You know how you see things online and you think, “That can’t work” or “That’s impossible?” Well, I saw a post on Facebook a few weeks ago from someone who shared a picture of heads of Romaine lettuce growing in a tray in the kitchen. They claimed you could regrow Romaine, iceberg, even celery using just plain water. I decided to try it.
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| It looks lonely…I think it needs a pal, perhaps from the iceberg lettuce…. |
Here’s the photographic evidence. It works! I used a store bought head of Romaine lettuce…you can’t get any more conventional than a head of Romaine wrapped in plastic and bought from Wal-Mart. I used a very sharp knife to cut off the edible portions of the lettuce for a salad. I left a few inches on the core and submersed the core in a glass loaf pan filled with plain tap water from my well. Every day, I just changed the water and replaced it with fresh.
It took about four days before I noticed a little change in the lettuce. I thought the center portion seemed greener. Then the next morning I knew it wasn’t my imagination – the central stem had grown a few centimeters. By the next day, I showed it to my husband, and we were both amazed at the rejuvenating powers of the lettuce.
It seems to grow quickly once it begins. Each morning I feel like I’m walking into Jack in the Beanstalk in my kitchen. It gains about 3-4 centimeters per day.
I don’t know whether we can keep it growing after cutting the new head of lettuce, but as far as science experiments go, I’d mark this kitchen vegetable gardening experiment a success!
