Can you regrow vegetables from supermarket scraps in the UK?

Yes, about ten common UK vegetables and herbs regrow reliably from scraps. The reliable list is spring onions, leeks, celery, lettuce, bok choy, garlic, ginger, basil, mint, and lemongrass. Most of these need a 2 to 3cm base with intact growing tissue, fresh water, and a bright windowsill. Light is the limiting factor in UK winter. You will get faster results from March onwards or under a 20 pound LED grow light.

Do regrown vegetables produce a full second harvest?

Usually one good harvest, sometimes a smaller second. Lettuce and bok choy give one cut of regrown leaves then go bitter. Spring onions give two or three cuts before stalling. Celery regrows the inner heart but never matches a fresh stalk. To get sustained harvests, move sprouted scraps into compost in a 15cm pot once roots reach 2 to 3cm long. The scrap then becomes a normal homegrown plant.

Why do my regrown carrots not produce new carrots?

Carrots are biennial root crops. They store energy in the root in year one, flower in year two, and never grow a second taproot. The leafy regrowth from a carrot top is real and edible (good in salads or pesto) but no new carrot will form. The same applies to beetroot, parsnip, and turnip. To grow new roots you need to plant seed.

What is the best UK kitchen scrap to regrow in winter?

Spring onion is the most reliable winter scrap. It tolerates low light, low temperatures (10 to 15C is fine), and produces usable green tops in 7 to 10 days even on a north-facing sill. Garlic and ginger also do well in winter because they store their own energy in the bulb. Leafy crops like lettuce and basil struggle below 18C and below 4,000 lux of daylight.

Kitchen Scraps: 10 UK Veg You Can Regrow

Q: Will an avocado stone grow into a tree in the UK?

An avocado stone will sprout in water in 4 to 8 weeks and grow into a houseplant. Fruiting indoors in the UK is rare. Avocados need 5 to 7 years to mature, two compatible varieties for pollination, and far more light and warmth than a UK windowsill provides. Treat avocado regrowing as a pleasant houseplant project, not a fruit-production strategy.

The first time I tried regrowing a spring onion, I expected nothing. The bottom 2cm of root and white stem went into a glass of tap water on the kitchen sill and I forgot about it for four days. By day five there was a fresh green shoot. By day eight I cut 12cm of usable spring onion off the top and used it in scrambled eggs. The original scrap had cost nothing. It would have gone in the compost bin.

That was the start of a 30-day windowsill regrow trial I ran in February 2026 with twelve different kitchen scraps. Some worked brilliantly. Some sprouted but never gave a real harvest. Some were a complete waste of time. This guide is what I learned, with the reliable list at the top and the popular myths at the bottom so nobody else wastes a winter trying to grow a pineapple in Sheffield.

Why kitchen scrap regrowing works (and why it usually stops)

Most vegetables you buy from a UK supermarket are still alive. The cells in the base of a spring onion, the heart of a lettuce, or a clove of garlic are dormant rather than dead. Add water and warmth and they switch back into growth. The energy for that initial growth comes from sugars and starches stored in the tissue. That is why scraps regrow without any feed.

The catch is that stored energy runs out. After one or two cuts, the plant has used everything it had. To keep going it needs soil, light, and nutrients like any other plant. The point at which you move the scrap into compost is the difference between a fun one-cut experiment and a real ongoing harvest.

UK conditions add a second catch: light. A south-facing sill in March receives roughly 8,000 to 12,000 lux at midday. A north-facing sill in November can drop to 800 to 1,500 lux. Plants need around 4,000 lux to grow well. From October to February many UK kitchens are too dark for leafy regrowth without a grow light. Spring onions, garlic, and ginger tolerate low light because they grow from stored bulb energy. Basil and lettuce do not.

If you are starting in autumn or winter, a 15 to 25 pound USB LED grow light pointed at the windowsill makes the difference between sprouts that go limp and harvests that you actually eat. For the warmer half of the year you do not need one.

Comparison of a bright south-facing UK kitchen windowsill with thriving spring onion and basil regrowth alongside a darker north-facing sill with paler, limp regrowth

The reliable list: 10 UK kitchen scraps ranked by speed

This table summarises my 30-day trial results so you can pick the scrap that fits your kitchen and the season you are in.

Scrap	Days to first cut	Reliability in low light	Move to soil?	Notes
Spring onion	7 to 10	High	Optional	Two to three cuts from one base
Leek base	10 to 14	High	Yes	One cut, then becomes a baby leek
Celery heart	5 to 7 leaves	Medium	Yes	Smaller, stronger flavour than shop celery
Lettuce heart	10 to 14	Medium	No	Bitter after one cut, compost it
Bok choy base	8 to 12	Medium	No	Same pattern as lettuce
Garlic clove	7 to 14	High	Yes	Green shoots edible, bulb needs outdoor planting
Ginger rhizome	21 to 42	Low	Yes	Needs 18 to 22C, slow start
Basil cutting	7 to 14	Low	Yes	Roots fast, needs warmth and light to thrive
Mint cutting	5 to 10	Medium	Yes	Most vigorous, always grow in a pot
Lemongrass stalk	14 to 21	Low	Yes	Tropical, needs sunny sill

The detail behind each scrap is below, ranked by speed of first harvest.

