Propagating plants began more than 10,000 years ago as civilizations first began. Propagation techniques were first used on the most common foods needed to survive for humans and animals. It also helped communities stay in the same place for long periods, instead of being forced to move on once their crops died out or soil was no longer usable. Since they didn’t have the luxury of simply running to the supermarket when they needed more food, propagation played a significant role in human and civilization development. Now you are able to skip the hassle by propagating store bought vegetables.
These sites became centers of activity and, eventually, cities and countries. What began as a necessity is now widely used to develop new plant species and replenish crops each season.
For Indoor gardeners, propagating is a way to be more resourceful, reduce individual waste, increase sustainability, and for the sheer enjoyment of it. There is a certain level of magic in turning waste into something new and beautiful.
Here’s your guide to propagating store-bought vegetables indoors.
What is Propagation?
The definition of propagation is breeding specimens of a plant by natural processes from the parent stock. Propagating can be done from seeds, cuttings, or other parts of the plant.
For the sake of this guide, propagation means using part of a store-bought plant to regrow or replenish that vegetable.
Not all store-bought vegetables can be propagated. In fact, some are sprayed with special chemicals to prevent regrowth. Often, this is done to stunt the plant’s growth and increase its attractiveness on the shelves of supermarkets.
Popular Vegetables to Propagate
When deciding which vegetables to propagate, you’ll need to consider the amount of space, lighting, and temperature available in your home. Some vegetables grow more vertically (like green onions), and others require a lot of undersoil space (like carrots and potatoes). Also, most vegetables need full sun or access to grow lights to produce well.
So, consider access to these resources when making your pre-propagating decisions.
Green Onions
Green onions are one of the most commonly upcycled vegetables because propagating them is very easy. You simply slice off the ends of the bulbs–the white part with the roots, then place the bulbs, roots down, into a small jar filled with water. The top edges should stick out of the water. Place the jar on a windowsill and replenish the water as needed. After only a few days, green shoots will emerge.
Once the shoots are about 4 to 5 inches, you can choose to use these as-is or transplant the green onion in a pot of soil to grow it bigger and healthier for a long time. When harvesting, it’s best to cut the green stem all the way down to the soil, then let them regrow again. While they can continue growing in the jar, the plant will weaken over time. So, if you want more than one or two extra uses out of them, go with the transplanting method.
With transplanting, just one bunch of green onions can provide plenty more year-round.
Celery
Propagating celery is very similar to green onions. When using a bunch of celery, slice about two inches off the root end for propagation. You’ll then take a shallow glass bowl or jar and fill it with water. Place 3 to 4 toothpicks into the end of the celery bunch, about 1.5 inches from the bottom. Place the root end of the celery downwards to be submerged in water. Change the water every couple of days, ensuring that the root end is always submerged.
After about a week, small stalks, leaves, and roots should begin emerging. If the top of the celery starts to turn brown, it’s okay. When the new roots reach about an inch long, you can plant the celery, root side down, into a pot of soil. You’ll want to plant it deep enough that the base is completely covered and the cut end is sticking out. Tamper the soil around it, to prevent air bubbles.
Choose a soil mix meant for growing vegetables and herbs and free of pesticides. Celery grows best in cool weather and rich soil, so provide it shade during the day and feed it to replenish nutrients. When the celery seems fit to use, cut it at the base to allow the celery to continue producing.
Lettuce
Many store-bought lettuces can be propagated to get an extra 1 to 2 uses. Similar to the directions above, you’ll want to cut the fruit down to the bulb, leaving enough room to submerge it in a shallow water dish. Use the toothpick method again to keep the bottom submerged while leaving the cut side out of the water.
The lettuce stalks will begin to grow, and after just 10-14 days, you’ll have more lettuce to use on sandwiches or in salads. Even if you plant it in soil, the entire head won’t regrow, and the lettuce leaves will be smaller than the original. So it’s best to use it once it’s reached this point, or it will go bad. Toss any remaining lettuce waste into your compost post.
Garlic
Growing garlic can be pretty-straightforward, but there are a few things to be aware of while at the grocery store selecting your garlic bulbs. First, since most garlic in stores is from China, you can’t propagate it because it is sprayed with chemicals that prevent regrowth. It’s best to pick garlic that is organic or locally produced.
