Hardly any herb can be sown and grown as easily as cress. By caring for cress, even children learn how plants are sown and how they grow. It doesn't matter where you sow the cress. The herb grows almost everywhere.

Sow cress outdoors

Cress can be sown almost anywhere in your own garden. The plant thrives particularly well in a favorable sunny location. But cress also grows in a shady location. It just takes a little longer for the herb to be ready to harvest.

You can also plant cress as a catch crop or keep it in a mixed culture with other plants. Cress does not go so well with rocket salad.

Cress makes no special demands on the soil. It also thrives on poor and depleted soils. All you have to do is ensure that the seed does not dry out and that the plants remain consistently moist later on.

Prepare the soil for sowing

If you have space in the garden for your own bed of cress, loosen the soil and create rows 15 centimeters apart.

If you sow watercress, you should sow the seed very thinly, as the plants need a little more space than garden cress. Since the seed is very fine, mix it with some fine sand if necessary.

You can also easily scatter the cress seeds. In this way you get a bed covered with a dense green carpet.

The best time for sowing cress

You can sow cress outdoors from mid-May. The plants are sensitive to frost and need a soil temperature of at least 15 degrees to germinate.

Sow follow-up seeds well into autumn. Since cress only has a very short growing season, cress sown in early autumn is still ready to harvest.

  • Sow outdoors from mid-May to September
  • Keep soil evenly moist
  • Harvest after three to four weeks until flowering

Cress is a light germinator

Cress is not covered with soil after sowing. It belongs to the group of light germinators and needs direct light to break down the seed's germination inhibition.

You do not need to protect the seeds from birds, as the ingredients in the cress do not taste good to the animals.

However, heavy rains can become a problem because they wash away the seeds. Therefore, press the seed down a little and spray it with water from the spray bottle after sowing.

Sow in the cress bed on the windowsill

  • Sowing possible all year round
  • Sow on soil, cotton wool or kitchen paper
  • Keep moist
  • Avoid waterlogging

If you don't have a garden available, planting cress is no problem. The undemanding herb also thrives wonderfully on the windowsill.

You can use anything the household has to offer as a plant bowl, from a soup plate to a water glass to an egg carton. The cress is also very good in clay pots.

Cress can be sown on almost any substrate. It germinates in normal garden soil as well as on a folded piece of kitchen paper, a cotton swab or a Tempo handkerchief.

How to properly sow cress

Thoroughly clean the intended plant pots so that no mold spores or bacteria adhere to them. If you sow the cress in soil, you should put it in the hot oven for a few minutes to kill any germs.

Fill the planters with soil, crepe or cotton wool and let the material soak up water. Pour off excess water.

Scatter the cress as evenly as possible on the plant substrate and press it down lightly. Keep the seed evenly moist until it germinates, but make sure that there is no waterlogging, as the cress will then go mouldy. Use a spray bottle to moisten, as a jet of water that is too hard will wash away the small seeds.

Keep the seed nice and moist

During the germination period, the seed must be kept as constantly moist as possible. Pour gently and drain excess water.

Place the cress beds as bright and warm as possible. But avoid too much sun exposure behind the pane of glass, as the seeds can then dry out and the cotyledons can burn.

The first roots develop already on the first and second day. Cress sprouts are ready to harvest after just four days.

Sow cress on the window sill all year round

You can sow new cress on the window sill all year round. Just provide enough light for the plants to grow vigorous and not shoot too tall.

tips and tricks

In order to always be able to harvest fresh cress from your own garden or from the window sill, sow it again at regular intervals. You can use the old bed outdoors as well as a new location.

Category:

Vegetable garden