all year, but the quality is very different if not planted in October in most regions. the cloves will sprout and start to develop, then stop growing in December, or so it seems. The garlic is actually undergoing a transformation underground that triggers development of the full, deep flavored bulbs in spring. If you plant in spring, for example, the bulbs and cloves will be smaller and the flavor much more mild.

  4. Fixxer says:

    If they are Google ads you can “OPT OUT” of all Google ads 🙂 There should be a link at the corner of the ad, so follow it to the “settings” page. That’s what I found on this page.

    Other wise, most of the banner and pop up type ads provide similar options, you just need to follow their link and jump through a couple of hoops.

    Or, through your browser you can install an add-on that blocks pop ups and ads. This works great on my Mac at home.

    I’m still researching all this but have made some progress. My next step is to finds ways to block ads on my phone.

    Best wishes,

    Fixxer

    • Sue says:

      Hey Fixxer,

      Thanks for the Opt Out info. I had 124 suckers hanging onto my browser!

      Kicked them!

  5. biz says:

    pineapples don’t grow on trees 🙂

  6. MELNDA says:

    hi l.
    I have your back DOOG with a new
    The fact. Melinda

  7. Barb says:

    I’m only seeing 11, not 16 instructions. Where are the other five?

    • Kent says:

      Cabbage, Celery, Romaine Lettuce and Bok Choi Fennel, Scallions, Onions and Leeks Lemongrass, Potatoes, ginger, and Bok Choi on page 1

      Garlic, sweet potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, pineapples (onions again) on page 2

  8. somurai says:

    mmh, there are not 16 listed, what did I miss?

    • Kent says:

      Cabbage, Celery, Romaine Lettuce and Bok Choi

      Fennel, Scallions, Onions and Leeks

      Lemongrass, Potatoes, ginger, and Bok Choi on page 1

      Garlic, sweet potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, pineapples (onions again) on page 2

  9. kt says:

    avacados! and chive/oniongras. avacado sprout jars can be used even to jusr water the bees

  10. Betty says:

    Last year I just planted the top in soil in full sun in my vegatable garden and watered fairly often. Before frost,I dug it up and put it in a pot and brought it in the house. It is still doing fine.

  11. Betty says:

    The top I planted was the top of a pineapple. It was just a trial as I knew nothing about growing pineapples.

  12. Lesley11 says:

    Hello, thanks for the info on regrowing veggies. very interesting. have tried to garlic and ginger with a little success, tried the pineapple – no success. will try all again and great tip on mushrooms, definitely will give it a try,
    Regards, Lesley

  13. Sylvanna says:

    I have already tried this method and ended up disposing of the veggies because they spoiled. I tried growing carrots and bok choy ?

    Is there a specific level of water to be used before the sprouting starts ? and can you only use glass containers ?

    I put the veggies out in the full sun during the day and then bought in at nightfall.

    Thanks

    Sylvanna

  14. cindy says:

    y not?

  15. Maggy says:

    Over the years I tried several of the above and other regrow veggies. Potatoes are indeed easy to grow… potato plants that is. Some plants never gave decent new potatoes, some made long roots and grew their potatoes under the roots of garden plants, impossible to harvest.
    Once I had a beautiful bed of home grown garlic. My lovely puppy dog dug them up and ate them, guess what came next.
    Home grown onions invite slugs. Onions on a bowl of water can get a fungus and give a terrible smell.
    I never succeeded in growing roots or leaves on an avocado nut.
    Growing a pine apple plant is easy and lots of fun, but I never succeeded in getting a ripe fruit.
    Please don’t let me discourage you all, I must be the worst gardener in the world.

    • Simon says:

      I have a friend who grows pineapples in New Zealand. My family and I had tried growing pineapples this way but did’t get any fruit (maybe because we moved and had to leave the plants). But my friend told us that it takes 3 years before they fruit (I think it is 3 years but that was a long time ago when she told us but it certainty was a long time). I did see pineapple plants in Indonesia and they are beautiful but also remember the people there saying that they take a ling time to grow. (And looking at the plant in Indonesia they do grow more then one pineapple, but I don’t know how long the produce). They do need warmth. My friend in New Zealand lives one of the most “tropical like” areas in New Zealand but still grows her pineapples in the sun room.

    • Grower says:

      A trick to getting your pineapple to bear fruit… put a couple of apple slices near the center of the plant and place a plastic bag over it for about a week. The enzymes that the apple puts out tell the pineapple it’s fruit bearing time.

    • GingerV says:

      I have to smile. It is great fun to start a plant from scraps. The avocado seed has a right and a wrong side to put in the water. Point of seed goes down in the water. When the branch is 6 inches and has leaves pinch the new growth and put outside. This will not work in areas that freeze. You have now started a TREE. Will grow to 25 ft. And make lovely shade. And if bees works for you and you have two trees you will end up harvesting avocados. (In about 5 years)
      Pineapple tops are easy to start. They are lovely in the flower gardens. Do not survive frost and do not like full sun. Usually survive only one season. They are a bromiliad. And will grow a small fruit. Beautiful and fun.
      But don’t count on surviving on your harvest. Do it for the fun of starting the plants you have in your garden and to teact your children that joy.

