How To: 10 Vegetables & Herbs You Can Eat Once & Regrow Forever

Most of the above suggestions are for indoor gardening, but you can put them outside too once they have roots. Some (like onions) if you soak and bury will come back, and if they don't they just rot and that is good too.

Love to reuse items.

Learned that one the hard way.

My parents planted some mint in their front yard about 40 years ago. It is still coming up-through a brick walkway and cracks in concrete. I love hardy plants, but mint will be around after the apocalypse.

Make sure when you use the pot to check the drainage hole in the bottom every now and then and cut off the roots coming out! I had mint all over flower bed because I failed to do so!

i have mine in crates lined with plastic grow bags filled with dirt, i can move them around as needed and your right, they can spread, very invasive ground cover

Don't forget about celery too!

Can you post or link to instructions for celery?

Do it like bok choy.

get the bunch celery. cut off the bottom 2 inches. I just stuck mine in a big pot outside and within a week was getting new shoots. I had celery all summer long. Added tidbit of information: wrap your celery in aluminum foil and put in your crisper. Make sure it's dry before you wrap it. Will last for months that way!

how do u do celery?

i must be doing something wrong because I cant get anything to grow

Treat the celery end like the bok choy!

Sorry wrong spot!

Sunny window?
Watering? Or too much watering?

For celery treat it like the romaine and book chop fill a jar with water to the bottom of the root place in sunny window sill in about three to four days sprouts will grow

Or if summer just plant in soil outside leave about 1/2 inch out of soil rest in.

perhaps you are using non organic vegetables, some of which are heavily sprayed with pesticides, which will even inhibit the growing phase of the given vegetable =)

Pesticides are a non-issue in regards to regrowing veggies. Organic, or not, they ought to regrow

That is mostly true except for potatoes. Non organic potatoes are generally sprayed with a no sprouting agent to keep them from making sprouts in the store. They will eventually grow but they will never grow properly. They stay stunted and warped.

Never had this problem. We've put all kinds of potatoes that sprouted in the garden and they all come up with a vengeance.

that is true about garlic what a disappointment.....

Please take a sweet potato and put three toothpicks in to the sides sort of half way and so the sticks keep the potato from being fully immersed in a glass of water you will see shoots coming out and once those shoots get a purple tinge around the stem you can pull them off and replant them so that you atleast can see something you planted grew, also going to try the carrot tops cos i only like that top green bit for soup and dumplings. Ginger pieces stuck in the soil and watered everyday also grows nicely and becomes a beautiful plant, interesting colour enjoy

Don't forget, also, you can grow mango trees and avocado trees from the pit/seed. Of course, you'll need patience for the time it will take to produce fruit. Nonetheless, they're both attractive-looking houseplants.

Thanks for the warning, I didn't know!

i think i love my cats more than avocadoes shoooo thanks for that

careful with mango- it's a cousin to poison ivy, and causes many people to break out in a rash...

Just a minor quibble regarding #8. Ginger is not a bulb (nor is it a root, though it's erroneously referred to as "ginger root" by many). It's a rhizome!

actually an onien is not a bulb either its a unground flower.

We used to buy a mushroom kit from Rockwood gardens. It was fun growing fresh mushrooms in the basement.

i have tried regrowing onions and garlic. when placed in a glass of water they just turn to mush. am i doing something wrong. i changed the water every other day or so to keep it fresh.

When cutting off the bottom of the onion also try to keep the center of the onion attached. That or maybe you're not leaving enough of the bottom.

Maybe try using spring water if you have been using tap. Depending on where you live, the water may be to full of chemicals to root in. I learned this from baking bread actually. I had SO many failed batches of bread I thought I was cursed. And I'm a pretty accomplished cook. But then I watched an episode of Alton Brown where he was making all sorts of yeast based breads and he said to use bottled water because the chlorine in tap can actually kill the year before its had a chance to finish the job, completely explaining why I always got a perfect first rise but never a second. The first time I used bottled water it came out perfect and has continued. Which got me seriously considering what I had been drinking. Outside plants or more mature plants probably have way more of a buffer or something that helps them get past the chlorine and stuff. But without even soil, rooting something in a glass of water, I don't know. Try spring water, it can't hurt.

