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Frugal Gardening

Plants from the grocery store - what's the truth?

Sunnyin SanDiego

7 years ago

I've read in various places that produce from the grocery store (like potatoes, garlic, etc.) isn't a good idea to grow plants from because they could be sprayed, treated, carry diseases, etc. but I can't swallow paying $15+ for a pound of "seed" garlic when my CSA brings fat beautiful heads that are certified organic and sometimes already sprouting for only $2!

All the potatoes I grow have always been from CSA delivery potatoes, too. I cut out the chunks that have the sprouting eyes, plant those, and cook with the rest.

I use the tops of green onions and leeks and then let the roots re-grow a bit in water before transferring to the garden. They've become a monster mini-forest!

Is there really any reason to avoid planting from the grocery bin, or is it just a bunch of hooey to get people to pay 5x as much for potatoes, garlic, and the like? Any other plants that can be grown from groceries?

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Comments (5)

snuffles CA
7 years ago
I think it's a bunch of hooey to inflate the price...
H B
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I think official seed potatoes are chosen to be disease free and may be treated with something to protect them. That said, my folks grow and eat "volunteer potatoes" that show up in their garden and they are just fine. So maybe your yield might be a little less. CSA potatoes sound fine. Your local extension would know the difference, if there is any.
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Key Lime will come true-to-type from seed and may flower in as little as 2-3 years, with good care. Calamondin, perhaps not available at the grocery but maybe from a friend, can also bear from seed in a couple years. Lemons would take longer, and would likely be too big to grow inside the house before they bore their first flowers and fruit, but you could do that by growing a lemon seedling, then as the plant is approaching the ceiling, take a cutting or air layer from the top and using it to replace your original plant. That way the plant "thinks" it's getting taller, whereas you're actually keeping it shorter than the ceiling height. Oranges and grapefruit could be done the same way, but will take even more years (at least 8 for grapefruit; at least 10 for oranges, and that's under ideal conditions), and you'd likely have to go through at least 2-3 cutting/air layer cycles. Your Clementine seeds may flower in 3-4 years, but again, you may have to propagate from the top and so not end up with the original plant. Almost any other citrus that makes pollen (Tahiti/Bearss lime and navel oranges do not) could be used as a pollen source for it.
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mrs. emily - several years ago i planted culinary ginger root that i bought at the grocery too. i'm in zone 8, n.c., and i planted mine directly into the garden bed and it has proved quite hardy, dieing back to the ground at first frost, it resumes growing when the soil temp gets back up to around 60 degrees in the spring - in a pot, you can probably keep it evergreen in a greenhouse or a sunny window. as to division, you can, if you so desire, divide the ginger between the 2 shoots. this might best be done after the plant is well established, if it is not already. i have grown gingers in pots as well and they do very nicely that way too - they actually don't seem to mind being fairly pot bound. so far as blooms go, culinary ginger is the only ginger i have ever grown which never has produced a bloom - beautiful foliage, but no flowers, dag-nab-it!!!
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If there is any difference between the two varieties, then it is likely hybrid, you just do not realize it. It is very hard to tell anyhow. I believe most of the vegetables, like toms, beans, peppers, and many many others are hybrids. The production is so high. Growers can't make $ if they grow the low yield heirlooms. With this, sometimes the difference is small, sometimes it is big.... To a lot of people, we probably do not even care. I still have many named variety seeds. But sweet pepper is just sweet pepper....
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sylviatexas1
7 years ago
The only exception I know of is that you can't stick rose cuttings in a grocery store potato to root new roses.

The growth retardant with which grocery store potatoes are treated to prevent sprouting will kill cuttings.

(When I was little, we liked to grow pineapple plants from the cut-off tops of grocery store pineapples!)
agardenstateof_mind
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Ginger and turmeric roots will also grow. I've not tried turmeric yet, but have best success with an organically grown ginger root that has just a few greenish looking nubs that show promise of becoming buds and new growth. These are tropical, so something I have to plant in pots to bring indoors in winter, but in your Zone 9 climate, they should be happy year 'round.

Any part of a horseradish root will grow ... vigorously.

The bottom of a bunch of celery will regrow, but I've never tried growing it for long, so don't know whether it would eventually produce something harvestable/usable.

I've grown garlic from supermarket garlic, but all things considered, don't mind paying the higher price for heirloom garlics, especially the hardneck varieties.

1. Grocery store garlic is usually a softneck variety, as it has a longer shelf life, and may have been grown anywhere in the U.S. or even in China;

2. Hardneck garlics are said to have more of the healthful substances for which garlic is known;

3. I buy from local, organic growers, so I know the planting stock is well-suited to growing conditions in my garden;

4. There are so many wonderful varieties of garlic out there, with different top notes and finishes! Mild, strong, hot, spicy ... different kinds suited for all kinds of cooking: French, Italian, German, Spanish, South American, Asian, Cajun, etc. (Not that I grow them all.)

5. The return on investment is pretty good. Since each clove will grow a whole new bulb, you can get anywhere from 6-12 new bulbs from each single bulb you buy.

Another nice thing about the garlic is that it's best planted (here in Zone 7) in the fall, when gardens are usually "put to bed" for the season. It's 28 degrees out there and my garlic, which has already sent up shoots, is fine, and will be throughout the winter, which can get down to the teens and even single digits occasionally. It will have a few growth spurts during milder spells, then growth will really take off in early spring, scapes will be harvested in mid-spring, then the bulbs in late May or early to mid-June, depending on our weather.
Embothrium
7 years ago
Yes supermarket selections aren't necessarily the same cultivars you want for your own use in your area - they may not even be locally adapted, if shipped in from some distance away.

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