Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

How to sow watercress: Direct seed, transplants, or cuttings

Sun requirement for watercress: Plant in Full Sun

Watercress is a semi-aquatic to aquatic perennial plant in the Brassica family whose leaves and stems have a clean, slightly peppery taste. In the wild, Watercress favors moderately cool climates and grows partially submerged in running water and flooded areas. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetables eaten by humans. Watercress can be cultivated hydroponically, in containers, or in soil that is kept constantly wet. It can be harvested as sprouts or leaves.

8: plantings
14: harvests
3: seed packets

Growing watercress

Annual

living and reproducing in a single year or less

Median lifespan

22 weeks

First harvest expected

8 weeks after planting

Last harvest expected

19 weeks after planting

Spread

20cm

Row Spacing

20cm

Grown for

leaf harvested 14 times

How members grow watercress

Sunniness

Planted from

Harvested for

Plant watercress with

daikon

spaghetti squash

rainier cherry

Photos

Watercress crops

Photo by Nicholas Thweatt via iNaturalist (Copyright Nicholas Thweatt)

by cropbot 2024-01-01 0

Photo by williamwanders via iNaturalist (Copyright williamwanders)

by cropbot 2024-01-01 0

Photo by Samuel Perfect via iNaturalist (Copyright Samuel Perfect)

by cropbot 2024-01-01 0

Watercress plantings

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Watercress harvests

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Watercress in fish burgers

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Wild water cress

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Watercress seeds

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More photos

Video

Where watercress grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about watercress

watercress

by rainhall,

I can never find good watercress, so I thought that I would grow my own. HELP! :-) I'm really not very good with plants, but don't tell the bosses at the indoor landscaping and the garden nursery where I used to work. It's winter here in Maryland, 8 inches of snow last…