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Growin onions from scraps

Hi' i really want to learn to grow vegtebals from leftovers{onions,garlic,lettuce,caarrots,bets and so on..}

At the momnet im trying to grow green onions from the leftoer bottoms and having a reallt hard time. ive tried in a pot and in water and in both situations they very quicly starting to rot even if im changing thw water twice a day.

If anyone here has exp and tips ill really appreciate it, thank you

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  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    I have had good success.  The ones I want to grow, I leave about four inches above the roots.. all of the white and a bit of the green.  I then pop them into a glass of water on the windowsill and change the water every few days.  When some of the roots are about an inch long or so (usually takes about a week), I just put them straight out into the garden.  I've put them into a plastic window box pot before as well, so a pot will work fine too.  

    I don't think any of the others you mentioned really do much other than grow their tops.  They won't ever produce something you can/want to eat.  Much better to get some seed packets in the spring and put your energy into growing that way.  Aside from the spring onions.. I find the above method far better than growing from seed.  
    Utah, USA.
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    Most vegetables do not grow back from scraps. and if they do and you have grown them in water they will have virtually no nutrition.

    I assume that you mean the bottom of normal onions? That really won't do anything as you will have cut the growing point off, it's around half way up the onion. If you mean spring onions then only dip the very bottom into the water and they should not rot.

    Carrots will grow new tops, they will never grow new edible roots. beetroot will just die they don't grow roots from the side of their big root so can't manage after the tap root has been cut off.

    lettuce can regrow if the original cut was not to high up.

    Garlic is grown from cloves, put some in a pot outside around 10cm apart (or in the ground) right now and leave them out overwinter, they will start to grow greens in the spring (possibly a bit right now) and in around July will be ready to harvest as bulbs of garlic. I just planted 200 garlic cloves last week, 4 years ago I planted two bulbs of supermarket garlic and these are their babies, I plant them back every year and get enough garlic for the whole year and to replant.
  • @eldadalaalaC23WmZ63 : Welcome to the forum! I've had moderate succes with Celery. Saving the bottom 2cms of the stalks (when still joined together) & pop into a shallow amount of water (clear glass is best to see the start of white roots forming). Green shoots will emerge between the old stalks - when they get to about 4/5 cms, I plant out into a pot of general compost - practically burying all but the green tops & providing a shallow saucer of water to keep the whole thing moist. I 'harvest' the young stalks, as /when I need them. They taste terrific, even better, I feel, than the blander 'white' stems of the original bunch! Enjoy!!
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I've heard of people getting plants from potato peelings thrown in the compost heap but they would need to have 'eyes' in them.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • PhaidraPhaidra Posts: 582
    You should be able to grow some very easily indeed.  Just leave a couple of cm from the bottom of the onion and place that in a container with a cm or two of water.  Leave it in a bright spot and top up the water as necessary; do not change it but top it up so that the new roots are always submerged, not the whole onion "cutting".  The roots will grow beautifully.

    Take a look at this thread; you may find it useful.

    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1004868/plants-that-root-in-water/p37 
  • Thanks for responding.. im still having alot of trouble with the onions, and will appreciat your help trying to understand what im doing wrong.. theyr getting rot after 2 days. in some occasions they start to grow and after a few more days starting to rot but i didnt succed in keeoing them more then 1 week without rotting...like i said  im changing the water very often .. the temp here is around 30 degrees mid day and 20 at night.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Can you post some pictures of what you are trying?
    Utah, USA.
  • you can see the one that is a full green onion that i put in water and grew ne roots and shoots but after a few days the bottom started to rot now its completly mushi..
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Use the tops of some fresh ones, and leave about four inches of stem above the roots.  Do not peel off any of the bottom layers.  Use your finger to make some holes in a pot of moist compost, pop them in about an inch or two deep.. then water them in.  Let the top of the soil dry out a bit between watering, but make sure when you stick your finger into the soil near the end that it is damp under the surface.  In the late spring I often just take the ends off the cutting board and pop them direct out into the garden soil to gradually form a short row.  They grow just fine as long as a few roots are visible.  A few die off, but most survive and produce heavily.  
    Utah, USA.
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