  16. Joseph V Teal says:

    this will be very interesting I’m ready to get started

  17. Iryssa says:

    You may have more success with regrowing if you use sand or other soilless medium to get the plants to root initially. Water roots are different from roots grown in soil, and you’ll have some growth delay while you wait for the roots to adapt when you plant them in.

  18. jacq says:

    Pineapple takes a year b4 harvest to grow

  19. Sharon says:

    I took the top of a pineapple and had it in water. It took a couple of months to start to root. I put it in my garden with potting soil, it started to look great! Then this weekend my dogs dug it up and ate it! Ugh I was so proud of my work too! Now off to try again but with a small protective gate this time!

    • GingerV says:

      Plant your starters in the front flower beds, and leave your dogs to the back yard. Hard lesson learned.

  20. Shanna says:

    I am trying this out for my Cub Scout den we are working on growing vegetables, herbs and flowers and I thought this would be a cool experiment for them! Keeping my fingers crossed it works. I do have avacodo seeds and would like to try that but not sure how. Anyone have any advise.

  21. Pigletsmomma says:

    For an avocado, I have always stuck 3 toothpicks in the seed, each 1/3rd the way around. Pointy part of the seed faces down, with the toothpicks horizontally placed. Then sit the seed in a glass with the toothpicks now balanced around the rim of the glass and keep water over the bottom half of the seed. Wait till it grows roots and sprouts a top , then plant it.

  22. Regina Morgan says:

    Can you send this information to me or tell me how to save it please?Thanks.

  23. Joy says:

    If you put toothpicks in the avocado seed to support it in a glass with the flat part of the seed down and fill the glass with water halfway up the seed it will start to sprout in about a week Just be sure to keep the water level up by adding fresh water when needed.

  24. donna says:

    When I want to save something, I “share” & then I get a “share with” page & click on “only me”. It saves it to my timeline. Hope this helps.

  25. karen says:

    Sylvanna, moving veggies in and out doors every day will shock them. I’m guessing that’s why you haven’t been successful yet. Onion family will regrow in your kitchen window..just cut about two inches above the roots, place in a skinny glass in the window with an inch of water. Top off water daily, dump and replace with all fresh water once or twice a week. The green shoots will grow for about two months before the white ends give out. I’ve never tried carrots, but according to this article it’s just for decoration, not eating. Hope this helps!

  26. Matt says:

    Easiest way to get an avocado seed to germinate is to put it in the compost.

  27. Maggie says:

    I don’t see the directions for growing the garlic. Can someone please let me know how? Thank you!

    • Grower says:

      Separate the clove and put the flat end down in some dirt. Do this in the fall and your garlic should be ready by spring.

  28. s says:

    If you need instructions on how to put table scraps into a glass of water, then you should probably learn how to eat advertisements instead.

  29. ruoaa says:

    Can we use normal soil for that ?

  30. kathy says:

    as soon as leaves start growing, or roots, do you plant it in soil? we keep doing bok choy, and getting leaves, then it rots.

  31. Cheri says:

    Have grown several pineapples and it does take a few years to get fruit and they are small but delicious. Theh are a pretty plant. I live in Florida and always have 3 or 4 plants. Seems the fruit usually starts showing up in the spring and we dont eat until august or september.

  32. Michelle says:

    How do these plants get the nutrients they need? I have several romaine lettuce leaves starting to grow in water,but feel they would be healthier with some sort of nutrient addition…miracle grow?

  33. Katherine says:

    While some of carrot relatives leaves are poisonous, carrot leaves are not. They are eatable.

  34. Sparks says:

    Since the white portion of a leek is the part you eat…

  35. Louis says:

    Romaine lettuce will die as soon as it starts to grow.

  36. Martin Hersey says:

    I’m growing some pear trees from saved seeds.

  37. Jim says:

    Plant garlic in mid October. Till the soil until it is “fluffy” Plant garlic about 1-1/2 inches apart, about an inch deep. Thoroughly mulch with leaves and/or grass clippings about an inch thick. The garlic will sprout and will winter-over. Do not water excessively. Too much water will rot the cloves. To harvest, wait until the plant grows a stalk in the middle (which is edible). When the flat leaves start to wither and die, dig the garlic, keeping the “plant” intact. DO NOT WASH WITH WATER. This will cause the cloves to rot. Hang the cloves somewhere so they will dry out – maybe a week, brush the dirt off and do what you have to do from there.

    I repeat, DO NOT WASH FRESHLY DUG GARLIC CLOVES!

  38. Kim says:

    I have had 3 avocados grow. They are about 2 1/2 ft tall. I started by placing nut in a wet paper towel and in a baggie. When a spike of a root grew I planted in a large pot. Moved inside during cold months and will see what becomes of them this spring and summer!

  39. Pat Carey says:

    That’s great tips there, thank you, can you please forward on your email address.

  40. Alan McKenney says:

    If this can be done with ginger root, can it also be done with turmeric?

Leave a Reply

© 2024 Home Design, Garden & Architecture Blog Magazine. All rights reserved.