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I was given a packer of seed and wondered if anyone has any experience in growing watercress. I have 2 ponds so can give it a damp environment but do I sow direct or get it started in the house? How many seeds should I sow and how big does it get.

As you can see i know very little about it!

HI 5ROD HERE
I THINK YOUR FIND THAT IT HAS TO BE RUNNING WATER
OR GROW IN POT IN WATER THAT YOU CAN CHANGE.
iM GROWING IT MYSELF FRIST TIME THIS YEAR TOO
WILL BE GROWING WATERCRESS IN ONE POT IN SIDE LARGER
POT WITH WATER IN. WILL CHANGE WATER EACH DAY.
SORRY THAT ALL I KNOW ABOUT  THIS.
HOPE THIS HELP           :) :)

I grow it every year in 'washing up bowls' that have no drainage holes - I keep it sheltered but put it out in the rain so it gets somewhat flooded then shade it again - seems to love it so moving water isn't essential but it does has to have a lot of the right kind of moisture

So if I started it off indoors or in the garden in a pot within a pot (changing the water in the outer pot regularly) could I then move it to the shelf in my pond, or is that too much moisture?

HAD YOUR POND HAVE A PUMP .OR IS IT STAGNANT
IF IT HAS A PUMP YOU SHOULD BE OK' BUT
I WOULD NOT MYSELF. PROBABLY BEST WAIT FOR
OTHER OPINIONS. GOOD LUCK

Yep - one of them has a pump so no worries! Thanks mate!

Mine goes in the greenhouse - [attachment=1]

For now, we're relying on Landcress - [attachment=2]

WHY DO MY INSERTIONS ALWAYS DOUBLE UP??

SORRY!

Quote from: grawrc on April 12, 2008, 20:46:20
So if I started it off indoors or in the garden in a pot within a pot (changing the water in the outer pot regularly) could I then move it to the shelf in my pond, or is that too much moisture?

this could work but just keep checking it so that it isn't getting stagnant or rotting - I don't mind if mine just about 'sits' in water for awhile but i like to pour it out and let the rain on it again - keep it cool as it goes to seed easily in hot weather

Thanks for that advice.

I am growing water cress this year. i have a  pump on a half barrel of water and I have some in there and it appears ok at the mo and then I have some in the greenhouse. It is in a normal pot with soil in and in a small tray of water. i have changed the water in a month and the water has gone green. but the water cress is still doing fine. I think after reading this thread I will change the water today.

Can I ask, I noticed Tim grows land cress. i have some of that in small pots again in the greenhouse. Is it safe to put it outdoors now? or could it have been outside all winter?

Ours is self-sown, & has survived this, fairly hard winter.

Cheers Tim. the land cress is going outside from now on.

I grow mine the same way as Tim and CJB in a pot standing in a saucer of water.  It is in virtually full shade and it grows prolifically trailing over the sides.  So not only is it delicious but it looks pretty too.  ;D  G x

I had never tried water cress till back end of last year when I bought some from the supermarket and noticed some of it still had roots on. So i stuck it in the pot and hey presto. it is still growing.

Looks beautiful Georgie! Do you just grow the one plant and "prune " it when you want to eat some or do you grow several?

Thanks.  I sow the seeds direct and grow 3 or 4 plants to a 12" pot.  That provides plenty for me - no-one else likes it here.

G x

WATERCRESS
This is easy to grow in a pond. Using a plastic flowerpot, cover the drainage holes with porous ground cover fabric and then fill the pot with poor soil (too rich a soil will cause an algae bloom in the pond). Cover the surface of the pot with another piece of porous ground cover fabric before anchoring several watercress shoots on  top of the fabric with pebbles, to stop them floating away. Place the plastic pot so that the top is just below the pond surface. The watercress shoots will grow roots and find the nutrients in the pot. You can use the watercress shoots from shop-bought watercress, or sow and germinate watercress seed on the pot surface, before putting the pot into the pond. It is also possible, if you do not have a pond, to grow the watercress in an old washing up bowl filled with waterlogged soil, or even in very damp or boggy ground.
The above is taken from my web site.
You can also plant up a pot with soil, sow the seed, cover with enough soil and gravel to stop the seed floating away and place on the pond shelf so that the gravel is at least 1 cm below the water surface.
I grew watercress last year using this method and am still cropping it. I did have the pond covered with some plastic to keep the frost off.
It is only a small pond under a metre long and the watercress ended up covering over half of the pond's surface.

Wow! I'm impressed!

So am I :D.

Thats my next project............................... ;D

I grow watercress in my pond to keep the water clear not to eat as the pond is still and there for wildlife. I got it from the supermarket and,inspired by this thread think I will try growing it to eat in a bowl!! off to buy some fresh stuff tomorrow, should be alright outside as the pond stuff is already growing on it,s own
marg