Isn't Alton Brown amazing! I saw that episode also, and have never used tap water since then!

The water may be the problem. We are just down from a water tower and we know we have a bit o f chlorine so we put a filter on our watering hose and drip system for our garden. makes a big difference.

If you are concerned about the chlorine, you can just boil your tap water, or leave it out, uncovered for a day. The chlorine will evaporate out. You do the same thing with fishtanks. Although boiling will not remove the added fluorine

I also read that if you boil your water first and let it sit the bad stuff will be gone!

I just pulled up four garlic cloves I planted when a garlic clove sprouted in the pantry. I didn't put them in water. I separated the cloves and planted them directly in a pot outside. Actually a pot that had other things growing in them. They didn't all make bulbs but four of them did. I have two celery plants in my garden that I rooted in water from the base of the celery I bought in the store. Hoping they will grow.

I put them straight into some potting soil instead. I find That I get less rot that way.

garlic you can put it in newspaper and place it on top of the microwave the heat from the micro will cause the garlic to sprout but dont try growing it after that cos if its organic it will just die but the sprouts that come out are nice for salads, not so pungent

I've done potatoes they never grew that much maybe I didn't leave them llong enough in the soil...should they be in full Sun and how long does it take ???

Potatoes take time and space to grow. Keep in mind the potatoes grow under ground, and they'll need as much space to grow to the size you want (baby potatoes won't need as much space as something full baking size). They will grow a green top that will look like a small bush and they will flower around the time it's ready to dig up. But throwing a piece of potoato that has an eye into some soil will almost always produce a plant! Be sure to water it regularly.

Instead of buying ornamental sweet potato vines for flower pots, I put sweet potatoes with ( eyes) in my flower pots, put annuals in for color, at the end of summer, I empty the soil out of the pot, then I have lots of sweet potatoes.

sweet potato stems and leaves are edible as well...

Commercially grown potatoes are sprayed with anti-sprouting chemicals. If you want to grow potatoes, it's best to use organic, which, by definition, can't be sprayed with them.

Nice piece on your Potatoes ,vert interesting :))

try growing the mushrooms in complete darkness, that would probally help

Mushrooms need relatively low humidity. In Florida, here, where I am now enjoying retirement, many wonderful edible plants can be grown very easily. Fungi are not one of them. MUSHROOMS, as fungi, do not thrive in such high humidity. I had a friend, once, from a Far East country which I will not name: the lady shared with me her plans to grow mushrooms to sell. I warned her about the high humidity in her own country. After that, the words of Forrest Gump seemed to pop into my head, from time-to-time, saying, "Something is as something does"...or something like that!

Temperature is the big thing with fungi.Like 60's.Hard to grow in Florida.

How do you keep Coriander from going to seed ???

I am guessing, as with other flowering plants, if you dead head the blossoms of the cilantro plant, you won't get seeds. Just snip the flower down to the next set of leaves. Just keep harvesting/snipping the tops of the coriander and it won't flower. In the life of any plant it will want to reproduce; make flowers and then seeds.

Keep it cut short, once it flowers, the cilantro will start to lose its flavor and you can't come back from that point. If you keep it trimmed, it will continue to grow cilantro; if it needs to be trimmed but you don't need to use it right away, chop it up, mix it with a little water and freeze into one or two tablespoon cubes.

Instead of water use olive oil.Then you can toss it right into your cooking pan or any recipe that calls for it with adding some extra flavor.Plus the evoo will protect the flavor of the fresh herbs.You can do this with any herbs you grow.

Be careful when using oil. Make sure to heat it to 185°F, for at least 5 minutes before eating, or you risk botulism. Any oxygen free environment (I.e.- canned food, herbs in oil, vacuum sealed food) is prime breeding ground for it

you can also grow celwry....just take the bottom part thats like the root and put in some soil and it will grow more celery....

Water cress will also grow from roots. Just put them in dirt inside or out and new leaves will come up. If you leave them long enough seed heads will develope. These can be harvested and used to grow new plants. Lettuce left to grow will also form seeds.

I was told you can regrow a pineapple from its crown.

