FREE VEGETABLES FROM ROOTS AND TOPS

Needhelp45

I saw this brilliant idea on YouTube where you can grow free veg from the parts you normally chop off and discard. So celery, lettuce cabbage bases, onion, parsnip, carrot etc tops, parts of a potato with an eye, cut out an inch chunk around it and plant underground with the sprout pointing up. Tomato plants from the seeds in a tomato. There are several tutorials on YouTube.

FlorayG

It doesn't work. Yes, you get a plant, but you don't get the edible part. It's just a fun thing for kids to do.
If you grow from seeds that works but you don't know what the resulting plant will be like as it probably won't be the same as the parent

Farway

FlorayG said:

It doesn't work. Yes, you get a plant, but you don't get the edible part. It's just a fun thing for kids to do.
If you grow from seeds that works but you don't know what the resulting plant will be like as it probably won't be the same as the parent

Have to agree, a lot YT stuff is just click bait, like the roses growing in cut spuds

If you search on YT you will also find the debunking videos

There are some that work, spud eyes & tom seeds, but not something to rely on for food

DullGreyGuy

Needhelp45 said:

I saw this brilliant idea on YouTube where you can grow free veg from the parts you normally chop off and discard. So celery, lettuce cabbage bases, onion, parsnip, carrot etc tops, parts of a potato with an eye, cut out an inch chunk around it and plant underground with the sprout pointing up. Tomato plants from the seeds in a tomato. There are several tutorials on YouTube.

Plants won't regrow the tap root so parsnips and carrots are out, it will continue to produce leaves etc just not another carrot. 

You arent however saving much, a pack of celery seeds is 89p for almost 500 seeds and you have free choice of a range of different varieties rather than being stuck with the variety that supermarkets choose which are generally based on a combination of robustness and speed rather than flavour. Unless you are investing in a heated greenhouse it also allows you to buy different varieties that come to maturity at different times rather than the supermarket variety which is likely breed for growing in heated polytunnels around the med. 

If you want a fun project to do with kids then the idea is fine. 

FreeBear

DullGreyGuy said:

Needhelp45 said:

I saw this brilliant idea on YouTube where you can grow free veg from the parts you normally chop off and discard. So celery, lettuce cabbage bases, onion, parsnip, carrot etc tops, parts of a potato with an eye, cut out an inch chunk around it and plant underground with the sprout pointing up. Tomato plants from the seeds in a tomato. There are several tutorials on YouTube.

Plants won't regrow the tap root so parsnips and carrots are out, it will continue to produce leaves etc just not another carrot.

You can do this with pineapple tops. With sufficient heat, sunshine, and patience, you'd get another pineapple. However, the success rate is very low.

twopenny

I get fruiting tomato plants from my compost laid on the ground from winter supermarket toms. 
They're fine, better by far than the original - so that works, probably better than trying to save the seeds.

Dustyevsky

Just to be clear, with non F1 vegetables, it's possible to get perfectly good plants from one's own saved seed. When it's not, the reason is either in fancy breeding, or it's down to plant promiscuity. 

Squashes, for example, will merrily hybridise with anything that's vaguely like them, so results (including taste) may vary enormously. Tomatoes are fussier about sharing genes. Even when I've saved F1 tomato seed, I've had plants pretty close to the parent. 

Whether it's worth taking the risks is a different matter. As I can usually pick up short-dated seed from reputable sources at a fraction of the packet price, in my opinion, it's not.

But it's fun to experiment!

twopenny

Anyone tried Spaghetti Squash?
It is a dieters pasta. 
But you need a darn good sauce for flavour 

I tried growing the seeds because it's difficult to find in the UK but I wasn't successful. Shame.

Farway

twopenny said:

Anyone tried Spaghetti Squash?
It is a dieters pasta. 
But you need a darn good sauce for flavour 

I tried growing the seeds because it's difficult to find in the UK but I wasn't successful. Shame.

I've grown, and eaten it.

Just a gimmick IMO, the only resemblance to pasta is the looks

But hey ho, worth ago just to try it, never know someone may love it

FreeBear

twopenny said: Anyone tried Spaghetti Squash?

Mum grew it a couple of times. I don't recall being overly excited about eating it - Much will depend on how it is cooked, and what sauces you bung in.