Want to Grow Your Own Salad With Romaine Lettuce Leftovers from the Grocery Store?

What this question is really asking is, do you want to experience a little garden magic right in your own kitchen?

With this super simple project, you'll learn how to regrow romaine lettuce from the grocery store, and in the process, you'll learn a bit more about how you can grow your very own garden-fresh salad leaves at home.

Now, when I say regrow, you probably won't be able to get a full head of lettuce from this project. You will, however, be able to regrow some leaves and even collect lettuce seeds if you desire.

Here's what you'll need:

• One head of romaine lettuce
• A small coffee mug
• Water
• A knife

Directions to Regrow Romaine Lettuce Leaves

Follow these simple steps to turn your kitchen scraps into a free plant.

Step One

Using a sharp knife, cut straight across about 2 inches from the bottom of the romaine. Reserve the top portion of the leaves for eating!

Step Two

Add enough water to the coffee mug to just cover the base of the plant, perhaps about a half inch. You don't want the leaf bases to get soggy or mildewy.

Step Three

Place the romaine bottom in the mug. The top of the romaine should be about even with the rim of the mug.

Step Four

Place the mug in a windowsill or under grow lights.

Step Five

Watch the magic happen. Believe it or not, within a few days, you should start to see some new shoots growing up from the base. Make sure to change the water in your little mug every 2 to 3 days. 

You'll be amazed at the amount of growth in just the first two weeks. As soon as you have leaves large enough to toss on a salad (probably after 12 to 15 days), go ahead and harvest them. Your regrown plant will likely be as big as it will get before trying to seize this second chance to produce seeds.

If it does produce seeds and you'd like to save them, you can find the steps here.

Lessons About the Romain Lettuce Plant

While regrowing romaine like this is magical, it won't feed you salads for life, unless you just don't eat very much lettuce. But it does teach us three great things about lettuce plants.

Number one: lettuce plants grow quickly

Even this cut-up plant can start regrowing itself sooner than you'd expect. Within just a few days, new leaves start to form and grow taller and taller each day.

Number two: lettuce plants are small

Lettuce plants don't take up much space. When you look at the base of your romaine, you'll be able to see how much space it will take up in your garden—three to four inches max. That means that in one square foot, a 12 inch by 12 inch space, you could fit at least nine of these plants! 

Number three: lettuce plants are cut and come again

This is one of my favorite reasons for growing lettuces and other leafy greens. The harvests never stop. If you decide you want lettuce tonight for dinner, all you have to do is pull off the oldest leaves of the plant, give your plant some days to recover, and then you'll be able to return for more and more leaves. That's because lettuce plants grow from their center, from their heart. Ah... They're so giving. They give harvests to us again and again and again.

If you're looking for a tasty plant to grow within the kitchen garden, you can't go wrong with lettuces.

Romaine Lettuce Growing Tips

Lettuces like romaine are one of the best plants to start off with in the kitchen garden. They grow quickly, don't take up a lot of space, and provide harvests again and again. Plus, when you grow your own lettuce, you get to have the most delicious greens you've ever tasted. You simply harvest the leaves you need and bring them inside to enjoy them at their best moment—when they’re full of water, flavor, and nutrition.

If you're interested in growing your own romaine lettuce from seed, here's your complete romaine lettuce growing guide.

For more leafy inspiration, check out our top ten salad greens to grow in the garden. If you still don't have your salad garden set up yet, please romaine calm. Here are the best containers for growing salad greens.

Here's to filling up on lots of delicious leaves in the future!