Garden cress thrives in potting soil in the garden bed as well as on kitchen paper on the windowsill. Growing garden cress is very easy if you follow our tips.

Garden cress even thrives on paper towels

The perfect location for garden cress

As said, garden cress thrives almost anywhere. It is only important that the substrate offers the roots support (e.g. a glass plate falls out with it) and that it is kept continuously moist during the germination phase.
Like all plants, garden cress needs light to germinate and grow. However, it doesn't matter to her at all whether she gets hours of direct sunshine or is in partial shade. The important thing is that she enjoys a little light. However, it does not like direct midday sun that much.

Sowing garden cress step by step

Regardless of whether you plant your garden cress in the garden bed, proceed as follows:

  • To ensure better germination, you can soak your garden cress seeds for several hours before sowing.
  • Moisten the substrate e.g. with a spray bottle.
  • Scatter the garden cress seeds loosely on top.
  • If you sow several rows of garden cress, you should keep a distance of 15 cm between the individual rows.
  • Garden cress seeds germinate in the light and must therefore never be covered with soil!
  • Protect your seeds from birds with scarecrows or netting if you sow them outdoors.
  • Then water the seeds lightly - preferably with a spray bottle.

Cultivate garden cress

Garden cress doesn't really need any care other than water - and enough of it! The garden cress seeds must not dry out during and after germination!

Harvest garden cress

Garden cress can be harvested a week after sowing, once it has reached a height of around 10cm. But you can also wait two or three weeks to harvest. To harvest, simply pull the plantlets out of the ground or substrate by the leaves. Rinse them briefly under running water and eat them as soon as possible to prevent the loss of nutrients. In this profile, we have compiled for you which nutrients garden cress contains and which health problems it helps against.
If you happen to have too much garden cress left over, you can easily freeze it.

tips

Sow the garden cress every 10 days and enjoy fresh, healthy garden cress all year round.

Category:

Vegetable garden