Tips On How To Grow Your Own Watercress

Watercress is really a delight to plant in your own garden particularly if you have a stream or perhaps a pond to grow it. However, if you don't, it is possible to still cultivate this peppery plant in pots, big containers or maybe an old tub set in trays of water or wet garden soils.

It might be easier to cultivate your own watercress rather than getting it from unknown sources. This specific aquatic plant very easily becomes polluted by contaminated water. When you grow your own, you can be certain of the quality of the watercress you are harvesting.

Watercress may be easily cultivated from seeds. But growing it from stem pieces is also easy. They root easier too, when they are sown in very wet soil.

Ideally, a 20 centimeter level of well rotted garden compost need to be at the bottom of the bed, and an additional 10 centimeters of rich soil on top of it. The topmost layer of the bed has to be a layer of fine pea gravel that is five centimeters thick.

To grow watercress, plant the seeds about one fourth inch deep  in wet backyard soil. This must be performed around three weeks ahead of the common date of last frost. If you think that the seeds are going to be washed away from the soil bed by high water, mulch softly.

It's also possible to grow seeds placed in wet paper towels set in containers. Under good conditions, consistent wetness along with a temperature of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the seedlings should germinate in 10 days or more.

In case you are starting watercress from cuttings, it should be about 10 centimeters in length. The lower part of the cutting should be stripped of foliage and then rooted around 7 centimeters apart from others.

They must be protected from the sun, not until their roots become well established. Once they start to grow, you can add more water to the container making only the tip of the plant to show above the water. Make sure to change the water a minimum of once per week as watercress tend not to grow in stagnant water.

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About the author

The author is a nutritionist and is currently working for a non-profit health care corporation. For more information about the topic, visit the following link: Watercress Recipes

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