Secondly, the zone you live in matters for which garlic you choose. There are two main types of garlic: softneck and hardneck garlic. Hardneck garlic tends to have fewer cloves per head, the cloves are larger, it peels easier, and it grows best in colder climates.
Softneck garlic grows best in warm climates, and its cloves are typically smaller. Softneck varieties also have longer shelf lives than hardneck varieties.
It is important to note that garlic is toxic for dogs and cats, so if you are growing garlic indoors, be sure to put your plants somewhere animals can’t reach.
After choosing your variety, separate the cloves, leaving the papery covering intact. Plant only the largest cloves (and use the smaller ones in your kitchen). The cloves should be planted about three inches deep and with the pointy end up.
Growing Garlic Details
If you are growing the garlic just for its greens, you can plant 2 to 3 bulbs in the same pot and set it in a sunny spot. The greens grow quickly, and you can snip them off as they grow to use them in cooking. Eventually, the greens may stop, or the plant will wilt, so you’ll want to rotate new bulbs in from time to time.
If planting garlic for full bulbs, plant just one bulb in each container and place it in the sunniest location you have available. Garlic needs about six hours of sun per day. Water the garlic enough that it stays moist but not wet. Feed the plant twice a month with a water-soluble fertilizer that’s diluted to half its strength. Within a week or two, green shoots should begin to pop up. Once the shoots are a couple inches tall, you can cut them and use them for cooking, but leave about one inch on the plant so that the bulb continues growing.
Growing full bulbs can take a long time, upwards of six months. If you notice the leaf shoots turning brown, you should stop watering and let it completely dry out. After about two weeks, the garlic is ready for harvest when completely dried.
Ginger
Another great store-bought plant that’s easy to propagate is ginger. The reason ginger is so easy is because of its rhizomes. Rhizomes are root stalks that grow horizontally out from different buds on the plant and retain the ability to allow new shoots to continue growing vertically.
To propagate store-bought ginger:
- Leave yourself at least a bud or two after using your ginger root. You can also cut a single ginger root into multiple rhizomes.
- Use a sharp knife to cut 1- to 1-½ inch pieces.
- After cutting, leave the ginger out for a few days to heal and form a callus.
- Soak the ginger rhizomes in warm water overnight to prepare them for planting.
To plant, fill a shallow, wide pot (remember the roots grow horizontally) with well-draining and rich potting soil. Place the ginger root with its eye bud pointing up and cover with 1-2 inches of soil. Water the plant lightly. Place the pot in a warm spot that’s not too bright. The soil should stay moist but not be over-watered. After 2 to 3 weeks, shoots should be visible. After a few months, small pieces of ginger can be harvested. If you want to continue growing it or increase the size of your ginger plant, then remove it from the soil, careful not to damage the root bed. Each shoot can be separated from the base of the ginger by simply breaking it off, again carefully to not destroy the roots. Then, replant each shoot.
A fully mature ginger plant will grow 2 to 3 feet high, and if you continue this process, you’ll never run out of ginger or lose your beautiful ginger plant.
Potato
The first thing you’ll want to do is select potatoes from the store or market that clearly have “eyes.” These will make it easy when you are propagating store bought vegetables. Since potatoes sometimes sit for months before making it onto shelves, farmers spray the potatoes with a growth retardant. So, when you see potatoes with few to no eyes, those are harvested that way to increase their chances of being selected by customers.
After selecting your potatoes, you’ll want to wash and lightly scrub the skin with warm water to remove dirt and any other chemicals. After that, wipe the potatoes dry with a cloth or paper towel. Cut the potatoes in half or in quarters, careful not to cut through one of the eyes since that is where regrowth occurs. Place three toothpicks about one-third of the way into the potatoes skin and about halfway between the cut end and the other end of the potato. Fill a wide-mouth glassed jar or dish with water and place the cut end of the potato in the water.
Place the container in a sunny location or under grow lights. Change the water regularly and add water as necessary. After about a week, sprouts should appear around the potato. Take the potato, remove the toothpicks and place each piece of potato about six inches deep in a pot root side down, shoots facing upward. Choose a well-draining pot and fill it about a third of the way with soil. This can also be done with large five-gallon buckets with holes in the bottom or grow bags.
