Hold the phone. I just found out you can regrow food in water without dirt. Could gardening get any better when you have two black thumbs?
I think not. And my black thumbs aren’t the only reason I’ve been hesitant to garden. It can be costly too, but ever since I found ways to water my garden for free, I’m all over it.
Then my step-mom showed me how to regrow food in water – she had a couple heads of lettuce in a bowl in her kitchen. But as it turns out, it’s just one of several veggies that can grow without dirt, and without much effort too.
It’s great news for those buying organic vegetables, but even if you aren’t, it’s a simple way to stretch those grocery dollars just a teeny bit further is to regrow food in water!
Why Should You Regrow Food in Water?
There are plenty of reasons to regrow food, but the most important ones to me are:
(1) It’s absolutely free.
You already bought the vegetable. All it costs is a few tablespoons of water – but if you’re smart about it, you can re-use water you’ve already used elsewhere, like from boiling pasta or water that you collected while waiting for the shower to get hot. Then it wouldn’t cost you a dime!
(2) It’ll trim your grocery budget.
Little ways to save money really do add up to bigger savings, as long as you’re diligent about using them.
Now, you won’t get a huge harvest out of any of these items, but it is still food and every little bit helps. Even if it’s a few leaves of lettuce to scoop your tuna salad with, you can regrow food you didn’t have before and won’t have to buy.
(3) It makes organics more affordable.
Affording organic food just got easier! If you start with organic food, you’ll regrow food that’s organic… so you’ll reap the benefits of organic greens without actually paying for them!
(4) It’s easy.
Do I have to explain further? I mean, stick the plant in water and watch it grow. Really – it’s that easy!
I’ve listed below all the vegetables that can legitimately grow in water and water alone.
Sure, there are plenty more that can START in water and then be transplanted to soil. And yes, beans will sprout in water too – but unless the vegetable will grow into more vegetable that can be eaten as-is with only a cup of water, I kept it off this list.
General Guidelines to Regrow Food in Water
- You don’t need a lot of water – just enough to cover the roots. About 1/2″ of water seems to be sufficient otherwise the food can get moldy and slimy.
- Be sure to check the water every 2-3 days to ensure that A) there’s enough water, and B) no rogue lettuce pieces fall off and slime up your bowl.
- The size of container should be relative to the size of the food you’re growing. Lettuce and celery grows best in shallow bowls like these. Green onion and lemongrass can be in taller, skinny glasses like these.
- You can regrow multiples of the same plant as long as you’re not overcrowding the area.
- I haven’t tried this myself, but using a fertilizer could help with the yield when you regrow food – especially if this is more than a fun side project. I would recommend this Dr. Earth organic liquid fertilizer or a hydroponic fertilizer.
10 Ways to Regrow Food in Water
Bok Choy
Cut off the bottom of the stalk and place in a small bowl of water. New growth begins from the center in 1-2 days with significant growth in less than a week!
Cabbage
Place the root end in a shallow bowl of water and watch it regrow from the center. Be sure to harvest on the smaller side to get the best flavor.
Carrot Greens
You can’t regrow an actual carrot, but you can regrow the carrot tops! Place the cut-off end of a carrot in a shallow bowl of water. Harvest the greens as they grow and add to salads. Better yet, make this amazing carrot top pesto and stop spending money on store-bought!
Celery
Cut off the bottom 2″ of the stalk and place in a small bowl of water. New growth begins from the center in 3-4 days. It might take awhile for a full stalk of celery to grow, but you’ll get great growth in the center for flavoring dishes. If you don’t know what to do with the leaves, dehydrate them, and make your own dried celery powder.
Fennel
Cut off the bottom 1″ of the base so that the roots are intact and place in a small bowl of water.
Garlic Chives
Garlic chives are the green that grows from a clove of garlic and can be added to dishes that traditionally call for green onion chives like salads and baked potatoes. Place a garlic clove in a small cup and add water to the bottom without submerging. Roots will grow in a few days and shoots will grow shortly after!
Tip: Garlic starts to lose it pungent flavor when the shoots grow, so if you find a rogue clove in your fridge or pantry starting to shoot, place it in a cup of water to grow chives instead of throwing the clove away!
Green Onion
Keep the white part of the onion with any roots that are in still intact. Place in a glass with water and you’ll have a never-ending supply of fresh green onion!
Leeks
Cut off the bottom 2-3″ of the stalk and place in a cup of water. New growth will come from the center of the plant. Usually only the green part of the leek is used in cooking, but it can be used interchangeably with onions for a delicious, mellow flavor.
