Growing nourishing - dense and delicious cresson at home plate is easier than you might think .
Ali Majdfar / Getty Images
Watercress(Nasturtium officinale)is famous for its peppery perceptiveness and speedy growth . This repeated flora grow in moist locations and can be bug out in the home garden from seeds , divisions , or cuttings . It ’s a cut - and - come - again plant providing repeated servings of greens for salads , sandwiches , and soups .
Credit:Ali Majdfar / Getty Images
Perhaps the easiest style to grow watercress at home is not in the ground but in pots . While a suitable wet locating dependable from rabbits and cervid may be challenging to make in the yard , cresson isrelatively easy to spring up as microgreensor as full - sized indoor industrial plant for cut and come again glean year - around . You need only a few great deal , clean weewee , a nutritious answer , and light .
Note : Watercress is toxic to dogs , computerized axial tomography , and horse .
Where to Plant Watercress
In nature , watercress is a semi - aquatic plant growing in fuddled soil along cold , clean waters of flowing streams . It also grows along pond edge and ditches in gravelly stain .
If you grow watercress outdoors , be careful not to introduce it to nearby ponds or waterway . The U.S. Forest Service lists cresson as invasive and noxious in 46 states .
Whether get outdoors in the garden or indoors , you want to recreate a plastered home ground with moist grow culture medium and great deal of clean , cool water .
Asmall hydroponic systemis best when grow cresson indoors , but the setup can be as simple as a plastic salad box ( like spinach or lettuce is sold in ) , a bathing tub for the charge plate box to sit in , a few hydroponic rocks purchased online , and some light . A smallgrowing station with supplementary lightingon a timer provides all the light watercress motive .
How and When to Plant Watercress
Watercress can bestarted from seedand grown as microgreens or salad greens or plant outside for tasty , attractive leafage . Rockwool makes starting seeds easier , and the entire chaw can be potted up or planted in a bed .
Sow seeds on the surface and lightly cover them with seed - start mix or crusade them about a ¼ inch recondite . The seeds are tiny but can be peck up separately by drizzle the end of a toothpick and then tinge the toothpick to the seed . Then , wipe the seed off the toothpick and onto the seed - starting medium .
Start sow anytime for indoor growing or three to four weeks beforeyour last spring frostfor transplanting outdoors afterwards .
Watercress Care Tips
Watercress is easy to grow , with the only trouble being providing adequate weewee when it is get outside . Simulate its natural environment , and it will grow speedily and well .
Light
Watercress does considerably and grows riotous infull sunbut will also grow well in partial Sunday . Avoid areas of heavy ghost . This is a cool - time of year plant , so pick out a location withmorning sun and good afternoon shadein the heat of summer .
Soil and Water
plentiful , organic soilis well when get watercress in pots or a garden bed outdoors . cress green tolerates arange of pH levelsbut favour water system and soil that are slightly alkaline . Watercress grow in and around water in nature and postulate to be keep in loaded conditions . Keep the grease or sensitive moistness , if not wet .
For microgreens , pee from the bottom and do n’t allow the mass medium to dry .
Temperature and Humidity
gamy humidity is best . If your placement experience excessively ironic zephyr , you may take to cultivate watercress indoors . When produce cress green as a microgreen , keep the temperature at about 65 ° F to 75 ° F . Outdoors , matured cresson does fine in temperatures above freeze .
Fertilizer
cress green grown outdoors to maturity in rich , organic stain does not command fertilizer . Fertilize cress green grown indoors with a hydroponic nutrient solvent , following the instructions on the label .
Pests and Problems
Watercress does n’t suffer from many disease issue . Common pests like escargot , rabbits , and munching caterpillar can be problems outdoors . For indoor watercress , algae buildup due to nutrients in the piss solution ( fertilizing ) can be problematic and may expect cleaning the pots and medium every few month .
How to Propagate Watercress
Seed : Start watercress from seeded player by get up a moist substratum indoors or in a garden bed . disperse the ejaculate and lightly cover them . The semen are flyspeck , so do n’t bury them more than a ¼ inch thick . Keep the start mix moist ( but not drowning ) .
Division : Watercress can be easy disunite and replanted . To do so , tease the stems asunder and divide a section of source and vegetation . remove the division to a raw pot or location and provide water supply .
Cutting : Take a cutting from an actively originate industrial plant . A 6 - in clipping works well . Use clean , chlorine - free H2O . If your municipality treats your water system , arrange it on the sideboard for 24 hours to let the chlorine dissipate . The prow will start to take root in about a week .
Harvesting Tips for Watercress
cresson flavor is good when you glean it before the plant blossom . For matured plants , cut back the base , leaving about 4 inches remaining to begin fresh growth . For microgreens , glean cresson at the desired sizing , usually 1 to 2 in tall , with a knife or scissors .
Both the shank and leaves are eatable , but compact stems can be toughened . Harvest watercress frequently to keep the new growth stamp .
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely . Choose cresson that has intact roots , and plant it like you would a divided section — in some rocks covered in water in a container .
Just about any container will do , as long as holes allow water movement . Unlike most plants we arise in container , watercress likes its feet wet . The Mary Jane - within - a - bathtub method is an easygoing manner to supply your cresson plants with all the wet they ask .
Watercress can rise in a jar with a gravelly substrate like aquacultural rock . Change the water every three to four daytime .
Nasturtium ( Watercress ) . ASPCA
Watercress ( Nasturtium officinale ) . U.S. Forest Service
