HOW TO GROW CRESS AND HOW TO CARE FOR IT. BENEFITS OF THE PLANT

DO NOT PUT A CROSS ON CRESS

Watercress is the most early ripening, cold-resistant and shade-tolerant green crop. Harvest is ready within two weeks after germination, and sprouts even after 6 days. What you need for a garden on the windowsill. With stepped crops every 7-8 days, you can provide yourself with live vitamins from late autumn to spring.

CRESS: THREE SUBSPECIES IN THE WORLD

Watercress (Lepidium sativum) is an annual plant in the cabbage family native to North Africa and West Asia. It was known to the ancient Romans and spread throughout Europe with them. However, then the plant was forgotten for a long time, and only in the middle of the XNUMXth century. With the development of greenhouse vegetable growing, its revival began. Today it is a fashionable and constantly in demand greens for growing in containers. Watercress sandwiches are a culinary classic. It is very useful to eat it in early spring, when the risk of vitamin deficiency is especially high.

There are 3 varieties of the plant, which differ in leaf structure. In curly (crispus) the leaf is heavily indented. Varieties: Openwork, Accord, Lace, Chill, Curly, Piquant, Flagman. In whole-leaved (latifolius), the leaf is undivided large. Varieties - Dukat, Prestige, Broad-leaved, Large-leaved. The sowing variety (sativus) occupies an intermediate position between the first two. Varieties: Sowing, Zabava, Kurland, Dansky.

Varieties and varieties do not differ much in taste. You can safely buy those that are on sale. You will need a lot of seeds, but they are inexpensive.

TWO WAYS TO SEED CRESS CRESS AT HOME

On windowsills and balconies of any orientation, watercress is grown year-round. Lighting is usually not required. And in summer, a small container with undersized plants can always be shaded and covered with a box in time to shorten the length of the day.

Shallow plastic containers are suitable for sowing, in which a layer of cotton wool, paper towels, soft cloth, sawdust or small shavings of hardwoods is placed.

The substrate is well moistened. Sow evenly scattered. Swelling and germinating, watercress seeds form a layer of mucus around them, another sowing method is based on this property. Seeds are soaked in water for several hours until the peel is covered with mucus, then intensively mixed and poured onto the surface of the substrate.

The container is covered with foil and placed in a warm place (20-25°). You can germinate in the dark. Immediately after the appearance of seedlings - this usually happens on the 3-4th day - the container is transferred to a bright place, where it is 15-20 °.

After 2 weeks, watercress is ready to eat. Plants 7-10 cm high with two developed true leaves are cut with scissors at soil level. Watercress does not need dressing. Sprouts can be used on the 6th day.

If you want larger rosettes or plan to cut the leaves again, it is better to use a coco substrate or a regular seedling potting mix. In this case, the seeds are covered from above with sand or perlite with a layer of 1 cm. Plants cut at the stage of 4-5 leaves will grow back, they only need to be fed with a liquid complex mineral fertilizer with the addition of a growth stimulator.

Leaves and young shoots of watercress with a sharp taste and aroma are good as an addition to meat, fish, cheeses, when preparing salads, sandwiches and a day of serving dishes. Cress is not subjected to heat treatment, as vitamins are destroyed and an unpleasant odor may appear.

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See also: Early Jerusalem artichoke, watercress, borage, etc. My tips

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CRESS IN THE GARDEN

In the open ground, from germination to harvesting watercress greens, it takes from 12 to 25 days, depending on environmental conditions. Until the seeds ripen - about 100 days. On a long day, plants quickly throw out a flowering stem, so watercress is sown in early spring and autumn - on a short day and with sufficient moisture: in spring - as soon as the soil warms up and again at intervals of about 10 days until mid-May, autumn dates - the end of August - September.

Usually, a very small bed in partial shade is allocated for watercress. It can be grown in the near-stem circles of fruit trees - a lacy shade for plants is ideal. To sow 1 sq. m area, it will take about 5 g of seeds.

The soil is fully prepared in the fall, as under all early greens. The distance between the rows is 15-20 cm. The seeds are planted to a depth of 1-1 cm. The rows are immediately mulched with low-lying peat and the soil surface is rolled. Under favorable conditions (temperature above 5 °), shoots appear in 10-3 days. Care consists in loosening, watering and thinning. Everything that is removed is used for food.

Harvesting is started 2-3 weeks after germination, when a leaf rosette is formed. Plants are cut or uprooted, tied into bundles, placed in paper cones and placed in a dark, cool place.

In greenhouses and tunnels, watercress can be grown as a compactor of the main crop - in the aisles.

Cruciferous fleas can be a problem. Tobacco dust mixed with chalk helps against them.

Watercress is rich in vitamins, mineral salts, glycosides and mustard oils. It stimulates appetite, improves digestion and increases efficiency. If you constantly include fresh herbs in the menu, blood pressure and sleep will normalize, colds will recede. Due to the high iodine content, watercress activates the thyroid gland and reduces the risk of developing its pathology. But you should not eat more than 30 g of greens per day, stomach problems and allergic reactions are possible.

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Reference by topic: Cress salad on the windowsill

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GROWING CRESS IN OPEN GROUND - VIDEO

© Author: E. LEPESHKINA, agronomist

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