Watercress like weeds!

[BarleySugar]

Last year I successfully grew watercress, some just in a tray of water, some on capillary matting. At the end of the season, the trays were left out, all thorugh the snow and ice, they must have got frozen right through. The old plants of course died off, and I cleared away the stems, but didn't get around to emptying the trays. Both are now covered in a green carpet of watercress seedlings, which have also come up in a pot of gravel nearby, between the flagstones of the patio, and in any pots around about.
The original seeds were planted and cossested in the greenhouse this time of year, but it just goes to show, it is as tough as old boots . I'm planting up loads, and then I'll need to weed out the rest

[Printemps]

Ooooh that very encouraging - as I'm proposing to grow watercress for the first time this year and wasn't too sure just how much coddling they'd need. I guess they just need oodles of water!

[blackkitty]

Watercress definitely doesn't need coddeling. We grow it in the pond to help filter the water and it lasts through the winter without any problems. In fact a word of warning we cleared a lot out and put it in the compost bin and had watercress plants everywhere in the garden even though it had had at least a year in the bin first.

[rana]

Water cress is a native brassica (cabbage family) so should be tough enough for our weather.

[snakeshack]

i put 2 sprigs of watercress in the pond 2 years ago straight from the supermarket bag as an experiment.
the darn stuff grows so fast it almost knocks you over,I had to rake it out all summer last year on a weekly basis, makes great compost activator though.

[bazzaboy]

Somewhere along the line I've been told, and believed, that watercress for human consumption has to be grown in running water and never still water such as a pond.... is that not true, you just grow it in soil, eat it and live to tell the tale? b.

[blackkitty]

We don't eat the watercress from the pond as there is a admittedly very slight risk of Weils (spelling) disease which is spread by rats, which we get from the stream and farmland behind us. Its the best pond filter there is though and keeps blanketweed down a lot as well as providing lots of spaces for wildlife. If we want some to eat we grow it in a pot without a hole in the bottom so the compost stays very moist. Or just pick some of the plants that still crop up all over the garden.

[bazzaboy]

Thanks blackkitty, as you’ve also mentioned a slight risk of disease from home-grown watercress I’ve had a Google to see what else I can find…. The news is not particularly good - not to spread gloom and despondency but turns out there are a number of safety aspects particular to watercress that Grapes should probably bear in mind…

From what I can glean the risks are particularly high in watercress because of its high water content direct from source – i.e. relatively unprocessed - so the basic rule evidently is never eat the watercress RAW if you wouldn’t be willing to drink the water it’s growing in. It also gets a bit more complicated than this if grown anywhere that might contain pond-snails as they carry and pass on via watercress a nasty called the liver fluke which actually hatches in your gut and by all accounts is not good news!

Two authorities “Maddy” and a “Mr M Saunders” discuss this on another list and seem very well informed… see “Comments” on:
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=264

I'm sure grown carefully taking into account various risks it's fine... but particularly these days when there are hundreds of new converts to home growing it's as well to know what to avoid... b.

[BarleySugar]

I grew mine in seed trays, with fresh water to keep the soil moist, so not really much different than growing any other plant, just lots of watering. I didn't have the trays sitting in stagnant water, it wouldn't have been very appetising. I don't have a pond, so I couldn't grow it in one .