How to grow Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

Watercress is a cool weather crop, so in warmer areas, it would do best to sow in autumn for a winter salad crop1.

Growing Watercress from seed

Pinetree recommends starting these indoors in small pots, barely cover and keep moist for first month. Margaret Roberts recommends shading the bed with hessian, and never allowing it to dry out1. Once the seeds are at the 4-leaf stage, the hessian can be removed, but continue to kepp the seeds moist1.

Try to aim for a seed spacing of at least 2.34 inches (6.0 cm) and sow at a depth of around 0.0 inches (0.0 cm).

Harvesting Watercress

Pick out the outer leaves for salads, or the side-shoot rosettes of leaves1.

How long does Watercress take to grow?

These estimates for how long Watercress takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.

Days to Germination How long does it take Watercress to germinate?
6 days

Average 6 days | Min 4 days | Max 15 days (13)

Days to Transplant How long until I can plant out Watercress?
+ days

Average days | Min days | Max days (0)

Days to Maturity How long until Watercress is ready for harvest / bloom?
+ 50 days

Average 50 days | Min days | Max days (0)

Total Growing Days How long does it take to grow Watercress?
= days

Other names for Watercress

Footnotes

1 :Growing Herbs with Margaret Roberts; First published 1985


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