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Growing Plants from Garden Scraps

Kid-friendly Experiments that Turn Your Garbage into an Indoor Garden

By Afton Nelson, published Feb 22, 2007
Published Content: 143  Total Views: 412,789  Favorited By: 21 CPs
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You may not have realized it, but there is a literal garden waiting to be grown in your very own kitchen. You've certainly noticed seeds in your citrus and apples, but did you know you could also grow an avocado plant from a pit and sprout a fun carrot plant from the carrot top, or a pineapple plant from the pineapple top?

Kids will love experimenting with kitchen scraps to see what they can grow. While many of these scraps will not produce actual fruit, they will grow into plants that will brighten up a kitchen window sill. Kids will be amazed that they were able to grow a real plant from something that otherwise would have been garbage.

In the spirit of recycling, try using washed out yogurt, sour cream or cottage cheese containers for potting where applicable. Just make sure you make a hole for drainage in each container.

Carrot top

Carrot tops will sprout and grow into bushy plants, but will not grow another carrot. You can start your carrot top either in a pot of soil or on a newspaper lined plate. Cut off the top about 2 inches from the crown. If there is any green on your carrot, cut it off.

If growing your carrot top in dirt, place the carrot just below the soil line in a pot. Keep the soil damp and in a few weeks, new leaves should begin to emerge.

To grow your carrot on a plate, line it with newspaper and add enough water to make it nice and damp. Place carrot tops directly on the newspaper and add water to the newspaper often enough to keep it damp. Leaves should sprout in a few days.

One more carrot sprouting method is to fill a shallow bowl with small pebbles or marbles. Push the carrot tops into the pebbles or marbles and fill the bowl with lukewarm water. Place the bowl near a sunny window and in a few days you will see the pretty fern-like sprouts of the carrot.

Your carrot plant will last until it out grows it's container. It also makes a fun table decoration.

Pineapple Top

Growing Plants from Garden Scraps

A pineapple top can grow into a exotic looking houseplant, but will probably not produce fruit.

Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/266077

Copyright: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/266077

Takeaways
  • A carrot top can sprout fern-like leaves after resting on a damp newspaper for several days.
  • Pineapples like acidic soil, so try adding a few tablespoons of rinsed coffee grounds to your soil.
  • Citrus plants grown from seed may actually produce fruit, but it could take up to 6 years.
Comments
Comments 1 - 7 of 7
 
 
ijust planted a pine apple this week i can't to see if it grows

Posted on 08/26/2007 at 2:08:00 PM

 
I love these fun ideas! I am for sure going to try at least one of them with my boys!

Posted on 02/25/2007 at 7:02:00 PM

 
Thank you for the excellent article! I was unaware of coffee grounds being able to effectively acidify soil. Time to start growing some pineapple plants! And a few garlic plants would be good too...

Posted on 02/25/2007 at 4:02:00 PM

 
Our avocado tree is the only plant other than silk plants I haven't been able to kill. Potatoes are fun to grow too, but be sure to have a big planter pot for them or they will be all over your floor. Trust me, I learned that from personal experience.

Posted on 02/25/2007 at 9:02:00 AM

 
Once again, a great article! My kids would love all these fun kitchen experiments. The garlic one appeals to me the most. Thanks!

Posted on 02/24/2007 at 11:02:00 PM

 
We just bought a fresh pineapple, and now I know what we'll do with the top! The kids will be so excited. (They're easily amused, thank goodness.) I planted a whole carrot outside last year just to see what would happen-everyone laughed at me until it got to be this groovy, three-foot-high plant with tiny white flowers on it. I love stuff like this. Thanks for a neat article.

Posted on 02/23/2007 at 1:02:00 PM

 
What fun ideas. I saw on Good Eats the other day where he said you could get a tree out of an avocado seed. Great article!

Posted on 02/22/2007 at 3:02:00 PM

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