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Growing Romaine Lettuce from Scraps in Water

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Gardening experiments can be so much fun! Take growing romaine lettuce from scraps for one. Did you know it only takes a couple of days to regrow romaine lettuce from the stump once you’ve enjoyed your salad? It’s pretty amazing actually!

Tiny little romaine lettuce leaves start rising out of the lettuce stump. In a week or two, you or your kids can enjoy a micro salad from this neat experience of propagating lettuce in water.

If you haven’t tried growing lettuce from scraps yet, I assure you this is a neat effort to try at least once.

Growing Romaine Lettuce from Scraps in a Glass Jar on a Windowsill
Growing Romaine Lettuce from Scraps in a Glass Jar on a Windowsill (Feb. 2022)

Be aware that regrowing romaine lettuce doesn’t tend to produce as much lettuce as growing a brand-new plant – at least in my experience – but it’s still a cool experiment to try.

Let’s give it a whirl – here are my exact steps on how to regrow romaine lettuce from a stump in water!

Is it possible to grow lettuce from stump portions that are leftover?

Yes, you actually can regrow romaine lettuce from the stump that remains after you’ve cut away the lettuce leaves. If you place the lettuce stump in water, new lettuce leaves will grow in a matter of days. Given enough time, they will grow to be a few inches tall, at which point you can harvest and enjoy them.

Some say you can actually plant the lettuce stump in soil after some time. Others say simply keep it in water. I say try whichever method appeals to you most, or try both so you have a comparison for next time.

What do you need in order to regrow romaine lettuce?

When regrowing lettuce, you need to save the stump without cutting too close to the crown. You’ll also need a jar or bowl of clean water to set the lettuce scraps into, and new fresh water every other day or so. This is a very quick and easy gardening experiment to try by yourself or with the kids!

How to Regrow Lettuce in Water

As you work to learn how to grow lettuce from scraps, keep in mind that anyone can do this. You’ll find it takes only a matter of minutes, but it’s up to you to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze. You may not get quite enough lettuce to make it worthwhile.

Then again, the experience itself is surely worth at least one attempt at regrowing lettue in water.

Regrowing Romaine Lettuce in Water
Regrowing Romaine Lettuce in Water from scraps

Try this neat gardening experiment – the famous Lettuce Regrow in Water!

  1. Cut the romaine lettuce leaves from the stump and enjoy them with your dinner.
  2. Fill a small jar or bowl with about 1/2 inch of clean, fresh water.
  3. Place the romaine lettuce stump in water.
  4. Check the water level daily and replace the water every other day.
  5. After a few weeks, you can harvest and enjoy the lettuce leaves in a mini salad.
  6. If you wish, you could also transfer the lettuce plant to soil. I believe I did this and it did eventually bolt and produce its flower stalk!

Tips on Regrowing Lettuce in Water

Regrowing romaine lettuce from scraps is such a quick little trick that’s worth your time at least once.

Even if you don’t get enough new regrown lettuce for the whole family, it’s still pretty interesting.

If nothing else, isn’t it fun to see what you can grow from your grocery list?

When growing romaine lettuce in water, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Make sure you don’t cut too far down when cutting off the leaves. You still want to see the texture of the different leaves a bit, as this is where the new leave will emerge.
  • Use clean water and a clean jar. This helps to avoid anything icky growing along with the new lettuce.
  • Check water levels daily. Make sure the lettuce stump doesn’t dry out while waiting for new lettuce to regrow.
  • Replace water every other day. To further prevent the stump from breaking down, be sure to replace the water with fresh water every other day.

Have you tried growing romaine lettuce from scraps? What’s your take? Any other fun tips to share?

If this is your first time growing lettuce from scraps, be sure to reach out to us in the comments with any questions you may have.

We love hearing from you!

By the way, if you enjoyed this post, you might also like to learn more about How to Plant Lettuce Seeds.

Happy Gardening!

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