Potatoes thrive in the dark
Cover the potatoes with 2 to 3 inches of soil, barely covering the top. If the potatoes are exposed to sunlight while growing, they can become poisonous. Since potatoes grow under the soil, you’ll need to give them more room by adding soil layers to the top. The longer this process goes, the more potatoes you will produce. When the tops of the plant begin to sag over and brown, it’s time to harvest your potatoes.
Growing potatoes indoors requires full sun and a deep pot or bucket. It’s not the best plant to grow indoors because of the space and mess it can create. But, it can be done.
Carrots
Propagating carrots isn’t quite as simple as regrowing the carrot so you can use it again. But, propagation will allow you to grow seeds from the store-bought carrots that you can then plant. After cutting your carrot, leave about a half-inch on the end of it. Fill a small shallow dish with water, place the cut end down, and stalk end up. Toothpicks can be used to prop up the bottom and allow roots with room to grow. You can even do this with multiple ends at once, layered across the dish. Place the container in full sun, but keep in mind that carrots grow best in cool climates. Replace the water every couple of days and ensure that the water level is touching the edge of the carrot. After a week or two, the roots will begin growing from the cut end of the carrot, and the stalk will grow above it.
From that, you can place the carrot in a pot of rich soil, leaving the stalk or very top of the carrot out. After about a month or two, the stalks will be large and produce small white flowers. After a few more weeks, the white flowers should begin to dry and wilt. This is a good thing. Snip the browned flower clusters (or umbels) at the base and place them into a paper bag. Umbels that are still green should be left on the plant.
Carrot yield
One umbel produces hundreds of carrot seeds. Collecting the seeds (which will look spiky) is as simple as using your fingers to brush them off the umbel onto a paper plate or mat. If you want to store the seeds long-term, you’ll want to remove the outer spiky layers. You can do this by grabbing a handful of seeds and rubbing your hands together. Utilize a sieve or colander to separate the non-usable parts from the seeds.
You can also plant the carrot seeds immediately. You’ll want a deep pot filled with rich soil. Place one seed just a quarter to half an inch deep. Seeds can be planted about an inch apart from one another. Place your pot in a cool spot that gets about 12 hours of sunlight per day. You can use liquid fertilizer to feed the plant. Harvesting should occur about 60-80 days after sowing your seeds. The carrot tops will be about ¾ to 1 inch in diameter and pop out of the soil.
Herbs
Herbs are very easy to propagate with cutting. Take your herb of choice and remove one of the stems. Use a very sharp knife and cut on a diagonal, leaving some of the leaf above where you cut. For most herbs, you simply want one or two sets of leaves left on it, so trim extra leaves or dry, brown growth from the stem you choose. The healthier the plant, the easier time it will have rooting.
Dip the stem, cut side down in a bit of honey, which helps sterilize the cutting and allows it to root better. Place soil, sand, or Rockwell cubes in a container and place the cut end of the stem directly into your medium. You don’t have to plant the stems very deep for them to begin taking root. After about two weeks, your roots should be strong enough to replant into whichever pots you choose.
With just a little preparation and time, you can really have just about any herb you want forever after purchasing from the store just one time.
Cabbage
Leftover leaves are all you need to propagate cabbage. Take a small, leftover leaf, submerge it base down into the water-filled dish, and place it in a sunny area. Replace the water every few days, and you’ll notice new roots beginning to grow from the leaf. You can then take that and transplant it into rich soil and let it grow into a fully developed cabbage plant. Cabbage requires 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Water the soil (avoid watering the foliage) when the top two inches become dry to the touch.
Harvest after about 80 days. The head should be firm throughout. If it’s soft or loose, allow it to continue growing.
And So Many More
As you can tell, you can propagate a lot of store-bought vegetables, and this is by no means an exhaustive list. Some can generate new fruit, while others can be propagated for seeds. The primary process with each is to provide a clean-cut, water, nutrients, and time to regrow roots. After that, you can plant them, fertilize them, and enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor.
Propagating store-bought vegetables is fun and resourceful. It can provide lessons on sustainability for kids, and it’s incredible to think that something that would’ve otherwise been thrown in the trash can be re-used and given new life.