I am growing watercress in a pot!

[Millymollymandy]

Discovered some seeds by T&M when I was in England and thought I'd give it a go. Apparently if you have moistish soil you can grow direct into the ground by making ridges and furrows (is that the right word?) and grow them in the valley between the ridges and keep well watered.

That's no good in my light soil so I went for the other option - grow 4 (ish) plants in a large pot which you place on a large pot saucer and keep well topped up with water.

After 6 weeks I had my first pickings and now they are growing really fast and there's always some to add to a salad.

I'm really chuffed as I had never realised you could grow it like that - with the benefit that there's no shrimps in mine (or fluke)!!!!

[thesunflowergal]

What a fab idea!! I am going to add it onto the list for next year. At least my kids will not be able to drown watercress

[ina]

Does it say on your seed packet what temperatures they need?

[Chicken6]

I grew it in a pot outside my back door - it was so, so easy - T&M seeds

I just made sure the soil was damp, the pot was stood in a shallow dish so would top that up with water. From what I remember the more I cut the more it grew. For some reason i didn't sow any this year, too much to remember but wish I had.

Last year I was watching the BIG DIG and this chap was going to great lenghts to grow it in a pond and i couldn't believe how difficult he made it look.

[Millymollymandy]

Does it say on your seed packet what temperatures they need?

No, it just says sow April to May outdoors, so it's obviously not tender. I don't even know if it's an annual or not. Though even if it isn't I doubt it will survive in a waterlogged pot in winter, possibly frozen solid.

The seeds are from Thomson & Morgan bought in England therefore aimed at the British market and climate. Though I appreciate that varies greatly!

I do keep getting flowers on mine which I'm picking off as buds as it doesn't say what you should do about that.

I also didn't know that its Latin name is Nasturtium officinale!

[ina]

Thanks, MMM - I will investigate!

[Peggy Sue]

What a great idea- on my list for next year too

[hedgewitch]

On my list for next year too!

[Millymollymandy]

Don't put it in full sun where you are Hedgewitch as one of my plants in the pot suddenly went rather yellow and floppy with the higher temps we've had recently so I've moved it to somewhere where it won't get sun until later in the day and is a bit shaded by my mint plants.

The water wasn't hot in the saucer but when you think about it they usually have their roots in cold running water even if they are in full sun.

As they put roots out on their stems as they grow and reroot themselves in the soil, I'm thinking of taking some cuttings and sticking them in a new pot, rather than sow any more. Will report back!

[hedgewitch]