How much watercress grows. Watercress: growing from seeds in the open field and on the windowsill, the best varieties for planting

A green crop native to the Mediterranean called watercress is now highly respected in many European countries. This exotic plant has many useful and medicinal properties and therefore in demand in trading establishments throughout the year. Its composition contains a large number of trace elements, vitamins and other valuable components. Watercress (or watercress) has an individual and unique taste. A piquant taste with a slight bitterness, a bit reminiscent of the sharpness of mustard, is combined with many other green and vegetable crops. Watercress is especially popular in the diet of gourmets and connoisseurs of healthy eating.

Watercress prefers bright diffused and long (at least 14 hours a day) lighting. Getting it in sufficient quantity at the first stage of cultivation, the plant very quickly passes into the flowering stage. A full level of illumination can be achieved by placing containers with plants on the windowsill. This early ripening crop will give the first harvest in 15-20 days after the appearance of young shoots. With such an unusual growth rate of watercress, you can get greens all the time if you sow seed material with an interval of 10-15 days.

When choosing a place to grow watercress, it must be taken into account that the plant has a high level of cold resistance and can grow even in shady conditions, which will bring another plus - the containment of shooting.

Choice of container and soil

A container or box for growing green crops should be at least 8-10 cm high. It is advisable to purchase a soil mixture in retail chains, since garden soil may contain larvae and eggs of harmful insects that will easily and quickly destroy young shoots that have just appeared . The soil can be used recommended for growing seedlings or for indoor plants.

Plant processing

Preventive spraying with solutions containing chemicals cannot be used, because dangerous substances do not have time to neutralize in a short period of time and can cause irreparable harm health.

Sowing seeds

Temperature regime

To form a strong root system of plants, containers with emerging young shoots are recommended to be placed in a room with a temperature of six to eight degrees Celsius and left there until the first full-fledged leaf appears. Seedlings with emerging leaves need more heat content - from 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. It is not worth exceeding the recommended temperature, as this will affect the quality and appearance watercress. Young plants will begin to stretch, causing their stems to become very thin and subsequently all specimens simply lie down on the surface of the soil. The most favorable place optimal temperature is the space between the window frames. In the autumn-winter period, containers with plants can be safely placed there. This method of growing watercress brings a yield of approximately 600 g per square meter of land.

Types of organic substrates

Shredded organic waste plant origin can be an excellent material in which watercress will grow well. Before use, the selected material is recommended to be scalded with boiling water to avoid mold.

Top dressing

Fertilizers need to be applied regularly after a certain time. After the formation of the first leaf on the seedlings, the first feeding is carried out. This can be spraying or watering under the root with a solution consisting of 2 liters of water and 5 g of urea. After seven days - the second top dressing (complex). Its composition is 10 liters of water, potassium salt (10 g), superphosphate (20 g), ammonium sulfate (10 g). Watering plants with this solution is repeated after harvest to maintain growing crops.

Seed containers can be placed on shelves with a height of about 20 cm between shelves. This method is convenient to use in a small room with a minimum area.

To maintain a constant level of soil moisture in containers with plants, it is worth building a mini-greenhouse using a metal frame and plastic wrap.

As a seed container for watercress, a translucent plastic box from under food products(for example, from under milk, yogurt, etc.), in which it will only be necessary to make drainage holes and lay a small layer of cotton wool on the bottom.

To please yourself and your loved ones delicious meals, you can arrange a small garden in the room, for example, grow watercress on the windowsill. It is tasty and healthy, and also easy to plant and care for. By following some rules, you can all year round enjoy delicious greens.

What does watercress look like?

annual vegetable plant popular with cooks. When figuring out how homemade watercress grows, it is worth noting that it has thin stem With big amount leaves and a simple root. Until the stem white color, the plant is considered young and can be eaten. Flowering is observed in June or July, so during this period white or white flowers appear. Pink colour, after which the fruit-pod is formed. Watercress, the types of which differ outward signs, is undemanding, so cultivation should not be a problem.

