celery and lettuce bottoms

Hi every one,

Well I know Im  new to this and probably gulable but I read some where on Pinterest that:

when you use a head of lettuce or celery then put the base in some water or soil and it will re grow leaves, they may be smaller but they will grow.  Well Iv'e put a couple in a tray and it does seem to be working.

Does any one else do this or is it bad practise due to rot/bacteria etc.

Many thanks

Julie

I've tried the celery trick a few times and watched some videos on it, and everyone agrees that it's good to put the celery in water for only one day to rehydrate then immediately place on top of some lightly damp compost or potting mix. If left more than a day in water, we've all found the celery tends to rot quickly, whereas the soil trick makes them grow on better and faster.

The resulting stalk is not a problem as long as there are no visible signs of something you wouldn't want to eat, the same as any other soil grown veg.

Not tried the lettuce but imagine it's the same.

If you have some nice neighbours then they might be willing to save their celery bottoms for you and you can go into production   

The trenching part comes when you bury the lower half of the maturing stalk to blanch it so it's not bitter. I doubt rabbits, guinea pigs, etc care.

This type of blanching means that by covering the stalks with soil for at least a month you exclude light from hitting the skin, depriving that area of photosynthesis. This in turns makes the veg flesh pale and lacking in the normal bitter taste.

The technique is also done with white asparagus, which is actually green but grown from 'birth' under soil so it never sees light.

While it tastes lovely, excluding light also removes much of a plants nutritional value.

Yes, it means exactly that.

And the degree of 'bitterness' can also differ depending on how it was grown. I personally find fertilizer grown celery and asparagus very bitter to the point of almost inedible. Organic, manure grown celery and asparagus are merely a stronger flavoured crop but lack the almost sour bitterness of the above. Lack of regular soil moisture can also contribute to bitterness.

The old French saying is true: chacun a son gout (to each his own (taste))