How to Regrow Lettuce From Scraps in Water

Next time you break down a head of romaine, keep the bottom. Instead of chopping right to the end, cut straight across and leave the last two to three inches of the solid stem base in one piece. That white core is the part that regrows, so you want it whole and undamaged.

Leaf lettuce and romaine both work well for this. Skip anything that's already going soft or brown at the base. A firm, fresh-looking stump has the best shot at sending up new leaves.

Set the base cut-side up in a short, wide glass or a small dish. Pour in enough water to cover the bottom inch of the stump, no more. The base should sit in shallow water, not float and not drown. Too much water and the whole thing gets soggy and rots.

A clear glass earns its keep here. You can watch the water level, spot the first tiny roots, and see when it's time for a refill without guessing.

Move the glass to a windowsill that gets a few hours of light a day. Light is what tells the center to start growing, so a bright spot matters more than warmth here. A south or east-facing window is ideal.

Give the glass a quarter turn every day or two. Lettuce leans toward the light, and turning it keeps the new growth coming up straight instead of flopping to one side.

This is the step that makes or breaks it. Every one to two days, tip out the old water, rinse the glass, and refill to the same shallow level with fresh water. Clean water keeps the base firm and stops it from turning slimy.

Old, cloudy water is the number one reason a regrow fails. It starts to smell, the stump softens, and the new growth stalls. Stay on top of the swap and the base keeps sprouting.

Within a few days a fresh green center pushes up from the middle of the old base. By day six to eleven those inner leaves stretch a few inches tall and deepen to a rich green. It happens faster than you'd expect for something sitting in plain tap water.

The new growth all comes from the heart of the stump, not the outer ring, so leave the base alone and let it work. Keep changing the water and keep it in the light.

Once the new leaves are a few inches tall, start using them. Snip or pinch the outer leaves and let the center keep going, or cut the whole flush at once for a salad. A water-grown base gives you a couple of good harvests before it runs out of steam.

Want more than a couple of cuttings? Once you see roots, move the base into a small pot of potting soil. In soil it can push out a lot more leaves than it ever will in a glass of water.