Sometimes I feel sorry for the left over bits of fruits and vegetables that I throw out. For something so fresh and good, it seems like every part of it should be used. Believe it or not, you can. Not only is this a great summer project, but it will also save you some money: there are several fruits and veggies that you can regrow, right at home, with only their scraps!
You might be surprised by some of the fruits and veggies you can actually regrow. The pineapple definitely took me by surprise, along with some of the others listed below.
Pineapple
Basil
Avocado
Ginger
Garlic
Green Onion
Romain Lettuce
Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes
Celery
Bok Choy
Cabbage
Carrots
All you need are some pots and soil, glass jars, toothpicks, sunlight, and a windowsill!
To start the process, most of the foods listed above need to be soaked in water. I collected a few jars around my house, and gathered a few toothpicks. I decided to grow pineapple, avocado, and green onion.
Take the pit from an avocado and submerge the rounded end in water. I stuck 4 toothpicks around the outside so that they would rest on the outside of the glass jar to keep the pit in place.
You do the same thing for the pineapple, but this one is a little trickier to prep. First, remove the root. The best way to do this is to grab the base where the leaves start, then twist and pull up. Any excess fruit that is left will only rot in the growing process, so make sure to cut all of that away. Once your pineapple looks something like the above photo, you can stick toothpicks in around the base and place in a jar so that the portion of the root below the leaves is submerged in the water.
For the green onion, simply place in a jar with the white root portion submerged in water.
Now, all it takes is a little patience! When the water starts to look dirty, you can change it as needed. When roots begin to grow, you can transfer your fruits and veggies to a pot with soil.
Once planted, place them in a spot where they can get direct sunlight.
I can’t wait to start seeing the roots grow. I’ll keep you posted on their progress! Have you ever tried re-growing foods from scraps? Let us know what has worked for you!
For a full list of foods and their instructions check out this article.
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Yep. I’ve successfully regrown green onions, celery, and I’m currently working on two avocados. I like avocado plants since they have kind of elegant leaves, so even if I never get a tree that produces fruit I’m still happy to have it as a houseplant.
I’m gonna have to try this! Love the pineapple!
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We re-grow beets (yummy leaves), celery, basil, lettuce, and alfalfa sprouts, but I’m eager to try ginger and garlic since we run out of these so often! Potatoes in a barrel sound like fun for the kids too. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that produce is often sprayed with sterilizing chemicals so be sure to buy farm fresh to ensure your scraps will reproduce.
This is amazing! Totally going to start some beet and lettuce houseplants!
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I have always wondered if this could be done. I’m so excited to find out that it can be. Yay!! I can’t wait to grow my own avocado!!!! Thank you so much for this awesome post.
love the post! I’ve been regrowing green onions for about a year now – totally easy to do. I had in my plan already to try garlic, but I love that you said it can also be done with ginger (I’ve got one in the fridge that will need a new home soon lol)
Oh this is lovely, and I have always wanted to try this! I knew about some like the lettuce, but avocado is a surprise to me, I can’t wait to hear about the progress!
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Can’t wait to try this! Have been growing my avocado pit for halve a year and it’s amazing to see te progress! Thank you for the lovely post!
I love doing this with the leftover basil given to me when ordering pho. I now have tons of basil plants!
My dad constantly regrows avocados! We have a lot of them hanging out in the sunroom. Be careful, they’re VERY temperamental in the beginning.
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wow! that is amazing! definitely have to try this! http://frombtoc.com
I have done this so many times with green onions, But I will try avocado next time. really neat.
Love this!!
Love this post :)
I found out something similar about the green onions last year from a friend of mine. I’ve never tried growing them from stubs before, instead I stick the onions in a glass of water as soon as I bring them home from the store. The outermost piece of onion always dies, but after pulling that off it just keeps growing. They used to disintegrate in my fridge after a couple days, now they live on my counter for weeks at a time, and I just cut off pieces of onion as I need them.
Great post I have to try this out, thanks!
how do you do it with ginger and garlic? where do you stick the tooth picks?
I knew you could regrow pineapple…but avocado?! That’s news to me! Thanks for this post…and I have so many of these in my kitchen, I can’t wait to get regrowing these and see how it goes :)
xxx
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thanks for sharing! this is awesome!
we’ve grown romaine lettuce cutting off the bottom and setting it in a shallow dish with water
Can’t wait to get started. I’m always anxious to try something new no more throw away
ive done the sweet potato in elementary school, and then in my 40’s I decided to try the pineapples. Was SUCH FUN to watch them grow. I didn’t use the water at all
I did strip the bottom
Leaves, let the lay out and air dry to callous about 4 days the planted in. 1/2 sand 1/2 soil. Tool several months to see growth.
The each year reported and moved up a pit size. One was 3 years to bloom, one was 4. Such a feeling of accomplishment to see. Then the stalk, then a tiny pineapple and watch it grow. The first one was bigger and “ok” but nothing special to taste. The second one was smaller but DELICIOUS. SOOOO SWEET.
I’ve thought a few times of trying it again, but they do get kind of large and it takes a good bit of room to house during to
Winter. But the do make beautiful plants in the driveway on each side of the garage spring-Fall. And quite a conversation piece!!
Have you posted an update to this? Any additional pointers after growing these for a year?
I have grown the pineapple and got a little baby pineapple…It truly does work, Keep in mind that you may have to have a dowel or two to stake the pineapple after it gets growing, they are quite top heavy. Mine was about 1.5 pounds and the best tasting pineapple I have ever had.!
Did your pineapple ever fruit for you? Pineapple plants are easy to grow from their tops. I’ve done it often, but they always end up as decoration, never fruiting. One grew for ten years. I have eight growing right now, ranging from planted last autumn to four years old. They are lovely greenery, but rather space consuming when they get older.
Just a word cut a piece of apple under it when you plant & you get regrowth of new pinneapples on your new plant