Karen and I eat a lot of salad and she prefers Romaine lettuce. Recently she heard that you could grow new lettuce from the old heads (or stalks or whatever you call Romaine lettuce things). After cutting off the tops and eating them, she put the base of the stalk in a shallow bowl of water, where literally overnight new leaves sprouted.
These things seem to grow nearly
4-6 inches tall, only days after I put them in the pot.
I just dusted the bottoms of the stalks with some rooting powder we happened to have (I don’t think it’s necessary) and gently pressed them into the soil. They didn’t have visible roots when I did this, but they continue to grow.
Presumably, you could grow these in pots or in the ground and just cut them off when
they’re big enough to suit you and leave it to grow some more.
LOL- great minds .. :)
I started fermenting some kimchi last week, and tried the same thing with the Napa cabbage. Started mine in water first, because that’s what I do with root ends of celery. Working well, so far :)
What I replant the most is green onions/scallions (because I use them a lot). Trim off about 1/2 inch of the white root end and plant ’em right in the soil. They’ll keep producing new ‘green’ for at least 6-8 months. Some will even over-winter and produce bulbs the 2nd season. I do like free food :)
1130 last night when I read the article I went right to the refrigerator, cut off the bottom of the romaine and put it in water. Thanks!
I’m going to try this today with the romaine in my fridge. I love romaine and it’s getting more and more expensive!
I need to start doing this with green onions, and the next time I buy Romaine, I’m going to try it too!
I’ve repsrouted romaine lettuce too- need to start again as I am afraid the California drought may put lettuce out of my price range this spring.
Thanks for the reminder! I had heard that this could be done but was just plain lazy…imagine that :-) Romaine is all we eat because it’s nutritional value far outweighs the cabbage-type lettuce heads, or spinach leaves. We ate our spinach about as fast as it sprouted this year :-) Tried planting Romaine a couple years ago & just didn’t seem to be successful, we just didn’t know how or when to harvest it. We kept looking for the “romaine looking” stuff and it never came. I’ve got some Romaine in the frig too, so guess perhaps I’d better save the heads and find me some sort of pot or bowl :-)
I grew romaine last summer for the first time. Found a 6 pack from the garden center and just kept taking off the outside leaves not the whole stalk and letting it grow from the inside. Started some from seed then but was too hot and dried out too fast so started on paper towel and planted in pots in partial shade. Worked well.
I have a modest raised “survival” garden and we have Romaine and other lettuces growing. I will harvest a head of Romaine buy cutting just above the soil and leaving about 1/2 on inch of stock still in the ground. Within a week or so, new leaves are already sprouting, and in some case, three heads will sprout where only one was previously. Although the leaves are not as hardy and thick, but edible and delicious all the same.
Got one started tonight after our dinner salad! :-)
This can also be done with celery. As soon as roots start to grow transplant into soil. If the stalk is left in the water longer than it has to, it will rot.
I only have one window in my basement, but I have a fish tank in front of it and have a grow bed tank of river run rock setting on top. A small 20 watt water pump circulates the water and I grow cold weather greens all year. I mostly start plants from seed, but I have this wider woman down the street that brings me the cores, or stalks of about everything she eats. I just shove it down in the gravel and it takes right off. I think this give her a reason to visit me, to see her plants growing. I have been warned of this ole wider women.
John R, would LOVE a pic of that setup! Sounds like a great, inexpensive hydroponic garden!
You also can produce your own tomato plants. But it has to be from heirloom varieties, like Cherokee Purple (my favorite), Brandywine or Rutgers. In the fall, take a tomato and place it in a cool whip container, cover with good soil, place in a cool dark spot with the lid on. In late February bring the container (containers) to a warm sunny place and remove the lid. We use a south window bay. Within a week or so you will have plants coming like crazy. We have had 60-80 plants come from one tomato. After they are well established transplant to individual small pots. You can even use the kind you can plant. We haven’t had to buy any plants since we started this about 3 years ago.
Wow Jerry, that sounds so easy!!!
I have volunteer tomato plants in the garden but never thought of something like this. Thanks!
Bev – we brought up our containers today. The lids were bulging upward which is a sign that they are ready. We put them away about September 21-25, before a frost. I think they would still work even if it had. Mother nature knows all.
Bev – today we have 6-8 plants peeking thru. This in a terrarium type container with lid. Today we went and purchased 2 more of the 2 gallon sized containers (with lids). We bought 2 smaller ones ( l gallon) also. Prefer 2 gallon size. We are off and running on the new year!
Good for you Jerry!!! :-D