Whole-leaved. The plant may be early or late ripening. Its rosette is large, and the leaves are narrow and slightly indented.
Curly. The socket is small and is 17 cm. The leaves of the grown watercress on the windowsill will be heavily cut and raised. There are early and mid-season varieties.
Sowing. In this species, the rosette is large and is 19-21 cm. The leaves grow horizontally and have a wide, solid shape.

A few words about how to properly eat grown watercress on the windowsill. It is best to include it in recipes in fresh so it saves the maximum benefit. It is worth noting that the taste of greens is similar to a burning mixture of horseradish, radish and garlic. It is most useful to combine watercress with olive oil. A young plant perfectly emphasizes the taste of cheese, cottage cheese, cold soups and sauces. It goes well with legumes, pears, apples, eggplant and other vegetables. Lettuce is better to tear with your hands, not cut.

How to plant watercress on a windowsill?

If desired, at home, you can grow any vegetable and herbs, which cannot but please people who do not have a land plot. To get started, buy fresh seeds (they should not be older than six months) and be sure to check their integrity. Planting watercress at home can be done in several ways:

Watercress on the windowsill - planting time

Greens are popular due to the fact that they can be grown throughout the year. Some growers claim that best time for planting seeds - early spring, that is, the beginning of March. There is an opinion regarding how to plant watercress correctly, that to get the most juicy greens, you need to sow in August. Note that the plant needs to be reseeded regularly, about every 5 days, to renew the already cut lettuce.

Watercress - flowering

It has already been mentioned that greenery on the windowsill begins to bloom in June-July. The flowers are small and collected in an inflorescence-brush. Many people think that after this, the cultivation of watercress at home should be stopped, but in fact this is not so, because the greens are edible, they just get a slight bitterness, which many people really like. After this, a pod-fruit is formed, in which there are ovoid-shaped seeds of a yellow-brown color. They ripen in August and remain viable for 3-4 years.

Watercress - when to harvest?

You can enjoy the taste and benefit from the greens grown on the windowsill when the stem height reaches about 8 cm. When figuring out when to cut watercress, it is worth pointing out that it is recommended to harvest in the morning or in the evening. Use scissors to cut stems with leaves. Keep in mind that you can store greens for a day in the refrigerator in a container with water. The next day she will lose her beneficial features. When the height of the stems reaches 14 cm, the plant is completely removed.

Watercress - Growing Conditions

If you want to make a small garden on the windowsill, then follow a few simple recommendations:

Lighting. Lettuce can be grown on both the north and northwest window sills. In cold weather, it is recommended to use additional lighting - or a fluorescent lamp. The device should be at a height of 0.5 m from the watercress on the windowsill. Using LED lamps they can be placed at a height of 5 cm from plants. Daylight hours should not exceed 14 hours.
Temperature. When growing watercress on a balcony or window sill, keep in mind that fever can lead to the drying of the soil and the death of plantings. Indicators from 17 to 20 ° C are considered ideal.
thinning. Experts recommend regularly removing excess young plants. The first time the procedure should be carried out a week after the emergence of shoots, but keep in mind that the distance between the shoots should not be more than 2 cm. The second time, it is recommended to remove excess shoots after the formation of several leaves. After that, there should be at least 5 cm between the plants. Thanks to this, the watercress on the windowsill will grow, and not stretch up.

Watercress greens - soil

If it was decided to plant the plant in the ground, then it is best to go to the store for it. Choose a universal "Biogrunt", which will contain all important substances and it does not require preparation, that is, the removal of germs and so on. When planting watercress at home, keep in mind that there should be a lot of humus in the soil. This is the case if ordinary earth is used, which must be calcined in the oven so that there are no bacteria.

How to water watercress at home?

For rapid growth, it is important to constantly maintain soil moisture, because if the soil is allowed to dry out, the plant will quickly age and taste bitter. For watering, use a watering can with a long spout. Growing watercress at home on a windowsill also includes regular spraying of plantings, for which use settled water at room temperature.