1. Spring onions

The fastest, easiest, most rewarding scrap. Cut off the bottom 2 to 3cm with the white root base intact. Place root-down in a glass of water with the cut surface 1cm above the waterline. Change water daily. Tops appear in 2 to 3 days, first cut at 7 to 10 days, second cut at 14 to 16 days. After two cuts move into a 12cm pot of multipurpose compost. They will keep producing for months.

For more cool-season indoor growing options, see our guide to growing vegetables on a UK windowsill which covers light, watering, and seasonal rotation. The deeper guide to growing spring onions covers outdoor sowing once you want to scale up.

Three spring onion bases regrowing in a single glass of water on a white UK kitchen windowsill with 12cm green tops ready for a second cut

2. Leeks

Same method as spring onions but slower. Use the bottom 4 to 5cm. First leafy regrowth at 10 to 14 days. Less productive than spring onion. You typically get one cut before the leek bolts. Best treated as one harvest then composted, or moved into a deep pot where it can grow into a baby leek over 8 to 12 weeks.

3. Celery

A whole celery base regrows the inner heart from the centre. Cut the bottom 4cm of a head, sit it in 1cm of water in a saucer (not submerged), and place on a bright sill. New leaves appear in 5 to 7 days. After two weeks you can pot it on. The regrown stalks are smaller and more strongly flavoured than supermarket celery, which is perfect for soup and stock. The original outer stalks rot, so peel them off as they go soft.

4. Lettuce hearts

Cut a cos or romaine 2 to 3cm from the base. Sit base-down in 1cm of water. New leaves emerge from the centre in 3 to 5 days. You get one cut of small fresh leaves at 10 to 14 days. Then the plant goes bitter and bolts. Composting at that point is the clean exit.

5. Bok choy or pak choi

Same method as lettuce. Faster than lettuce, with usable leaves in 8 to 12 days. Goes bitter faster too. Best as a 2-week kitchen project rather than a lasting plant.

6. Garlic

A sprouted clove from the kitchen drawer is the start. Plant pointy end up in 8cm of compost in a small pot. Green shoots appear in 7 to 14 days. The shoots themselves are edible. Chop into omelettes or stir-fries as a milder garlic flavour. To produce a new bulb takes 8 to 10 months and needs a cold spell, so it is easier to plant outside in October. Our full garlic growing guide covers outdoor planting timing and varieties.

A sprouted garlic clove planted point-up in a small terracotta pot of compost with a 12cm bright green shoot on a UK kitchen windowsill

7. Ginger

A finger of fresh ginger with visible eyes (small bumps) buried 3cm deep in moist compost will sprout in 3 to 6 weeks. Slow start, but once growing, ginger gives you ornamental foliage for a year and a small new rhizome to harvest. Needs warmth, 18 to 22C minimum. A heated propagator or a kitchen sill above a radiator works. Cool conservatories do not.

8. Basil cuttings

Cut a 10cm soft stem from a supermarket basil pot. Strip the lower leaves. Place in a glass of water. Roots appear in 7 to 14 days. Move to a 12cm pot of compost when roots are 2 to 3cm long. The cutting becomes a full basil plant within 4 to 6 weeks. Critical caveat from my trial: basil needs warmth (20C plus) and bright light. Below 18C the cutting will root but the leaves stay limp and pale. A heated propagator transforms the result.

For more on growing soft herbs from cuttings or seed, see our UK herb growing guide.

9. Mint cuttings

Even easier than basil. A 10cm cutting from any mint variety roots in water within 5 to 10 days. Mint is naturally vigorous and tolerates lower light than basil. Pot on into compost and you have a mint plant that will outlive you. Always grow mint in a pot, not the open border. It spreads aggressively.

10. Lemongrass

Buy a stalk of fresh lemongrass from the supermarket. Cut the top, keep the bottom 8 to 10cm. Place in 2cm of water. Roots appear in 14 to 21 days. Pot on into compost. The plant grows into an attractive grass that you can harvest stalks from for cooking. Needs a sunny sill, as it is a tropical plant and dies below 10C.

The 4 popular regrow myths that do not really work

Social media is full of beautiful videos of avocado pits sprouting and pineapple tops rooting. The videos are real. These things do sprout. The problem is what happens next.

Avocado from stone

A stone suspended in water on toothpicks sprouts in 4 to 8 weeks. The young plant is attractive. But avocados need 5 to 7 years to potentially fruit, two compatible varieties for pollination, and far more light, warmth, and humidity than a UK windowsill. Of every ten avocado trees grown indoors in the UK, perhaps one ever fruits. Treat as a houseplant, not as food.

