Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Indoor Growing / Propagation of Cuttings, Prunings & Food Scraps

Obviously when we purchase food from a store or Farmer, we can save seeds from apples, pears, avocado, lemons, and others to plant in a pot and grow outside. Most fruits purchased from the store came from grafted trees, meaning the tree may have different varieties growing on them. Thus, the fruit you ate may not be the same variety, taste, shape that you grow.
 Of course I still sprout fruit seeds I have saved from store-bought fruits, because I am experimenting with re-growing FREE food. But when it comes to re-growing your food scraps (the ends of celery or lettuce) will continue to root and grow food within weeks.
As seen in the demonstration below, First put cuttings in water next to a sunny window, then move to a pot of soil to continue to root. This method is a Simple strategy to growing FREE food.



source: cooking stoned
From my experience, carrots are useless to re-grow because you would only be growing them for the carrot greens. However, you can certainly put carrot tops in the ground to re-grow a full-sized carrot. Also from experience, green onions take three days to re-grow full size (and ready to harvest). Re-growing lettuce takes a month, but will produce fresh leaves within a week. You can re-grow Cilantro, basil, or possibly any herb using this method. Even Button mushrooms from the store can be re-grown, for example: "Plant mushroom stalks in soil with some compost or used coffee grounds and keep them in a moist environment, preferably where it will be cool at night. They can be tricky to grow, and within a few days the stems will either start to sprout new heads or rot" (Food Hacks).

source: cooking stoned


Other people have used this method of re-growing food, look at the pictures below for inspiration...

photo source: True Activist

Source: Eating the Week
Source: Eating the Week
photo source
photo: Garden4Goodies
Do not limit yourself to re-growing vegetables alone: Cuttings from Fruit trees can also be rooted with this method, known as Propagation. Once or twice a year, Fruit trees will need to be pruned (in Spring or Fall). By taking the cuttings ("prunings") and placing them in water, the tree will root at the ends, then place the tree in a pot of soil. Growing trees in a pot should be temporary so you can monitor the soil conditions, moisture, and temperature. In April through Summer months, transplant Fruit tree from the pot to a place in your yard (garden). Continue to water tree every other day for a successful transplant. If pruning trees in the Fall, place Tree cuttings in the fridge to stay dormant or transplant to a pot of soil indoors over the winter.
photo source: Mulberrytrees

Many vegetables can be grown from food scraps, and many of these can be grown successfully in containers so There is no need to have an outdoor garden to transplant your cuttings from the cups of water (but I highly recommend it!)
Please refer to my post on Fruit trees and vegetables that can be grown in Containers: Grow Veggies & Fruit trees in Containers (Limited Space & Urban gardening)

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