The short version: Regrowing vegetables from kitchen scraps works best for spring onions, soft herbs, lemongrass, ginger and the leafy bases of celery, lettuce and bok choy. These give you fresh leaves or a small second pick, not a full new head, bulb or root. Use fresh firm scraps, give good light, and change the water every day or two. Treat it as a low cost, fun way to stretch a few crops, not a replacement for a veg patch.
There is a certain satisfaction in coaxing a second life out of a vegetable base you were about to bin. Some of the glossy online claims about endless free food are genuine, but a fair bit is novelty that fizzles after the first small pick. This guide sorts the reliable from the hopeful, so the windowsill earns its keep.
What actually regrows from scraps
The reliable performers are spring onions, leeks, soft herbs, lemongrass, ginger and turmeric, plus the leafy bases of celery, lettuce and bok choy. These reshoot readily from a living base, a stem cutting or a piece of rhizome. Most of the rest you see online is closer to a science experiment than a food source.
The useful way to think about it is by what you actually get back:
- A genuine cut and come again supply of leaves: spring onions and soft herbs.
- One modest second pick before they tire or bolt: celery, lettuce and bok choy.
- A slow new clump over a warm season: ginger, turmeric and lemongrass.
Regrowing leaves from a base is easy, because the plant still has its growing point and some stored energy to spend. A whole new bulb, root or head is much slower, and often does not happen at home in a useful timeframe. Knowing which camp a scrap falls into saves a lot of hopeful staring at a jar.
Spring onions, leeks and shallots: the easy wins
Spring onions are the standout, because the white base with its roots can reshoot new green tops time after time. Keep the rooted base, stand it in a little water on a bright sill, and fresh green usually pushes up within days. It is one of those small wins that feels faintly like cheating. Leeks and shallots behave much the same way, given a little more room and a little more patience.
For anything you want to keep going for weeks, pot the base into soil. The scrap soon uses up its stored reserves, so growth in a plain glass gets thinner and paler over time. A pot of mix in a sunny spot keeps the supply coming much longer, and a diluted seaweed solution makes a gentle tonic once it is potted. A jar of spring onions by the kitchen sink also means you stop buying a fresh bunch only to watch half of it wilt in the crisper.
Herbs and lemongrass from cuttings
Many soft herbs root well from a cutting, which makes them some of the best value scraps of all. Mint and basil are the classic performers: stand a healthy cutting in water, wait a week or two for roots to form, then pot it up. Keep it out of harsh midday sun through glass, which can quietly cook a small stem on a warm afternoon. For more soft herbs to grow from seed alongside your cuttings, browse our herb seeds.
Lemongrass is the surprise in this group. A fresh stalk with the base intact will often sprout roots in a glass of water, then grow into a generous clump once potted. Woody, dried out stalks rarely work, so start with a plump fresh one rather than the sad stub at the back of the fridge.
Celery, lettuce and bok choy: a small second pick
The leafy bases of celery, lettuce and bok choy can reshoot small new leaves from the centre, but they tend to bolt rather than form a whole new head. Sit the base in a shallow dish of water and tiny leaves usually emerge within days, a genuinely fun thing to watch on the bench, and a reliable way to get children peering at a saucer.
Be realistic about the payoff: a handful of small, often slightly bitter inner leaves, good for a stir fry or a sandwich rather than a full second head. These do far better potted into soil than left in water, where they tend to rot or fade after a week or two. Treat them as a bonus rather than a crop you rely on.
Ginger, turmeric and garlic
Ginger and turmeric can grow from a firm, plump piece of rhizome with a visible bud, sometimes called an eye. Potted up and kept warm, it can grow into a productive clump over a warm season, though it asks for patience more than skill. They are slow, and they suit warmer frost free zones such as Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Darwin and Cairns. In cooler parts of Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart or the southern tablelands, a pot in the warmest, most sheltered spot gives the best chance, and a warm summer position works in Perth and Adelaide.
Garlic is a common point of confusion. A sprouting clove can grow green garlic leaves, which are mild and pleasant snipped into cooking. What it will not do is form a fat new bulb in any hurry, since bulbing needs a cold period to trigger it. So treat sprouting garlic as a source of green leaves, and plant proper garlic in its season if you want bulbs to lift and plait.
Potatoes, a quick caveat
A sprouting potato can grow into a new plant, since each sprout can become a stem, but there are good reasons to be cautious with supermarket tubers. They are sold for eating, not planting, and they may carry diseases that certified seed potatoes are screened for. Starting your patch from clean certified stock can help avoid importing a problem into your soil that lingers for years. For more on why this matters, see Agriculture Victoria on potato mop-top virus.
There is also a shipping point worth knowing. Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send seed potatoes or tubers to Western Australia, Tasmania or Kangaroo Island. If you garden in those areas, source clean tubers locally rather than relying on scraps.
How to give scraps the best chance
A few simple habits make the difference between a sad slimy base and a useful pick of leaves. Start with fresh, firm scraps, since a limp or partly rotten base has little energy left, and trim cleanly so there is healthy tissue to work from. Change the water every day or two, because stale water turns cloudy and the base soon rots. Give bright light but avoid harsh midday sun through glass. Most importantly, pot anything you want beyond a week or two into soil, because the scrap runs out of stored food in a glass and a windowsill jar is a holding bay, not a forever home.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really regrow vegetables from scraps?
Yes, some of them, within limits. Spring onions, soft herbs, lemongrass, ginger and the leafy bases of celery, lettuce and bok choy regrow from a base, cutting or rhizome. Most give fresh leaves or a small second pick, not a whole new head, bulb or root.
Which vegetables regrow best in water?
Spring onions are the easiest, reshooting green tops from the white base time after time. Soft herbs such as mint and basil, and lemongrass stalks, root well in a glass before potting. Celery, lettuce and bok choy sprout small inner leaves, though they do better in soil.
Do I need to plant scraps in soil or is water enough?
Water is fine for getting started and for a quick pick, but the scrap runs down its reserves fairly fast. For anything you want beyond a week or two, pot it into soil, which gives steadier, longer growth.
Will garlic cloves grow a new bulb from scraps?
A sprouting clove grows green garlic leaves, mild and good in cooking, but it is unlikely to form a fat new bulb quickly, since bulbing needs a cold period to trigger it. Plant proper garlic in season if you want bulbs.
Is it safe to plant a sprouting supermarket potato?
It can grow, but it is not the safest choice. Supermarket potatoes may carry diseases that certified seed potatoes are screened for, so they can import problems into your soil. Clean certified stock is more reliable.
Regrowing scraps is a small, satisfying habit rather than a path to self sufficiency, and that is exactly its charm. Keep your expectations honest, pot up the keepers, and enjoy the free greens for what they are. For more on raising your own seedlings to back up the windowsill greens, see our guide to starting seeds indoors.
Related growing guides
- A step by step guide to starting seeds indoors
- Hardening off seedlings before planting out
- The most nutritious things to grow at home
Ready to plant? Browse our Vegetable Seeds.