From berries and citrus to tomatoes and pineapple, use leftover bits to grow whole new plants over and over again.
Fruit and vegetables are remarkable things – and unlike processed food, they come with their own magical regenerative powers. Whether in the form of seeds or through vegetative propagation (in which a part of the fruit
Need
- Strawberry
- Raspberry
- Tomato
- Lemon
- Orange
- Avocado
- Pineapple
- Mason jars or cups
- Toothpicks
- All-purpose or seed-starting soil
Instruction
Strawberries
- Remove seeds from strawberry with a toothpick.
- Rinse the seeds off so no fruit is left on them then let them dry off completely.
- Fill a container almost all the way with all-purpose or seed-starting soil and flick the seeds into it.
- Cover seeds with ¼ inch of soil.
- Spray water on seeds, repeat every other day
- Leave seeds in sunlight
- Watch for seeds to sprout.
- Transfer to soil once sprouts grow their third leaves
Raspberries
- Remove seeds from strawberry with a toothpick or by mashing a raspberry through a strainer.
- Rinse the seeds off so no fruit is left on them then let them dry off completely.
- Fill a container almost all the way with all-purpose or seed-starting soil and flick the seeds into it.
- Cover seeds with ¼ inch of soil.
- Spray water on seeds, repeat every other day
- Leave seeds in sunlight
- Transfer to soil once sprouts grow their third leaves
Tomatoes
- Slice tomato into thirds horizontally.
- Take any of the thirds and place them in a cup or jar filled ¾ of the way with all-purpose soil.
- Cover the last fourth with soil to cover the tomato.
- Moisten soil considerably and leave in direct sunlight
- Spray water on seeds, repeat every other day
- Watch for seeds to sprout!
Citrus
- Slice citrus in half and remove seeds.
- Rinse seeds off but do not allow to dry
- Fill a container ¾ of the way with all-purpose or seed-starting soil.
- Rinse the seeds off so no fruit is left on them then let them dry off completely.
- Fill a container ¾ of the way with all-purpose or seed-starting soil.
- Leave seeds in a warm place (on a refrigerator or near a water heater)
- Spray water on seeds, repeat every other day
- Watch for seeds to sprout!
Avocado
- Slice an avocado in half and remove the seed.
- Rinse the seed off and allow to dry.
- Poke toothpicks in 3 sides of the seed.
- Place seed in a glass of water, relying on the toothpicks to hold it up so that only the bottom quarter of the seed is in the water (pointed end should be facing up out of the water). Change water once a week
- Roots should form in about 2-3 weeks.
- Transfer to Soil once roots reach about 2-3 inches
Pineapple
- Slice the crown of a pineapple off so that there is as little fruit attached as possible.
- Pluck the leaves off so that about 5 inches of the crown is bare.
- Leave crown in a sunny spot to dry for 2-7 days
- Place seed in a glass of water, relying on the toothpicks to hold it up so that only the bottom quarter of the seed is in the water (pointed end should be facing up out of the water). Change water once a week
- Roots should form in about 2-3 weeks.Transfer to Soil once roots reach about 2-3 inches
Here’s a video that shows you how to do it all: