How to regrow lettuce from left over lettuce heads

[lizbeth490]

You know when you go to the store and buy a head of romanie, green leaf, red leaf etc. Well when you cut of the stem (or what ever that part is called) leave it so the heart is still intact. Put it in a dish of water and set it in the sun and watch your lettuce start to regrow! It will even start to grow roots so you can eventually plant it in the ground so that you can get more nutrients from it.

Heres a pic of my week old escorole.

 

[wellington]

How much of the head did you start with? Is the leaves in the pic all new growth?
That is so cool. I never thought to try this. I will for sure now. Thanks for sharing. Keep posting updated photos.

 

[Pokeymeg]

Nice! It's a great way to save money. Sometimes you can even find the 'living lettuce' (Boston lettuce) that still has its roots for easy re-growing!

 

[LaLa (karla)]

thanks for sharing definantly gonna have to try this

 

[Jacqui]

Thank you for sharing, I wasn't aware that so many of you didn't already know this. Makes me feel bad for never sharing it myself.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I had no clue!

Definitely going to do this!!!

 

[tortoise007]

WOW! I just threw away some of those lettuce hearts...

 

[WillTort2]

You can also take the stem or heart of the lettuce and slice it thin for feeding to your torts. Mine like this better than the leaves.

 

[kathyth]

Wow!
This is really good news!
Thanks for sharing this info!

 

[lizbeth490]

This is the coolest, and a good money saver!
Here's the same heads a week later:

And here are the ones that I started on monday:

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How much of the head did you start with? Is the leaves in the pic all new growth?
That is so cool. I never thought to try this. I will for sure now. Thanks for sharing. Keep posting updated photos.

Yes, all the leaves are new growth. I started with about 2-3 inches depending on the size of the head. Anything you see above flat is new growth. :]

 

[Yvonne G]

I do this in my garden. I have a row of red-leaf lettuce and a row of turnips. I start at one end of a row and cut off the tops of several of the plants. By the time I've gotten all the way down to the end (it takes about 2 weeks), the plants at the beginning are ready for me to harvest them again.

 

[wellington]

I do this in my garden. I have a row of red-leaf lettuce and a row of turnips. I start at one end of a row and cut off the tops of several of the plants. By the time I've gotten all the way down to the end (it takes about 2 weeks), the plants at the beginning are ready for me to harvest them again.

I was wondering if it could be done that way. That's such a money saver.
I am doing the soaking in water. I am amazed at how fast you get new growth.
So glad you posted this lizbeth490

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

Big thanks to all who posted about this, fantastic tips to re-use and re-cycle food, what's not to like?!

 

[lizbeth490]

I do this in my garden. I have a row of red-leaf lettuce and a row of turnips. I start at one end of a row and cut off the tops of several of the plants. By the time I've gotten all the way down to the end (it takes about 2 weeks), the plants at the beginning are ready for me to harvest them again.

Thats what i want to do eventually, I was thinking it needs to have roots first?