Planting Watercress
Watercress is a cool season vegetable in the Brassicaceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
You can sow Watercress directly into the garden 0–2 weeks before your last frost.
Watercress can be grown by direct sowing and starting indoors. Starting indoors gives the longest, most controlled season, while direct sowing is simplest where the season is long enough.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Watercress room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 6 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 8 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 3 |
| Planting depth | 0.25 inches |
| Sun requirement | Partial sun |
Days to Maturity
Watercress reaches maturity in 50–60 days from transplant.
Watercress is ready to harvest after about 55 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season vegetable, Watercress does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Watercress grows well in partial sun and tolerates some afternoon shade, which can help slow bolting in warm weather. Sow seed about 0.25 inches deep — small seed is sown shallow and barely covered, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Watercress belongs to the Brassicaceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Watercress is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
Growing Notes
Requires constantly moist soil or running water.