You ask yourself: can you regrow lettuce? I say yes! It's so easy to grow a new lettuce plant from a stalk!
You've always thrown the lettuce on the compost heap or in the organic waste until now? That is really a pity. Because you could have grown a new salad from it.
A lettuce stalk is one of those wastes that should not be left in the trash. You can regrow your lettuce if you have a bright location, water and some patience.
When I heard about it, I was of course very curious and just tried it. And lo and behold: It works wonderfully and without much work.
Re-growing is all the rage. This is the principle of growing new plants from waste. From spring onions, leeks, celery, carrots to lettuce, many things are possible.
Today we'll take a close look at how to grow a lettuce from a stalk.
Table of contents
Here's what you need to know if you want to regrow lettuce
There are many classic kitchen scraps that are far too good for the trash. For me, lettuce is the best example of all. Because it can be recreated with very little effort.
The stalk ends up in the trash without a second thought. If you eat a lot of lettuce, like me, you can have three stalks a week. But if you know how to regrow lettuce, that's the end of it.
It's really fun to watch the little lettuce grow every day. Within 2 days you can already see the beginning of the new leaves. And in five days the lettuce is already 4 cm high.
You can not expect a huge head of lettuce like in the supermarket, but a few crunchy leaves can always be harvested. The leaves are very good for garnishing food. You can also put them on bread or mix them into salad.
You have two options: either you grow the lettuce in water or you use soil. But we'll look at that in detail right now.
By the way, whoever is in the process of doing so can also Regrow spring onions.
What lettuce always grows back?
Leaf and head lettuces are particularly easy to grow back. Romaine lettuce will always grow back if you remove the outer leaves and leave the heart. The small leaves will grow and form a new head of lettuce.
Very well can be traced:
- Romana
- Lollo Verde
- Lollo Rosso
- Radicchio
- Iceberg lettuce
Not every variety is equally well suited for breeding. With some it works wonderfully, with others not at all. It is important that they have a firm stalk. You can look for this when you go shopping.
The fresher the cut stalk looks, the better it is.
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How you can regrow lettuce in four steps
If you want to put a lettuce stalk in water and regrow new leaves, you need:
- A salad drink
- A glass or bowl and water
- A bright place
Prepare the stalk
You don't have to do much more than leave the last few inches of lettuce. Do not cut too radically.
You can cut away the remains of the leaves on the sides or just leave them on.
Very important: Cut away the dried end at the end of the stalk. Use a sharp knife for this. I take away about a millimeter. Then the brown spots should no longer be visible. Fresh, milky juice will come out.
Prepare the bowl
Be sure to use a glass bowl. Anything other than glass or plastic is unsuitable, because otherwise too little light reaches the stalk.
Place the lettuce in the bowl and fill with water. The lower side of the stalk should be in the water, the upper side should be free.
Observe and maintain
First, the edges of the former leaves begin to turn brown. They become smaller and retreat.
Instead, something exciting happens inside the lettuce. It begins to turn green. Already after 2 days, if you look closely, you can see the first green buds.
Change the water at least every 2nd day now.
If you want to regrow your lettuce, you have something new to watch every day. On the fifth day, the little miracle is really impossible to miss. The lettuce becomes really green and clearly stands out from the stalk.
Harvest the trailed lettuce
Depending on how big you want your lettuce to grow, you can harvest it after 7 to 10 days. You can't expect huge lettuce leaves, because the lettuce in the water lacks nutrients.
Nevertheless, the leaves taste tender and like freshly harvested.
How often does lettuce grow back?
In the water lettuce grows about 2x. For more lettuce leaves in the water lack the nutrients. You can also plant the stalk in the garden or pot. Here the lettuce stalk finds enough nutrients in the soil and can sprout more leaves.
In what location can I grow lettuce?
Very important: whether in the garden or in a water glass - a salad needs brightness. You should avoid blazing sun, because the water gets warm and the lettuce starts to rot.
A bright window place is optimal. In my case, the re-growing lettuces are placed at a window where they get sun in the morning. After about an hour, the sun moves on, but it remains bright on the windowsill.
The lettuce has no other requirements for regrowth. Regular ventilation with drafts is quite indifferent to him, as long as the total temperature is always around 20 ° Celsius.
The only thing he doesn't like is stale water. That's why you should change the water at least every other day. Better yet, daily. Pour away the old water and give the lettuce drink fresh water.
Once your salad drink is in the water, it's: Wait, watch and be amazed.
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Can you put the sprouted lettuce stalk in the garden?
After time, small, fine roots will form. You can plant the stalk in a pot or in the garden, but you must make sure that the soil is always moist.
Use potting soil for planting. It contains a particularly large amount of nutrients. Because the grain size of the soil is very fine, the lettuce can quickly take root.
Unfortunately, I cannot say whether a whole new large head of lettuce will form from it. I have to try that out first. As soon as I have dared the experiment, I will add the lines.
Does lettuce grow back in the garden?
Many lettuce varieties also grow back in the garden. To do this, cut the lettuce directly in the garden - the stalk remains in the ground and then grows back from the middle.
This works quite well with romaine, arugula and lettuce. If you remove the outer leaves of lamb's lettuce and spinach and leave the heart, new leaves will form regularly.
But healthy wild lettuces like dandelions are also constantly growing back.
By the way, some supermarkets sell lettuce with small root balls. Of course, lettuce re-growing is particularly quick and easy. Just put the root ball into the soil, water it and the lettuce will sprout again.
Here you can watch a video on how to grow lettuce and other foods.
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Our conclusion
To regrow lettuce is quite simple. All you need is water, a glass bowl and a stalk. It's a lot of fun to watch the vegetables grow and to use leftover vegetables.
Have fun making it! :)
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