Growing watercress

[SteveBristow]

I would like to know how to grow watercress in our small stream in th

garden. The stream has a stony bottom and has never dried up i living memory. I am located in the South of England. Thank

-- SteveBristow

[Richard Wright]

Stony bottom doesn't sound good. The roots need to embed themselves in a muddy bottom. A potential problem is the watercress being washed away after heavy rain.

The commercial watercress beds that I saw in Somerset in my childhood solved both problems by a low dam right across the stream - little more than 20 cm high. This allowed mud to accumulate and lowered the erosive capability of flood water.

Alternative for a few plants is to fill a large, flat ceramic pot with soil. Use one with holes in the bottom to let in the water. Plant the watercress in it, and almost submerge the pot in an embayment you dig by the side of the stream.

Don't know what happens to watercress in winter in England. In Sydney it is perennial.

[shazzbat]

Where in the south? Most watercress grown in the UK is grown in Hampshire AFAIK. Alton/Petersfield area is prime. The restored steam railway is called the watercress line. Go and visit, they may share their secrets with you. also googling "Vitacress" may help.

Steve

[simy1]

Besides the advice (all good) by Richard, you can make a bed behind the dam, and then you will have a large area to grow watercress while further minimizing losses during floods. I did build the bed (4 by 8 feet, but it should be much larger if you have space, possibly 10 by

10), the watercress sprouted easily and grew strongly, but then the stream dried and it all died. Next year some more sprouted on their own, but when the stream dried, that was it. Now the bed is all grass. Yes, you need mud and a constant stream of water. Finally, if you make the bed as far upstream as possible, plants that come loose during a flood will root downstream and colonize the banks. Even in a few months, I had several instances of that happening.

[Ottawa]

My grandparents grew watercrest growing up in our backyard I remember. They just dug a pit about 4 x 10 and about a foot deep. lined it with a heavy plastic, filled with dirt and kept it watered a lot. They alwasy had watercrest.