Learning how to regrow celery from the stalk is one of my favorite hacks to reduce food waste. Not only am I making better use of something that I would have otherwise composted (or threw in the stock pot), but I’m literally making more food by just adding water!
This tutorial will teach you how to grow celery from the stalk/stump/base of the bunch of celery you’ve purchased at the store.
Important:
This method works as long as you have the root end of an entire bunch of celery. Note that technically a “stalk” of celery is considered the entire bunch of celery, but a stalk is often referred to as a single piece of celery, so I don’t want you to be confused.
I don’t think it will work with an individual stalk (AKA rib) of celery, only the end of an entire bunch.
By regrowing the celery you got from the grocery store, you can essentially save 50% or more off of your purchases of it! You should be able to get at least a few stalks worth of celery out of the stump, if not more!
Depending on the ways you choose how to propagate celery, you might get fresh celery growing for months from that single bunch from the grocery store!
But first, get the ebook!
Regrowing Veggies from Scraps ebook gives step-by-step instructions on how to regrow green onions, celery, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, and butter lettuce from just the scraps you’d normally toss! Plus it also includes how to grow microgreens!
All the steps are listed below, but if you want to read it without ads, keep it to reference for later, or print it out, buy a digital copy for only $6 with coupon code READER!
The small fee helps me keep this site running so I can provide you with more great tips. If it’s out of your budget, no worries, you can still get the info you need in the article below.
Get your copy of the Regrow Veggies Ebook now!
How to grow celery in water
Regrowing celery in water is a very simple process that will provide you with fresh food in a couple weeks!
I love teaching people how to grow celery from scraps in water because it’s literally free food! You are getting more celery for your money compared to if you just composted the ends.
You’ll start to see new green growth appearing within a day or so. The process is very easy!
Here are the steps on how to regrow celery in water:
Time needed: 14 days.
Easily learn how to grow celery indoors with only water! There should be enough to eat after a couple weeks.
Supplies needed:
• Whole bunch of celery (not a single stalk or “rib”)
• Clear bowl or jar (wide enough for the whole base of the celery to fit in and sit flat)
• Fresh water
• Sunny windowsill (or indoor grow light)
- Cut the celery
Cut the entire bunch of celery so there is at least 1″ (2.5cm) left at the root end.
- Put the celery stump in water
Set the stump of the celery in a bowl or jar, root end down. Add enough water to cover the end, but do not fully submerge the whole cutting. Half way is good.
Check the water level every few days. Add more water if the water level drops to make sure it doesn’t dry out. Change the water completely about once a week to keep it fresh. - Give it light
Place the jar in a sunny windowsill, or underneath an indoor grow light. This one is perfect as it looks like a regular LED bulb, uses very little electricity and fits in regular sockets!
- Harvest
After there is at least a few inches of new growth, you can start harvesting. Just cut the new growth off, taking as much or as little as you need.
Note: the new growth is likely to be mostly leaves for a while. Wait longer to see the stalk growing. - Plant in soil (optional)
If you wish, you can plant the celery in soil as soon as roots appear. The soil will provide nutrients to the celery plant and help it continue to produce for longer than using just water alone.
How to regrow lettuce from scraps
Regrow green onions from the ends
Tips on storing green onions longer
FAQ & Troubleshooting
Harvest your celery after they have at least a few inches of new growth on them. It’s best to wait a few weeks to allow the new growth to mature into stalks, rather than just the leafy growth you’ll see at first.
Cut the stalk back to the base with clean scissors or a knife.
Ideally you’ll wait until several ribs have grown out of the stump, then you’ll cut one off and leave the others. Try not to harvest more than 50% of the new growth at a time.
With proper care you should be able to regrow celery for several months in just water.
After a while, you’ll notice it slowing down and eventually will stop regrowing. That’s because it has run out of nutrients!
If you want to keep them growing, plant the green onions in a pot in your windowsill or outdoors (weather permitting). With proper care in soil, celery will grow much longer.
If you don’t have soil to grow them in, just harvest all the growth after it stops producing, then start the process over again with a fresh bunch from the store!
This might happen when you try to grow celery in water.
Plants need water, air, sunlight and nutrients to grow. When you grow celery in water, it has water, air, sunlight, and a small reserve of nutrients in the cutting. Those nutrients will eventually run out and the celery will stop growing.
