Growing From Leftovers?

I wanted to see if it would work also, the celery grew but not very tall or thick. I left mine in the water instead of planting it in soild maybe that was the problem. I have grown a nice plant from a sweet potato, I was told you can grow more sweet potato if it was put in soil, mine was in water.

 

We have never really tried this. We usually buy seeds then plant them or buy plants that are already in the pot. This is a nice idea though. Do you know of other plants that grow from leftovers? Do tomatoes work that way too? Lol. @Pat I never knew you could grow plants on water. How and what is the process to be able to do so?

 

As a child yes and although I have to agree its a great idea - it is unfortunately not the best method if wanting home grown veg - as apart from the fact that regrowing from leftovers is a very hit and miss affair and particularly so if using store bought veg - which as most are treated with a growth inhibitor is rarely successful - but more importantly as the end result generally lacks any kind of flavor or if it does is extremely bitter and very unpleasant tasting - its way better and much more cost effective to grow from seed - as not only are the results almost guaranteed - but they taste a whole lot better too.

It is however - an excellent way to get kids into growing things themselves - especially as growing scallions, leeks or fennel from their roots as well as garlic sprouts from garlic cloves - generally almost always work if re-grown from organic produce - along with some of the more fun things - like growing avocados from pits or pineapples from their crowns - the latter of which - although they require an enormous amount of patience and are unlikely to ever produce anything edible - appear to be a very popular choice amongst the little ones.

 

All Scallions I grow while not technically left-overs are the surplus which I won't keep around. If I lived in a place where pineapples grow I wouldn't mind growing my pineapples from crowns but because of the climate, pineapple growing isn't an option here.

For those who like ginger . . . they too can be grown from parts of roots you won't use.

 

I always wanted to grow spices and fine herbs in my kitchen, but I live in a place with excess humidity that refrains from adding extra moisture plants may bring. Even though, I was considering get these from the store, not as seeds but already grown plants; Home Depot and Walmart sell them, besides some greenhouse.

However when it comes to leftovers and past experience living with my parents, I remember to throw rotten tomatoes, potatoes and onions into planters my mom has at the family house, resulting in nice plants that overtime returned fresh tomatoes, potatoes and onions growing from the ground.

 

We actually don't buy ginger because we used to plant the leftover ginger in the backyard planter box. Now we have several ginger plants around the house and I don't remember buying ginger for so many years now. Another leftover worth planting is a decaying onion. Dig a hole 2 inches high and place the decaying onion. In a week, there will sprout some spears of leaves. You can have spring onions for free.

 

That is amazing! That was an inspired thought, to do that, because, you know, where else did it com from? Talking about saving...this is a great example. Unlike some of you, I never learned such from my elders. I look forward to trying it out.

 

I have tried this in the past with mixed success. Some things seem to work out, whereas others aren't quite so good, but the great news is that trying doesn't cost you anything, so you may as well give it a go, and if it works for you then that's absolutely great. I have had tomatoes and potatoes grown in my own garden, and I always grow carrots, but sometimes they're not as big as I would like. I am going to carry on trying to grow things, because it is something that I enjoy very much.

 

I've tried this with both avocado and pineapple, but haven't had success with either. I like the idea of doing it, but I agree, it would probably be best to try this using organic or homegrown produce. I have sweet potato vine in the garden, but I believe it's just ornamental, since I've never seen actual sweet potatoes growing on it. A friend has some sort of potato vine that grows what looks like potatoes, but she said they're not edible. I do want to try this with ginger, but my last piece got soft and moldy, when I forgot and left it too long in the refrigerator.

 

I can remember as a kid my mom used to put an avacado pit in water with toothpick to hold it up. We would watch it sprout roots and grow leaves. I think she tried to plant it outside in the summer but it didn't last in our Canadian winter. I definitely want to try this with ginger. I use a lot of ginger and didn't realize you could grow it. But it makes sense, since it's a root itself. I think I'll try the celery with my own kids so they can see how it grows. Thanks for the reminders. It's so fun to grow your own food.