I tried to regrow a pineapple from its crown, I followed all the instructions internet gave me, twice. Once in summer, once in winter. I'll try one more time in spring then I'll quit.

Try using organic produce to regrow some of these things. Some non-organic products are sprayed with a growth inhibitor so they don't sprout in the supermarket. :)

use a lot of sand in your soil..60 to 70 percent sand..i have 5 plants growing right now..you will only get a pineapple every 2 years and when you harvest it the plant will grow another shoot from the old plant you can break off and grow another plant

There is a trick or hack you may want to research about "tricking" the pineapple to fruit yearly if you do not want to wait the full 2 years. I am not sure about the full science to it but what I learned is you can cut an apple in half, place next to the pineapple plant and put a plastic bag around both pineapple plant and apple halve. The gases released from the rotting/decomposing/ripening apple (even over the course of a day) trigger the pineapple to fruit and grow a new pineapple!!! I think you only need to leave it this way overnight or for a day or so. Look it up for more details!

If you let the crown lie out on the ground for just a few days and dry out a little before you plant it it should grow. We've never had problems and even kept one long enough that it had a little pineapple on it. Probably putting it in the ground fresh it may rot before it can root.

I have a friend who grows pineapples in her greenhouse close to the canadian border in pots and has gobs of them!!

once you see the little white shoots coming out of the bottom( that is if you placed it in a container with water first, like what you do with avocado and mango pip) then plant it in soil and keep watering it and keep it out of the frost in a portable container. also when you take the crown off be sure to remove all pineapple flesh from the crown as this adds to the acidity in the water, dont know if the acid is good or bad for the water but i changed the water about every week and now my plant is doing well.

My daughter bought us a pineapple plant last summer. We got a small but deliciously sweet and juicy fruit. Then I took the top of the pineapple and immediately planted it in a pot in a sunny spot in the house as it got too cold outside. It's now the end of January and it's doing great. Can't wait to see if i get another pineapple this summer! I give it a good watering about once a week.

u wont get another fruit this year..takes 2 years to get fruit

really i thought it was six years according to the research I had done
cant wait then cos I planted mine in January this year

Ms. June, which part of Florida? Northern, Central or South. I'm in the southeast region & would love to try this.

can you do this if you live in areas that get snow or will this kill them in the winter? What if I bring then inside ? How big do they get full grown?

I just wanted to add that pineapples will also grow in water. Buy one with a nice green center crown. When you clean them leave some of the core, about an inch, pull off a couple rows of leaves around it and put it in just enough water to go up to the leaves. I used a quart sized mason jar and it was just right to hold the leaves above the water. I I changed the water every few days at first. In a few weeks roots will begin to sprout. I waited until they were large and also coming off the core near the bottom leaves then plant them in potting soil. I have done 2 this way and both are growing well. I plan to put them outside for the summer and bring them inside for the Michigan winter.

they can be grown indoors preferably in the kitchen or somewhere warm. they dont get too big before they give a fruit

Yes. I live in Alberta Canada and I grow pineapple from the tops indoors in a sunny window. :-) I have about 6 now. Only eaten one so far but just started doing this. They turn out a bit small but it's fun. Start with a nice healthy top with green leaves and pull a few leaves off and put in water until it roots. This is the hardest part. I find they rot sometimes. Just be patient and you should see some toots soon. Then you plant in dirt. Well drained soil. I put rocks on bottom of pot.

Hopefully no toots. Just roots. Lol

There is a trick or hack you may want to research about "tricking" the pineapple to fruit yearly if you do not want to wait the full 2 years. I am not sure about the full science to it but what I learned is you can cut an apple in half, place next to the pineapple plant and put a plastic bag around both pineapple plant and apple halve. The gases released from the rotting/decomposing/ripening apple (even over the course of a day) trigger the pineapple to fruit and grow a new pineapple!!! I think you only need to leave it this way overnight or for a day or so. Look it up for more details!

I have done that numerous times... even forced one of the plants to fruit, although the fruit was only the size of a tennis ball.