When this happens, you have 2 options:
1. Plant the cuttings in soil
2. Use up the celery and restart the process with a fresh bunch of celery from the store.
Technically you could also grow celery hydroponically which involves adding the nutrients directly to the water, but that is a lot more technical and not accessible to most people.
If the roots of the celery growing in water become slimy, it’s a sign you need to change the water more frequently.
To fix it, pour out all the water from the jar, rinse the roots under fresh water, then place it back in a clean jar with fresh water, or plant it in soil.
Without any sunlight at all, the celery may grow a couple inches in water, but won’t grow much. If you have even just a bit of sunlight, regrowing celery in water should work, although the growth will likely be much slower than if you had enough sunlight.
You could also use a grow light for indoor plants. I recommend this one.
You really have nothing to lose in trying it, since the ends would have been scraps anyways!
If you don’t have any natural light in your home, keep the celery bunch standing in water in the fridge to make sure it lasts as long as possible and you don’t waste any. It should stay crisp and keep several weeks this way without going limp before you use it all.
Do not expect to regrow an entire bunch of celery, but instead, expect a few small stalks and leaves.
If you plant it in soil with the right conditions after the roots have grown, you can expect more growth and probably get a small bunch of celery out of it.
Yes you can regrow celery from the grocery store, as long as you have the whole bunch of celery, not individual ribs. You will regrow a small amount of new celery from the bunch you bought at the store. Don’t expect a whole new bunch to grow.
I hope this tutorial helped you understand how to regrow celery from scraps easily, even without a garden!
If you loved this tutorial and want to print it or save it for later, get the Regrowing Veggies From Scraps Ebook for only $6 with coupon code READER
Ebook includes how to regrow green onions, lettuce, celery, & microgreens!
I’d love to hear from you. Did you have success growing celery in water? How do YOU regrow celery? Do you regrow any other food from scraps?? Let me know in the comments!
Product Recommendations to Help You Grow Veggies Indoors
Save Money on Groceries with these 60+ Expert Tips
Things we Don’t Buy to Cut Down Our Grocery Bill
Spend less on groceries with these tips
9 Comments on How to Regrow Celery From the Stalk
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I usually break off the ribs needed at the time, instead of slicing the end off of the whole plant. So far keeping the whole plant (as gotten from the grocery, minus a few ribs) in a jar with a bit of water has kept the stalk alive and in good condition. I have been able to use it as needed and not lost it due to drying up or rot. I have had good success with regrowing yellow onions from sliced off root ends. Small whole onions have developed on rooted ends that are planted in soil, while green onion tops are what I harvest from the ends regrown only in water. It has saved me many trips to the store for green onions alone. Bok choy will be my next try.
Awesome! thanks for sharing your experience!
I did my celery in water. I did not use the whole stock just the baby celery. The base started to get mushy while the leaves were very healthy. So I put it in dirt like a potted plant and it is growing very well. And it makes an okay potted plant. I will eat celery off when it gets a little bigger.
I have a question.
I tend to cut off my celery stalks and keep them in a glass or measuring cup sort of like one would do with flowers. That way I don’t have to refrigerate them.
I cut off the root end (at least 2 inches) and put it in water to try to propagate from the root end. Then I stuck the stalks in my celery glass to use as needed.
It ended up that I didn’t use celery this past week so I went to change out the water (they are still nice and crisp). Low and behold all the bottoms of the stalks have put out more roots than the root end that I am trying to root. I’m talking 5 or 6 roots per stalk. This is the first time I have noticed this happening.
The question I have is: Will these stalk roots grow into another plant?
Wow I’ve never tried growing it that way but it could be worth trying!
I have celery that is growing stalks and leaves in water but there do not appear to be any roots. How long does it normally take for roots to appear in this scenario?
Personally I just cut off the leaves and new stalks and ate them and didn’t pay much attention to the roots. I think it would depend how closely the original stalk was cut to the root base. Sometimes they may cut the bottom off to a point so it won’t be able to regrow roots, other times the rootbed is still there so roots can regrow
This is so helpful! I’ve done this in the past with green onion, but never thought to do it with celery as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
So glad you found it helpful! Apparently you can regrow lots of leafy veg like that including bok choy and lettuce too! I haven’t tried them all yet though