I couldn’t believe what I saw on Facebook a couple weeks ago—lettuce growing in a glass of water. I had to try it.
The instructions specified that one should cut off all lettuce leaves from a fresh head, leaving an inch-or-two stem, and put it in an inch of fresh water in a bright sunny window. This works only with lettuces that form a round head or cone at maturity, not leaf lettuces.
There were three heads in my refrigerator, romaine, red leaf and Bibb. I cut them all in the manner described and refrigerated the leaves in a sealed bag for salads. Then I put an inch of water in various containers and put the stems into them. All were placed under the LED Mini Garden I received to trial in early February from Tucker’s Pride. I set the seven-inch-long garden’s timer for 12 hours of light daily.
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I used a LED Mini Garden in my kitchen as the light source under which to grow lettuce stems.
I usually throw stem sections of head lettuce in the compost bin, so I figured even a handful of fresh leaves would be a plus. I got those and much more!
Within three days, there was dramatic growth of fresh, dark green leaves from all stems. The romaine was the tallest, red-leaf almost as vigorous and the Bibb immediately put its growth into curving leaves, forming a lose head. Two days later (which was five days after sitting the stems in water) I cut my first salad! Leaves were crisp, tasty and fresh.
Three days after placing romaine, red leaf and Bibb lettuce stems in water, there was vigorous growth.
The stems started growing more leaves after the first shearing. I used kitchen scissors to harvest, because the cuts were clean, with little damage. I’m anxious to see how many harvests can be made until the stems finally stop putting out new leaves.
Two later, I harvested my first garbage salad!
The water in which stems grow should be changed every day. I use reverse-osmosis water, which is extensively filtered to remove any pesticides, minerals and chlorine from the water supply. My water source is a well, sunk into a limestone glacier. Distilled or bottled water is a good choice, too.
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Other salad vegetables that can be grown from their root stems include green onions and celery. They, too, sprout new growth from stem centers rapidly. Click here to see the growth progress one gardener had with celery.
Don’t throw away your lettuce stems; grow more! Let us know about your experiences with various lettuce types.
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I pulled roots up with our red & various Luttuce yesterday from garden, put in water, & overnight still looking grea this morning. Thinking of 1 of containers cutting down. Just experimenting to see how long it'll grow if at all. Was going to put in soil.
It would be helpful if the article stated how often I should change the water or not. Wouldn't the water get yucky if not changed regularly? I know it does with cut flowers and the water stinks like a swamp.
Hi Adele,
The water should be changed regularly, about twice a week.
I tried it out and it seems to be working. I'm wondering if the lettuce will have any nutrients because it is not being grown in soil.
There is a contradiction in this article. You first state that this won't work with "leaf lettuces," and then you proceed to describe how well your "red leaf lettuce" grew. It works with any lettuce, or any vegetable, for that matter, when any part of the root can be used.
How many harvests did you get out of one stem?
I planted several romaine stems and immediately got growth. Planted in dirt and now I have very tall small yellow flowers and few leaves. Does anyone know why? Did I leave them too long?
The same thing happens with lettuce planted outside when the weather get too warm. Perhaps yours were planted in a hot sunny location and decided it was time to flower and set seed for next year.
Doreen, I'm excited to see new leaves on our romaine. Our question is, can we plant it in soil? And will it root?
Thank you
Have lettuce growing in small dish presently. Have grown celery with good results. Am going to try a radish (root system)and try seed planting for a lemon tree and cinnamon tree. By the way, you can sterilize soil in the microwave.
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