My mother grew a pineapple on her dining room table in front of a big dbl pained window with an southern exposure, in Vermont. She grew it in a med sized pot. It took 3 yrs to reproduce, it was quite large, filled up her table that sits 6 easily. It was fun to watch. It didn't get real big. My sister also grows them down in FL, she just puts the top down in some roughed up dirt and they grow. They do take 3yrs but the fruit is great when it's done, as long as you harvest it before the animals get it. My sister has lost a few to racoons.

yip and it makes an absolutely stunning plant but keep it in a portable container if you live in a place where there is frost. i planted mine in a bucket and i keep it in my house at night and put it out in the morning it will be another six years before I can eat a home grown PINE lol

Done it with the avocado and produced a tall tree, must be a male/female thing because there was no fruit

Avocado trees have to be grafted before they will produce fruit.

Hi Linda , avocado trees do not have to be grafted before they will produce fruit . None of ours were grafted & we have wonderful, large avocados every year !! In fact, the original tree came from a pit one of my brothers threw out his bedroom window because he was too lazy to go back to the kitchen !

Only Hass avacadoes have to be grafted

Avocado trees take about 7 or 8 years before they bear fruit. They do not have to be grafted. Avocado's are the one fruit that do not ripen until they are removed from the tree !! Good luck !

We bought a three foot tree about five years ago and it started fruiting last year. Only got about seven last year and it went crazy this year. To the point I am almost sick of eating them...lol

This is one of my favorite things to do! I've done the avocado, onions, pineapple plant, and ginger. The whole idea of the cilantro and basil rooting is very exciting to me!! Cool post, thanks!

Interesting, I'm going to try some of these ideas. California is so dry our produce is going to be so expensive in the near future, these ideas will help, especially the vegan diet.

Good post, thank you. I have tried a few of these. I want to try the mushroom.

only use organic. The regular veggies are sprayed with a chemical that prevents them from rooting. Forgot the name.

budnip

On the pineapple... your failure might be that the plant your using is GMO they will not regrow ...all GMO pineapple has a pinkish color instead of just green and yellow...good luck

Some great ideas! I did have great success in FL just by plunking the crown of a Dole pineapple from the groc store in the ground. They do like water and it takes some time, but they grow!! Not so sure that work indoors in Iowa, lol!

Thanks for the information. Anxiouslyj

I did Turmeric. Very slow!

yes, it is. Done that one, too.

I've grown a lot of vegies and fruit, mostly to feed the hungry, but though the soil was relatively clean, my seeds and starts were commercial. No MORE. You have convinced me that even though I am low-income, buying organic makes economic sense because I can continue to sprout it and to raise new seeds from them. This vegetarian thanks you. I didn't want to eat their chemicals, but I felt unable to afford the more expensive organic ALL the time. Now I will swing it. Also, grow extra for the food banks if you can. The Gov. has seriously cut food money to the poor again. Help if you can.

Plant horse radish tops. Just freshly dug out of your garden mix freshly grated horse radish with some organic vinegar, sea salt and you have the best tastiest horse radish to go with roast beef. Or healthier is naturally Fermented Horseradish

Ingredients:
1 large horseradish root, washed, peeled and grated about 10 inches long
Himalayan pink salt
2% brine - (19 grams of salt per quart of water)
.5 liter anaerobic ferment vessel
Nothing beats freshly dug, cleaned and fine grated horseradish to clear your sinuses.

Question on the romaine lettuce...do you keep regrowing from the same stump, or do you have to change it out? Thanks!

Once I plant my romaine I just trim off the tops for salads and it keeps growing back all season long!

RE: cilantro/coriander, the seed is what is known as coriander, at least in Indian cooking. The plant IS known by both names, but whole/ground coriander seed has a rich and deep toned flavor that is nothing like the bright taste of the leaves and stems (cilantro) from which it springs. Basically, you can't substitute seeds hoping for the taste of the leaves and vice versa.

chard is another that will keep growing if you just take the stems from the outside .
I

Let me add that Garlic can save asthmatics while in crisis "dificultes to breath and..." . Just give the person some garlic that they will chew with closed mouth.

Also meaning that those who suffer from breathing deseases must have some garlic with them anywhere they are.

Fantastic! Never seen that!

I grew celery this summer. It did great but I didn't know how or when to harvest.

