How to Grow a Root Vegetable Without Seeds

Purchase an organic root vegetable. Commercial or nonorganic root vegetables are sprayed with chemicals that prevent sprouting.

Wash your root well. Let it sit for one or more weeks in a cool, dark pantry if possible to jump-start the sprouting process. Root crops sprout in different areas. Onions and garlic, for instance, sprout out of the bulb, while potatoes sprout new roots from eyes that grow on the skin of the vegetable.

Store your root vegetable over the winter, if necessary. Turnips, for instance, need to overwinter in a cool, dark place before you plant them in early spring; plant garlic in the fall.

Prepare your garden soil in an area that receives at least six hours of sun per day. Till the soil 4 to 6 inches deep. Test the area for drainage, digging a small hole, filling it with water and timing how long it takes to drain completely. Anything longer than 24 hours signals poor drainage, and you should install a raised bed. Areas with adequate drainage take less than 12 hours to drain.

Plant your root with any sprouts slightly fanned out and pointing downward. Plant the vegetable's narrow end downward in the soil if there aren't sprouts. Remove individual garlic cloves from the bulbs and plant them singularly. Each one produces a plant that yields one bulb.

Water your vegetable every several days, keeping soil moist but not wet or bone dry.

Cut and use the root's greens as they grow, letting the roots develop. Turnip, mustard and scapes -- garlic greens -- work well as side dishes and in soups and stews.

Harvest your roots when they've reached full size. Each root has a different maturity size. Carrots are ready when they reach a diameter of about 3½ inches, for instance.

Divide and store leftover crop vegetables for further reproduction, repeating the process for a second autumn crop or the following season.