Growing Watercress

21 years ago

Ok, I had to rip out all my old water cress late last year, and I am now looking at starting again once I can find a bag of salad in my local store :)

Those who already use watercress, do you plant it or do you let it float freely? Last time I 'planted' mine loosly in the gravel in my waterfall, but the roots where quite invasive and soon had all the gravel very tightly bound up, and actually ended up clogging the fall as the fine silt started to clog in the roots/gravel. Obviously everyone has to do what works for them, but I just wondered what other water-cress users out there did.

Thanks,

Phil V

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Comments (5)

HissyFit
21 years ago
I only grow it in the top of my Skippy filter. It's quite prolific, so it must be removing plenty of nutrients from the filter before it returns to the pond... which was exactly the intention of course (starve the algae). It also hides the filter and its plumbing pretty well.

The top half of the filter is filled up with green pot scrubbers, and the Watercress seems to take root in there quite easily, so I didn't "plant it"... it floated freely in the shallow water above the scrubbers, and then took root by itself.

I haven't noticed any "choking" so far - I just threw in some bags of supermarket watercress ("organic" watercress seems to "take" pretty well) and nature did the rest. It is currently standing over 1ft high and spilling out of the filter and attempting to make it into the pond...

I do have problems with the Marsh Marigold in my waterfall return though. It was absolutely rampant this Spring, and I had to remove huge large clumps of it to stop it choking the waterfall return...
chris11
21 years ago
I've had problems with water mint this year and had to remove most of it. I started it three years ago planted in baskets with aquatic compost and gravel, but by this spring it had migrated out of the baskets and was completely swamping all the other plants on the planting shelf. The roots were so dense they were catching the silt/algae and creating it own compost. I removed a black bin liner full a couple of weeks ago. I had the same happen with water forget-me-not last year and watercress the year before.
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I have grown under lights before and florescent is ok but a little on the weak side of light output and spectrum for anything but seedlings. After they get a few inches tall they get spindly unless you let them grow into the bulbs. You might want to put a fixture on each side as well as the top for more light and fuller seedlings (encourages branching). The higher the light gets from the base of the plant, the less branching you get and the more they'll stretch to reach it. Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium are better suited for full size plants, but they cost more initially, cost more to operate and are hot. Ideally, you can get a single MH and single HPS and put them on oppisite arms of a revolving unit (Sun Circle?) designed to slooowwly circle over the plants making them think it's brighter all over instead of in just one spot. This should be done in a room no smaller than about 8'x8'. The MH and HPS have different light spectrums so you can just change bulbs on a single socket on a single, one armed revolving unit as you switch from vegetative growth to fruit production (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc.) but in a room no smaller than 6'x6'. Remember not to touch the bulbs with your fingers. The oils will shorten their life. A single light will prolly be ok for vegetative growth in non fruiting veggies too and will be cheaper to set up and operate. I forget which is better for what but I think MH is the one you should get first as it's being better for the fruiting. It will support good vegetative growth as well so you may not need a HPS bulb. Also you can grow veggies in a closet (up to about 6'x6') and just use a single MH (non-revolving) and paint the walls bright white (or use aluminium foil) and add a couple side florescent fixtures to combat stretching and encourage branching. This should get you some veggies for those 4 months of no sun. Nothing like fresh veggies in the heart of winter.
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dampflippers
21 years ago
Last year I had several pots of water primrose (Ludwigia)with lovely yellow flowers. It was beautiful and seemed under control till it suddenly sent out runners in all directions. If I hadn't removed the runners I would only have half a pond now!
I see it is now on the wildlife trust's "invasive" list.
alison_froglady
21 years ago
I love the primrose willow and can't wait for the runners to start to bring such lovely flowers. What I don't like is when it dies off for winter all the stalks go black and I never know wether to take it out as I want to keep it for the following year. Unfortunately it is combined with the watercress and often that smothers it. As to the watercress I just threw 3 sprigs in and it went crazy. I must have taken out 10 black bin bags full over the past year. They do get a carpet of roots, but if pulled gently each stem will easily pull out. They are a wonderful home for water bugs so plenty of food for the fish. My frogs all spawn in it and at the moment it is in full flower but needs cutting back now.
What I would like to know is how long does it take for goldfish/shubunkins to have their fry. I noticed the fish over the last few days thrashing about and all in the watercress. If they have spawned I obviously don't want to remove the baby eggs with the watercress. Will I be able to tell if the eggs are on the cress or shall I leave everything alone?
Alison
awblessmesturgeon
21 years ago
hi alison. ours spawned last year and the koi ate it! i whipped out a couple of water lettuce with spawn attatched (they where kind of "amber" coloured globules stuck to the roots. we tanked them amd after a week or so had fry! they got to about 3/4 of an inch until i needed to house a baby sturgeon. i thought sturgeon slow - fry fast - no prob? nope scoffed the lot - doh anyway hope that helps ? regards jo o/

Growing Watercress

Comments (5)

HissyFit

chris11

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