I always wondered what the difference was in Florida and Central Texas plant growing patterns. We pretty much have the same climate! I would love to grow avocado trees, oranges. lemons, and all the other wonderful veg's and fruit they have their. Here in Central Texas!

I have a avocado tree growing indoors and was wondering if I transplant it outdoors, do I have to bring it back in during winter or would it survive the cold. Also any advice on how to successfully transplant it would be much needed, thanks to all!

Above it read to break of shoot on a sweet potato... I'm confused.... If u take the sprout off the potato and plant it, will I harvest potatoes? I've always planted the whole potatoe with eyes.... This seems as if it will make a beautiful plant, I'm just not sure it will also grow potatoes... I appreciate your comments very much, either way!!! Jan Smith, Starke, Fl

I had successfully started some celery and have a 1-year old pineapple plant that is doing great. So this week when making a salad, I decided to try it with the core of an iceberg lettuce. In just 3 days I had new leaves starting. I have to change the water every day as it turns brown quickly, but it IS growing! Have 2 celery almost ready for dirt, and 2 more started, as well as a 2nd pineapple. For a lady with a "black thumb", I'm quite proud of myself. :-)

I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading all the posts on here, I am making a bunch of raised flowers pots (not beds) and can't wait for the winter so I can get all my flowers outside, I live in the desert and the summer heat is always in triple digits is too hot for most young plants. I also never knew that one should use organic for starting new plants, good to know.

It's also handy if you have to start off with store bought plants or seeds, after fruiting, allow one or 2 plants to go to seed & then you will have durable seed that will grow plants happily in your location.

Technically you can regrow nearly any plant indefinitely through clones. I've managed to regrow several tomato plants throughout this years season by cutting and planting the suckers(the new growth between leaves and stem). Simply put the cutting in clean water and when you see roots forming plant in potting soil. Sometimes a clear bag helps to maintain moisture, as the plant looses lots through its leaves with no roots to supply it. Tomatoes root rapidly anywhere along the stem, so after the roots show its best to bury them deeply, leaving only the top two-three sets of leaves. Once the roots take you'll have a great clone of the mother plant.

If I had a greenhouse I could have tomatoes from the original plant indefinitely. What's great about this is the tomato clones seem to grow with the same vigor as a new plant! So while the mother plant may be nearing the end of it's growing cycle, the younger plant will be there to produce extra tomatoes late season. Also works for hybrids without the need to cross pollinate and save seeds.

I've also managed to do this with basil and my pitcher plant.

Also if you're looking to save some $ and time, buy bunches of basil, cilantro or other herbs from a supermarket rather than nursery. Often they'll still have their roots, and you can yield 20 plants from a good bunch, rather than 3-4 from a pre potted one! I even got many to survive directly sown outside.

Happy gardening!

Bad,bad chlorine! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. How many villages were wiped out by chlolera, thyphoid,etc before chlorine. Chlorine dissipates quickly after killing bacteria. Like someone said. The bad chemicals added to tap water are lime a alum which cause all the crap in water to settle out in the basin clear enough to see 15 feet to the bottom. This is before it is filtered thru the best carbon filters in the world. Thankfully my kids did not have rotten teeth like in the sixties thanks to Flouride . LEAD in water , what do you think would be the first thing to settle out if there were any present or any of the other around 100 chemicals tested for which are measured in parts per billion( a few molecules! ) Of course bottled water is exempt from all of the EPA testing because it is PURE and NATURAl , like arsenic or Cyanide. As far as any staining you see, there are mostly ancient rusty pipes still in the ground or a little manganese of which you have a minimum daily requirement. Oh yeah if there were any lead in tap water it would only be in older homes when plumbers used lead solder .

Pressure Cooker recipes?

I have definitely enjoyed and learned from this post, greatly appreciated !

I am attempting to start a veg/herb garden at our new house. I have two smaller flower type beds I used. I had sugar snap peas, mystery tomatoes in one. In the other I had spinach and lettuce. Also potted brussel sprouts, cilantro, and cauliflower nearby. Something has eaten all of the lettuce seedlings, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. The others have been left untouched. Any ideas on what happened ? Thank you for any comments

Gardening newbie