Close-up of an avocado stone suspended in water with toothpicks in a glass jar, showing a pale taproot emerging from the cracked base on a UK kitchen windowsill

Pineapple from top

The leafy crown of a pineapple, twisted off and rooted in water, will sprout within 4 to 6 weeks. To produce a new pineapple takes 2 to 3 years, requires consistent 21 to 26C, very high light, and tropical humidity. UK central heating is too dry, UK light is too weak. Almost no UK home pineapple project results in fruit. Treat as a project plant, not a crop.

Mango from stone

Same problem as avocado but worse. Mango trees fruit at 5 to 8 years and only in genuine tropical conditions. A UK indoor mango is a slow-growing houseplant that will never fruit. The novelty of seeing the stone split open and a shoot emerge is worth the experiment, but set expectations correctly.

Carrot or beetroot regrowing into new roots

Carrots, beetroot, and parsnip regrow leafy tops if you sit the cut top in water. The leaves are real and edible (carrot tops make a slightly bitter pesto). But these plants are biennial. They store energy in the root in year one and flower in year two. They never grow a second taproot. If you want new carrots, plant seed. The regrowth video showing new carrots from old tops is misleading.

My 30-day windowsill regrow trial

I lined up twelve scraps on two kitchen windowsills in February 2026, six on a south-facing sill measuring 4,000 to 8,000 lux at midday, six on a north-east sill measuring 1,200 to 2,800 lux. Tap water changed daily. Kitchen temperature 17 to 19C. No grow light, no heated propagator (deliberately, as I wanted to test what a normal UK home does).

Results after 30 days, south sill (better light):

Spring onion: 3 cuts harvested, total 38cm of green tops. Excellent.
Celery: heart regrown, 8cm of usable stalk. Good.
Lettuce: one small cut at day 12, bolted by day 22. Acceptable.
Bok choy: similar to lettuce. Acceptable.
Garlic clove: 14cm green shoots, ready to chop. Good.
Mint cutting: rooted by day 8, leafy plant by day 24. Excellent.

Results after 30 days, north-east sill (poor light):

Spring onion: 2 cuts, total 22cm. Still worked.
Basil cutting: rooted by day 10, leaves stayed pale and limp. Poor.
Ginger rhizome: nothing visible, no shoots. Failure.
Avocado stone: cracked at day 28, no shoot yet. Too early to call.
Mango stone: no change. Failure.
Carrot top: 6cm of green leaves, no new root. As expected.

The takeaway: south-facing or grow-lit, almost everything from the reliable list works. North-facing in February, only the bulb-energy scraps (spring onion, garlic) really perform. If your kitchen is dark in winter, wait until March or invest 20 pounds in an LED clip-on grow light.

How to set up a kitchen regrow station

If you want to do this properly rather than just experiment with one scrap, set up a small dedicated station. The setup costs under 15 pounds and pays back in the first month of regrown spring onions and herbs.

You will need:

Six small glass jars or cut-down jam jars (free)
A drainage tray or shallow dish to catch drips
A south-facing windowsill if possible
A bright LED bulb in the kitchen for evenings (optional but useful)
A 10 to 12cm flowerpot of multipurpose compost per scrap to pot on into

Daily routine:

Change the water every morning. Stale water is the most common reason scraps fail. Bacteria multiply within 24 hours and rot the cut surface.
Rinse the cut surface gently when you change the water.
After 14 days, move scraps with 2 to 3cm of root into compost. Water in well.

A six-jar station produces a steady stream of spring onions, fresh herbs, and salad cuts for the cost of a single supermarket basil plant. The wider point: once you start regrowing one thing, the rest is easy.

Beyond the windowsill: a small scrap bed

If you have an allotment or back garden, dedicate one 1m by 1m bed to scrap regrowing during the growing season. The Royal Horticultural Society has excellent advice on vegetative propagation that applies directly. Plant garlic cloves in October. Bury sprouted ginger rhizomes in May after the last frost. Strike basil and mint cuttings in spring and pot them on. By July you have a productive bed that started entirely from kitchen waste.

Pair this with a small home compost heap for the parts that did not regrow. Our guide to making compost at home walks through the simplest setup. The combination of regrowing and composting closes the loop on most kitchen vegetable waste.

For families with primary-age children, the regrow project is one of the best low-cost introductions to gardening. Spring onions, lettuce hearts, and mint cuttings give visible results within a week, which is the timescale that holds a child’s attention. Pair with our list of easy vegetables for children to grow for next steps once the windowsill jars are working. For broader child-friendly ideas, see our kids’ gardening projects guide.

If you want something faster than waiting for spring onions, try a tray of microgreens. Sown from seed, you get a cut of peppery leaves in 7 to 14 days from a single tray.

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