Watercress on the windowsill - top dressing

When the first true leaf appears, use a solution for which you need to take 25 g of carbamide in a bucket of water. You can bring it under the root and carry out spraying.
In order for watercress to grow well, a week after the first feeding, apply fertilizer, for which mix 20 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium salt and ammonium sulphate. The amount indicated is for a bucket of water. Fertilize again after harvest to provide nutrients to growing plants.

Watercress pests

Since the greenery on the windowsill grows quickly, the diseases simply do not have time to hit it. In rare cases, with excessive soil moisture, it may appear. In this case, the only way out is to reseed the plant, since it cannot be treated with fungicides, otherwise the salad will be unsuitable for food. The description of watercress indicates that only two pests can attack it - cruciferous flea and cabbage moth.

How to treat watercress from pests?

If cruciferous fleas were noticed on the plant, then to combat them, it is necessary to spray by dissolving wood ash or tobacco dust in water. This will scare away the pest and will not spoil the quality of the greenery. Many are interested in how to process watercress greens when a cabbage butterfly is affected, but only chemicals, and they are prohibited for this plant. The only solution is hand fishing. Can be used as bait light.

Watercress (or bed bug) was brought to European territory from Egypt and the countries of the Middle East. Today, more than 200 species of this herbaceous, refreshing-tasting annual grow throughout the world.

Early spring, when hot days have not yet come into their own, is considered perfect time for planting watercress. It is the cultivation from seeds in open field will be the key to obtaining a tasty and mineral-rich green leafy vegetable.

Properties of watercress

Watercress is considered one of the richest in minerals leaf vegetable. It has properties such as:

increased immunity;
blockade of cancer cells;
thyroid support.

And it's far from complete list the benefits of eating a delicious eco product.

Research has shown that undeniable benefit health is achieved through high content vitamins and minerals. The antioxidant properties of watercress prevent the formation of free radicals that are undesirable for the body. Among the interesting and proven facts, it is worth noting that watercress contains:

more vitamin C than an orange;
more calcium than milk;
more iron than spinach.

Benefit for health:

Prevention of breast cancer;
Improves the cardiovascular system;
Improves bone strength;
Antidepressant;
Improves brain health.

These undeniable health moments start with just one serving of these greens.

The best varieties of watercress

The single name cress combines three types of lettuce. Exist:

whole leaf- happens both late and early. With the first shoots, you can try the first harvest. Given the cold resistance of the variety, cultivation is permissible all year round. It grows well on the windowsill or on the balcony.
Curly- the "raggedness" of the leaves served as the designation of a variety of medium maturity.
Sowing- refers to varieties with fast maturation.

Even experienced gardeners find it hard to tell the seeds apart. different types lettuce. Taking into account the photo on the package, it is easy to buy and plant watercress. But only after the emergence of seedlings will the characteristic forms inherent in a particular variety be visible.

Among the best representatives of ultra-early varieties, the following are distinguished.

Ducat

Nice tart taste gentle and succulent leaves. Ripens before eating in 2-3 weeks.

Danish

Fast getting spicy, spicy greens during early spring. The variety is distinguished by excellent shoots.

Spring

The early ripening of the variety, the ability to grow it in open areas and at home instantly made it popular and in demand. Tolerant of cold, the Spring variety reaches maturity as early as the third week after germination. Yield frequency - up to 5 cycles per season. At the same time, it is enough to put a container with a 5-8 cm layer of soil on the windowsill in the apartment. A rosette of large flat leaves with a delicate, juicy-bitter taste reaches 20 cm in diameter. It is convenient to use it as an independent ingredient for fish or meat dishes.

Growing watercress outdoors

Spring sowing of watercress in the open field is permissible from April to the second half of May. When thinking about the question of how to plant this greenery in an open area, make sure that there is no snow at all.

Shade plant gives good harvest in areas hidden from bright light. Places where Sun rays appear in the morning and in the afternoon are ideal for planting an unpretentious spice.

Site preparation for planting watercress includes loosening and obligatory top dressing of the soil with minerals and compost. Removing weed spores will save you a lot of poorly fixed problems in the future. These uncomplicated conditions cultivation will lead to a decent harvest.

