Regrowing store lettuce, celery, onions, etc.

[Beekissed]

Don't know if any of you are doing this or if there is already a thread on it, but I just started this lately to see how it all goes. First I tried just putting the butts of these things out in the garden and tucking the hay around them...we've had so much rain I figured they'd either do very well or very badly.

Well, some have fared well, some rotted. Right now I've got several butts of romaine and one of celery sitting in bowls of water on the table. It's astounding how soon they start to regrow...I put the celery in the water just 6 hrs ago and it already shows some growth on two of the stalks.

Here's a pic of some of the romaine in a bowl....we eat about 4 heads of romaine lettuce every 4-5 days or so, and a bunch of celery every week or so. An onion every 4-5 days for salads, more if Eli makes sandwiches.

The onion pictured here didn't make it, but one out in the garden has 4 in of growth on it, so does the celery I just stuck on the soil out there. A romaine is also doing well out there. I'm going to give these time to get going, then tuck them under my low tunnel.

 

[flowerbug]

the romaine hearts i've seen do that even if not put in water. for a while the center will grow out using up the energy stored in the root/core. if there are no more new roots coming out from the end i don't think the plant will get very large. you'll know once it starts getting hot down there for sure as the plant will use up the moisture and energy more quickly.

as an experiment i suppose you could put one nub in water and leave one of similar size out of it and see how much difference that makes.

i've lightly buried bits of onion ends to see if they would regrow, not many did, but here or there. we had one onion in a garden years ago that i kept pulling the one and more would come up from the roots. i think that bunch lasted four or five years before i finally got it out of there.

 

[digitS']

We don't usually do cut-&-come again. Instead, little bunches of mixed lettuce plants are transplanted to the garden.

Starting lettuce in containers and transplanting has kept production going later in the season. Some stress can be taken off the lettuce by keeping seedlings in the sweet spot, choosing a good day to set them out, and not pulling them all apart on that day. After harvest, the clump of roots can then be pulled out for compost. I don't grow iceberg these days but butterhead can be separated to individual plants. Harvested lettuce plant roots left are likely to just bolt to seed if they do anything.

When growing individual lettuce plants and harvesting leaves only, Romaine were the ones that handled that best. I have never planted the cores but I bet that good conditions good conditions would be needed for them not to bolt if they can get started again. This location is not the best for growing lettuce - too much weather stress.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

I don't plant romaine cores. I just cut it off especially if it starts to get bitter from those planted in the ground. It regrows just fine.

Mary

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I did celery here in water all winter. Celery up here in OR is sold by the POUND! I've never bought it by the pound. I thought I'd save money!!

After four - five months it was three inches tall. It went into the compost pile....

 

[Beekissed]

I did celery here in water all winter. Celery up here in OR is sold by the POUND! I've never bought it by the pound. I thought I'd save money!!

After four - five months it was three inches tall. It went into the compost pile....

That's the kind of info I like to hear. Is it worth the time of doing? So far I don't know, but I've heard some about it and wanted to try. Otherwise all these lettuce and celery cores just go to the chickens, which is just fine as it recycles into food either way, but it's still a neat thing if I can regrow celery....I've not had one ounce of luck here growing it from seed.

 

[digitS']

You might want to try some of the related species, Bee'.

I grew real celery once. That was many years ago. The failure from the effort was so bad that I was really willing to try something else. The first was "cutting" celery, Par-Cel. I didn't know of much to do with it. Second was celeriac and I'm still growing it each of about the last 10+ years.

They are celery, just not the market variety.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_celery
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeriac
​

Steve

 

[Beekissed]

You might want to try some of the related species, Bee'.

I grew real celery once. That was many years ago. The failure from the effort was so bad that I was really willing to try something else. The first was "cutting" celery, Par-Cel. I didn't know of much to do with it. Second was celeriac and I'm still growing it each of about the last 10+ years.

They are celery, just not the market variety.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_celery
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeriac
​

Steve

That leaf celery seems likely and I've been able to grow asian greens here quite well, so I'll be looking for some seed for that. Could be I could grow it for a winter harvest under my low tunnels too. Thanks, Steve!!!

 

[flowerbug]

i've never attempted celery here, yet, but supposedly it does like a fair bit of moisture.

 

[Nyboy]

I still remember 2nd grade doing the carrot tops in pebbles and water.