Lemongrass
Cut off 2-3″ from the bottom and place in a tall container with 1/2″ or so of water. New lemongrass shoots will grow from the center.
Lettuce
Cut off the bottom of the head of lettuce and place it in a small bowl of water. New growth begins from the center of the in as little as 3 days and you’ll have a new half-head of lettuce in about 2 weeks. I’ve heard romaine re-grows best, but I’ve had success with green leaf and red leaf lettuce too.
Got more scraps to regrow food?
There are plenty more vegetables that will regrow using just a small scrap of the original food. These listed below can be started in water, but should be transplanted to dirt for full growth and harvest.
- avocado
- basil
- beets
- cilantro
- ginger
- lemon balm
- mint
- mushrooms
- onions (white/yellow/red)
- parsnips
- pineapple
- potatoes
- rosemary
- sweet potatoes
- turnips
And of course, you can save the seeds/pits from apples, cherries, lemons, nectarines, peaches, peppers (sweet and hot), plums, pumpkins and tomatoes to grow your own new vegetables!
We have several heads of lettuce regrowing on our kitchen table, which makes for a pretty and practical centerpiece! If you had a shelf near a window, you could keep all your plants there and just harvest when they’re big!
Just think – if we did all of the above ways to regrow food, we might not ever have to shop at the grocery store again!
It’s so easy to regrow food in water!
- You’ve worked hard to grow your garden or pinch pennies to afford organics or are doing the best you can with your budget — now it’s time to stretch those dollars even further and grow food in water!
- Start with one of these shallow dishes or these taller dishes. Add in the food stumps (see above for details!). And keep the water fresh.
- Fertilizer could help if you really want to work this system. This Dr. Earth organic liquid fertilizer or a hydroponic fertilizer would work well.
- If regrowing your food in water isn’t your skill set, use those kitchen scraps to make chicken stock!
Need ideas on how to preserve those extra vegetables?
How to Blanch Greens // DIY Celery Powder // How to Keep Fruit (and Vegetables) Fresh Longer
I’ve tried spring onions multiple times but mine never seem to start sprouting. I put them in water to cover the roots and change the water every day but the onions seem to get mushy and not sprouting. What am I doing wrong? We love spring onions and would be great if I could get this to work. I could even plant some in the garden then too.
When I cut off the ends I always cut off much more than you do so I guess I will not be able to regrow?
I have regrown celery before but never really thought about anything else, except of course an avocado pit and pineapple top. I currently have a small avocado tree in a pot in my yard and a pineapple plant in a pot on the patio. Will have to try some of the other things listed. Thanks for the information.
This is a new question…..couldn’t find link for posting question……..has anyone tried this growing method with spinach?
I’ve been doing the green onions for several yrs now…..I love this……I actually do mine in soil after I’ve soaked it overnight in water……
I am doing some onion now in a pot.will start some more .
I’ve done pineapple before; just cut off top and put it in mason jar
Hi my mom told me about regrowing lettuce in water but I’m pretty sure it was from you, but thanks so much for this, because of everything that’s going on today about the prices going up, this makes it so much better. Just thank you.
We’re so glad you enjoyed this article! Thank you for sharing and happy to help. 🙂
This is exciting! I love watching things grow and plan to try some of these. I have not so much black thumbs but limp thumbs (lazy).
I am curious if there is any nutritional deficit to growing in water only. Any idea?
Question. If you used regular lettuce and used bottom in water wouldn’t that be organic if you used no chemicals? What is the difference with the regrowth? Also can you use regular seed packs?
“Technically” you’d have to start with organic lettuce, but I think regrowing anything yourself is a fantastic option! Seeds need to be started in soil.
So each time I click link for fertilizer product, lol, it goes to
‘Listerine mouthwash’
Could you post a photo of fertilizer product you use, as searching on the name in Amazon (in typical Amazon fashion) brought so many choices.
Thank you!
Hi Tracey,
yes, we will fix this. Thank you!
The 2nd link to dr. Earth still goes to Listerine.
Ang,
Thanks. I don’t see a link to listerine, but I see an invalid link to the product. This will be fixed asap. Thanks for letting us know.
Same happened for me also!
Same for me
I just started my celery for fun the very first time. Was so excited when the leaves started sprouting from the middle. Gotta try it now with other veggies.
Hi Michael!
That’s awesome! It is great fun, isn’t it?
Do you do all these veggies just on the counter? Or do they need to be in the fridge? My husband is afraid of us getting fruit flies (yes, I know it’s not fruit lol)
Hi Heather,
We do it right out on the counter. I haven’t had fruit flies with this process, but every climate is different. You could try it and see? Hope this helps.