You can sow watercress in open ground not only in early spring, but also before winter. In this case, it is important to carry out sowing work under the very frosts - in order to avoid premature emergence of sprouts.

Growing watercress is acceptable both in separate beds and as an intermediate crop. The lettuce will grow well with a solid carpet, but the method will require more careful maintenance.

When planning planting, you should carefully consider the distance between the grown plants. It should not be less than 10 cm. Among the factors that adversely affect the future harvest, thickening occupies the first position. To prevent this, thinning as needed will allow.

It is important to know! Sowing in open ground in early spring is carried out at a depth of up to 10 mm. Winter plantings - up to 15 mm.

On average, seed material from a standard package is enough to sow 2 square meters of the selected area.
April planting of green cress begins when daytime temperatures have settled within 5°C for 3-5 days.
Seeds sown on fertilized soil are covered with a second layer of soil on top. Its height should not exceed 5 mm.
Properly performed cultivation already on the 4th day will lead to the appearance of sprouts, after another 14-16 days the greens will be ready for eating.
Most suitable conditions for culture growth - 15–18 ° С.

A steady increase in daytime temperatures will lead to bolting, which will harm the palatability of watercress.

Advice! Depending on the climate, from June to the second half of August, it is advisable to refuse to sow the crop.

Watercress care

Timely watering is the most necessary condition complete, proper care of the plant. Regardless of other factors, it is important to remember that water is the medium of watercress. The lack of moisture instantly affects taste properties green leaf. It goes into the arrow and becomes bitter, almost unusable.

On hot days, watering is carried out up to two times a day. If the weather is rainy, one watering every three days is enough.

If for some reason the soil was not fertilized when preparing the site for planting, you should pay attention to top dressing. It should be liquid, balanced, low concentration. It is worth adding in a minimum amount, extremely carefully. Given the rapid maturation and achievement nutritional value greens may not have time to process the nitrates added to the soil.

The remaining procedures are reduced to infrequent loosening and removal of weeds. Loosening will help provide additional air flow and useful substances to plant roots.

Agrotechnics of watercress on the windowsill

Watercress is perfectly adapted to growing conditions on the windowsill in a residential apartment, and all year round.

The nice thing about growing watercress at home is that it doesn't need soil. A sponge and a sponge will serve as a good foundation for seeds. paper towel, and even pieces of cotton wool.

Watch the video! Growing watercress on a windowsill

Any dishes - a mug, a bowl, a deep plate or a container, will be a good container for germinating seeds. Procedure:

Choose a tray and fill it with a substrate, the height varies between 2-2.5 cm. If there is peat or clay soil, the layer must be laid out up to 4 cm.
Soak lightly with water.
Spread the seeds evenly and carefully. Gently press them into the ground. Pour once more with settled tap water.
Cover the tray and place in a warm place.

After two days, as a rule, sprouts begin to emerge. The film is removed, and further procedures consist of watering and spraying from a spray bottle. For uniform growth, turn the container on the windowsill daily.

Harvest

Almost without affecting the stems, carefully cut off the layer of leaves with scissors. It is ideal to cut off the amount needed in food at the moment. Washed and well-dried leaves can be stored in the refrigerator's vegetable drawer in a bag for up to three days.

Watercress is cut up to five times. Then it will be possible to collect seeds for future crops.

Conclusion

Watercress - healthy and amazing plant. To collect seeds in the garden, 4-5 large and outwardly strongest plants are left. Within a month and a half after flowering, the remaining material is considered seed.

Watch the video! We grow watercress: a storehouse of vitamins and minerals!

In contact with

By growing watercress on your windowsill in winter, you will maximize its beneficial properties and enrich your body with calcium, iron, iodine, phosphorus, potassium, B and C vitamins. Mustard essential oil, which is contained in the plant, will give your salads a characteristic taste and smell.

