Kitchen Garden Forum

Saw articles saw you can regrowing spring onions so thought I would give it a try.

This is the result after being in water for 7 days.

Hi Colin2016!

I've been looking at loads of these re-growiing things on Pinterest but only tried getting some spring onion tops on real onions that sprouted which were a bit tougher but OK. & a bit stronger. I've got my eye on re-growing celery roots next as never have any luck with celery!

Good Luck Westie...Not heard about celery option personally at the moment I cannot even get the celery seeds to germinate.

I tried this a couple of years ago with the base of a full sized onion. It grew of a sort for a while but never developed another full bulb. I suspect once the roots have done their job once it's too much effort for them to repeat the Full Monty. The old favourite of course used to be the avocado stone but that was when avocados were still rather a novelty to many people rather than the common fruit they are today. I don't, so iw anybody who had any success with one. Our climate's too cold I think to sustain a viable plant even if one was was ever produced.

I did throw some potato peelings into my climbing bean and tomato trench last autumn to rot down with other vegetation. This has reminded me that the other day I spotted a tiny potato seedling peeping through the soil and at the end of it was was a tiny potato the size of a hazel nut. Perhaps I should have left it in as an experiment - I did ,t realise a potato could got from some potato peel but I didn't think a potato growing in with my tomatoes would be a good thing from a hygiene/ blight point of view.

Hi,

I think you can grow lemon grass like this as well - if you have some left over, either put in water or soil, and it should root. I grow it because the cats love the stuff.

I've just put a sprinkling of spring onion seed down the lotty - I wonder what the speed differences are to get the same size. Maybe we can compare in a months time!

Pawty.

Evening Primrose!

I don't think they will ever regrow a full bulb, the site I found was advocating them for spring onion substitute then in the compost. The celery is supposed to grow new stalks but I think they may go to seed quickly so likely just for some baby stems for soups & stock - but something from nothing is cool too!

Colin2016 - keep us updated on your experiment!

Hi Primrose,
To regenerate an onion it would be better to use scaling as used in lily production. In the dim and distant past I experimented to simply see if it worked but never actually grew on as a crop. I stopped when I had produced the bulblets.

Heres an update showing only 2 doing will.

I think all these ideas are fun to try as an experiment.
I suppose in a total starvation hunger situation one would try anything just to grow something that was edible but mostly I suspect one is doomed to failure. However I always have great success regenerating my potted basil plants though by snipping off a few top shoots and leaving them in water for a few days until they grow a mass of new hairy roots.

I haven't tried this with any other herbs though, mainly because I usually seem to have sufficient herbs when I need to use them. Are there any other herbs which react in the same way?

Well Colin, that one works pretty well even if some losses you have a copy of the original. I've got a celery stub in the back garden just starting to get little stalks & leaves so will see how it gets on but I expect straight to seed is most likely outcome!

Thanks for posting such tips. They are extremely helpful for me!

My spring onions have worked well and have had loads regrow from the roots. My celery experiment has surprised, it limped through the summer (probably because I put it near the sweetcorn), but has suddenly shot up since the weather cooled and the bed was cleared of taller stuff, & by the looks it is not too stringy. Not ready yet but it won't be wasted if it is stringy but will go in soups. I'm currently trying to get Pak Choi to re-sprout, not seen that anywhere on line but always disappointed that the outer leaves go yellow really quickly & I do like it. No roots yet but inner leaves have not gone yellow since I popped it into a bit of water. If it roots it will go into a pot & will see.

Just re-visiting as I have continued this & I have never had such big spring onions. They are still in the miniature peach pot by the back door, grown through the winter without protection and over a foot high! They will have their own designated pot this year as have been so successful! These new ones are a second attempt from an already regrown crop!

Congratulations but I suspect you've probably become too proud of them now to eat them !!!

Well done Westi, you will have to eat one of them to find out how they taste.