I just started this with my romaine… we go through 3-4 heads a week so I’m hoping to eventually get enough going inside to continue a harvest/regrow so I don’t have to buy anymore lol I don’t live in a climate where I can grow year round so I may end up with a lettuce room soon enough
I started my celery on 2.27.22. It is the most exciting thing in my life right now! I also have spaghetti squash plants sprouting. 🌱 So excited!
Thanks so much for sharing, I typically put my celery, carrots, spinach, lettuce ~ basically anything with roots in water as well ~ been doing that for years ~ definitely keeps longer ~ I keep mine in the fridge, but I will explore keeping it out on the counter ~
How do you store? All in one container? Or separate? And they grow in fridge or am I misunderstanding? Thank you!!!
I have my romaine in water 2nd day now and noticing white spots on it. Is that mold or something or is that normal? I also changed the water. Should it stay in same water or should we change the water every day? First timer here.
Hi Bernadette,
It’s hard to say without knowing where the white spots are, or what they look like, or what climate you’re in? It could be mold. Is it powdery or slimy? I would say that you should change the water each day. Usually when we regrow romaine, we don’t see white spots on it. Let us know if you have any more questions…or details. 🙂
Using organically grown curcum, I put two small pieces in soil, and I now have to curcum plants. I read that the leaves are nutritious. As they are quite tough, I chopped them up and cooked them as an ingredient in soup.
I have just started rooting my celery in water and then planting it in dirt..it’s doing well. Dont know why I waited so long to try this and now I’m hooked! I always thought I needed a “garden patch” to grow a few things but I just found out about planting in pots, so thats’ what I’m doing. I have now bought a tomatoe plant, in its own pot, and some green peppers that will need transplanting in larger pots-I will use 5 gallon pail, and now I’m wanting to root romaine lettuce in water and plant a few bunches along with other leaf lettuces. My question. though, is after the romaine roots, can I plant it in dirt or are you all recommending keeping it in water and to harvest from then on?
thanks… oh, and I’m also doing a lot of research as to topsoil and fertilizer requirements/suggestions for my peppers, celery and tomatoes. Thanks so much!
Fabi, You can do the Romaine either way. It may depend on your environment so feel free to try both ways and report back to let us know how it goes. 🙂
I think it’s best to plant your Romaine/Cos Lettuce in soil after it sprouts roots in the water. Then when it has fully grown, you can pick outside leaves when you want them (1-3) You can also cut the whole lettuce at ground level and leave the root in the ground to grow again.
Thanks for the tip Janet!
I use cold coffee or coffee grounds in a little water and put it on top of the soil, then water the soil thoroughly. This is a super fertilizer for all plants.
I have one celery plant and one green onion that I started in water, but planted in “DIRT” when they had a good root system. It really is amazing how fast the shoots grow as the roots develop in the water. One other point, if you have a big stalk of celery and it is beginning to get “limp”, go ahead
and cut all stalk off and begin to root in water. The stalks can either wrapped in wet paper towels or cloth and place in the refrigerator. The remaining stalks may be chopped up in slices placed on a plate, or I use my cookie sheet, and place it in the freezer for 2 hours. Bag in the freezer bags and later you can use it for stews, soups, or broth.
Awesome Linda! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Green Onions can be planted right in soil on a window sill and will sprout in 1 or 2 days.
Thanks for the tip Mary!
I’ve had some success with Asian greens such as Bok Choi. I also have two black thumbs (the thumbs of death to plants) but I am always looking for cost effective ways to feed my rabbit. He is a Flemish giant and eats a lot of vegetables. This is really one of the best ways of having a supply of leaves to pluck off fresh each day. I have windowsills full of re-growth. Thanks for the extensive list! I hadn’t tried carrots. Carrots are always sold with the green removed, so I have no way of buying the leaves and Sprout loves carrot greens! Sprout is the rabbit’s name…. Thanks for sharing your inspiration!
You’re most welcome Wren!
How inspirational!
Two questions:
1. What kind of lighting does this require?
2. What kind of air temperatures are best?
I’m particularly interested in the lettuce.
Thank you!
Hi Pixie,
Lettuce isn’t picky! A few hours of sunlight a day and room temperature is fine. Lettuce doesn’t like higher temps. Good luck!
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I have tried this several times, but dont know why this is not working for you…
Ankit, I am sorry to hear that! Maybe if you give me more information about what goes wrong when you try I could solve your problem.
How much time it takes to regrow?
That depends on the food.