Conditions for growing watercress on a windowsill

To grow watercress, you need to prepare the dishes, soil, drainage, and seeds. As dishes, you can use flower pots or other low containers, as long as the bottom has holes. Sowing watercress can be combined with other herbs on the windowsill.

At the bottom of dishes with a height of 2-3 cm, we pour drainage, on top of which we pour soil with a layer of 2-4 cm. It is better to use purchased universal soil, it is disinfected and has useful substances for normal growth plants.

Soak the seeds in a glass of water and evenly distribute in one layer over the surface of the soil. We sprinkle the seeds with soil up to 1 cm thick, compact it and water it. We place the container under the film, put it in a dark place and wait for the seeds to germinate. The first shoots of lettuce in a pot should appear after 3 days.

Important! Watercress with green leaves grows faster than those with purple leaves.

Location and lighting

This plant differs from others in its unpretentiousness and is characterized as a fast-growing greenery on the windowsill. This type of lettuce is not picky about lighting, rather it belongs to shade-loving plants, so even on the northern windowsill it will be comfortable.

After the seeds germinate, remove the film and put the containers on the windowsill. Make sure that the warm battery does not heat the window sill. This will be a negative factor in the cultivation of lettuce.

Optimum temperature

Seeds can germinate at temperatures above 5°C, but the optimal temperature for watercress growth is 10-18°C. To maintain this temperature, the plant is sprayed cold water and ventilate the room.

Important! At temperatures above 25 ° C, watercress can quickly shoot arrows and become unsuitable for eating.

For regular use lettuce is best sown in portions with an interval of 7-10 days. In this case, you will have time to use greens for food.

Watercress care at home

Caring for this plant is quite simple. It is necessary to maintain soil moisture and control the temperature in the room.

Watering and fertilizing the soil

The soil should be moist, but not waterlogged.. The lack and excess of moisture negatively affects the plant. Watering the plant must be carried out regularly every 2-3 days by intensive spraying, then the greens will be fragrant and tender.

Since the growing season of watercress is short, fertilizer is not added to the soil. It is necessary to use purchased soil for growing a house, which has enough fertilizers.

But the plant is able to produce new leaves when cut. In this case, you can feed the plant with liquid fertilizer; its concentration must be reduced relative to that recommended in the instructions, since the plant is very tender.

Air humidity

The humidity in the room should be high, because the plant is moisture-loving. If the humidity fluctuates, then this will lead to bitterness, stiffness of the foliage and loss of taste.

Did you know? Even Hippocrates used watercress to purify the blood and restore strength in sick animals.

Harvesting watercress

You can use the plant for food with a stem height of 7 cm to 10 cm. To do this, use scissors to cut lettuce leaves with small stems. Watercress is used fresh, so only the volume you intend to use needs to be cut.

Nutritional value and calories in 100 g of this product is: proteins -2.6 g, fats - 0.7 g, carbohydrates - 6 g, calorie content - 32 Kcal. This plant is used as an additive to salads, as well as a seasoning for meat and fish. Watercress goes well with cottage cheese, eggs and cheese.

Did you know? In some African countries, watercress is grown as animal feed.

Ways to grow watercress without soil

Cultivation feature this plant is that the presence of soil in this process is optional. Watercress can be grown on cotton wool, a sponge, or paper towel.

We spread the substrate on the bottom of the dish with a layer of up to 2 cm and soak it with water. Pour the seeds into a glass and fill them with water. This is necessary so that they are evenly distributed in one layer on the substrate.

We create the effect of a greenhouse with the help of a cellophane film and put it on the windowsill.

Watercress can also be grown without a substrate - in water. This method is the fastest and least expensive. A week after sowing, the salad is ready to eat.

The watercress plant (or bedbug) comes from Northeast Africa and Asia. But now he feels great in our northern latitudes. His fresh leaves green or emerald-violet hue have a pleasantly sharp bitter taste, similar to the taste of horseradish or radish, and are used as a seasoning for soups and second courses. Bedbug is good in salads, adds spice to sauces and omelettes, goes great with cheeses and makes more interesting taste sandwiches.

