Crafts

Growing and re-growing plants from scraps

Mar 20, 2016

Buying fruit and vegetables at the shops or markets is something most of us do weekly. But, did you know that a lot of the vegetables you buy can be used to grow new vegetables again and a again?

Some gardeners, with not-so-green thumbs like myself, may be afraid of the leap of faith required when growing fruits and vegetables from seedlings. There are many weeks of waiting for sprouts to show and often, not all of them do. Well a quick and super easy alternative to this is growing them from already matured plants.

In fact, some fruit and vegetables are primed to do just that and thrive from being planted and reproduced. In some this process can happen very quickly, while others may take a little longer.

Some of the best plants to do this include, spring onions, basil, garlic, carrots, celery, ginger and pineapple.

Simply purchase these fruits or vegetables from the shops or markets and follow these steps:

Spring onions:

Cut the bottom, around 8cm, off the spring onions.
Place them in the water, with the white, roots in the bottom of the glass.
Leave them in the glass of water and they will start to grow from the top.
You can leave them in the water and use the top as you need or you can plant them in soil.

Basil:

Basil is a great herb that can grow into a full plant from a single leaf.
Trim the top of basil, gently remove leaves on the lower end of the stem leaving just one or two small leaves at the top.
Place the bottom of the stem in a glass of water and leave it in a well lit area for several days.
Within a few days you will see roots beginning to grow. Once the roots are long and sturdy you can plant it in soil for your windowsill or in the garden.

Garlic:

Peel the paper of a garlic clove from the sprout end.
Plant the clove (or cloves) in soil with the sprout end facing up. If you are planting multiple space them out by 15cms.
In two weeks you will see garlic scapes emerge.

Carrots:

Don’t waste the top of the carrot that is usually chopped off, instead use that to grow new carrots!
Submerge the top in water and the roots and leaves will begin to grow very quickly.
You can transfer it to soil.

Celery:

Cut the bottom of the celery off at around 7cms.
Place this in a dish of water with the bottom of the celery facing down.
Within a few days you will see new celery starting to grow in the middle.
Remove some more ribs of the old celery and plant it in soil.

Ginger:

Purchase a root of ginger that has lots of “knobs” (the protrusions on the sides).
Plant the ginger in a pot with the “knobs” facing upwards.
Within 4 to 6 months you will have a wonderful harvest of ginger.

Pineapple:

Remove the top of the pineapple and peel the bottom leaves off the crown.
Place the top of the crown in a glass of water.
Within days you will see small roots beginning to grow.
At around 3 weeks the roots will begin to outgrow the plant so you will need to transfer it to soil.
Within 18 months you will have a delicious pineapple!

Growing fruit and vegetables from plants can be extremely gratifying! The ones mentioned above are perfect for growing, consuming and regrowing as they often use parts of the food you won’t usually eat and it minimises waste.