But in addition to the wonderful taste of watercress, it is also very useful herb. Thanks to the content of mustard essential oil, a variety of vitamins and mineral salts, the plant contributes better sleep and digestion, has bactericidal properties, normalizes high blood pressure and helps with respiratory diseases.

Planting watercress in open ground

Due to its undoubted benefits and the extraordinary ease of cultivation, this crop is becoming more and more popular among vegetarians and just lovers of any healthy greens, especially since growing it unique plant possible all year round.

If in winter and early spring your window sill is perfect for these purposes, then with the onset of the first fine days, you can start sowing seeds already in open beds. It is very easy to cope with this event if you follow a few simple recommendations.

Watercress is a rather shade-tolerant plant that does not tolerate too hot sun. Therefore, a place for growing it is chosen in a diffused shade or in such a way that the sun illuminates the garden only part of the daylight hours, preferably in the morning or afternoon.
Prepare the site for sowing in advance by digging it deep with the simultaneous introduction of humus and removal of fragments of weeds.
In the spring, the site should be loosened or, if necessary, dug up again. At the same time, the introduction mineral supplement and compost.
Watercress can be sown both before winter and in early spring. If winter lettuce is sown in October just before the frosts, then spring sowing can be carried out already in April when the average daily temperature is set in the range from +6 ° C to +8 ° C.
Landings can be arranged both in rows with an interval of 20–30 cm, and in ribbons. The bedbug grows beautifully with a solid carpet, but then it will be more difficult to care for it.
When distributing seeds in rows or ribbons, keep in mind that the optimal distance between adult plants for their full development should be at least 10 cm. Their thickening can lead to shredding of leaves and the occurrence of various unpleasant diseases.
Seeds are sown in open ground in spring to a depth of about 5–10 mm, and during winter plantings - up to 1.5 cm. The consumption of seed material per 1 m2 of the bed area is 1 gram.
After planting, cover the seeds with a small (0.5 cm) layer of soil and lightly compact it. The first seedlings will appear in 3 days.
The greens are ready for eating after a couple of weeks, when the sprouts reach a height of about 9-11 cm. Due to this growth rate, it is possible to do a new crop in two weeks to get a fresh crop of greens.
The most suitable conditions for culture growth are 15–18 ° C of heat. Therefore, at the onset of a hotter period (from July to early August), sowing is not recommended, since the bed bug will start shooting, which negatively affects its palatability. Sowing can be resumed from mid-August.

How to care for watercress

Incorrect agricultural practices or poor-quality seed material often lead to a complete lack of a crop. To prevent this from happening, it is not enough just to plant the seeds correctly. It is necessary to provide plants with full care during growth.

In order for the bedbug to grow juicy and tender, it is necessary to turn Special attention for its timely and plentiful watering. With a lack of moisture, the plants become coarse and begin to shoot. The optimal mode, which provides the salad with the required quality, is to water daily in the absence of precipitation or moisten every three days in cloudy and rainy weather. If the summer is very rainy, then it is better to do without watering at all. A waterlogged bedbug quickly becomes brittle and rots, and with a lack of water, it is affected by pests and dies.
Care should be taken when feeding, because the plant reaches nutritional maturity very quickly, and the resulting nitrates do not have time to be used up. Therefore, it would be more correct to introduce all the necessary organic matter and complex mineral fertilizers still at the stage of soil preparation. If for some reason this could not be done, then fertilize with very weak fertilizer solutions and in the smallest possible volume.
All other agrotechnical methods for caring for bed bugs consist of two actions: weeding and loosening. Removal of weeds is necessary so that they do not compete with more timid and tender seedlings in the struggle for food. Loosening will help provide an additional flow of air and nutrients to the roots of plants.
At proper care it is quite realistic to get one and a half kilograms of plants from 1 m2. Choose from varieties green tint leaves. They grow much faster than their emerald purple counterparts.
The amazing watercress plant can reproduce perfectly by self-sowing, if given the opportunity to do so. To get enough seeds for future crops, only five plants left specifically for this purpose will suffice.