Watercress

[koiguy1969]

Question:
.................how short can i cut the stems on this watercress and still get good rooting results?
*** i think i have a good idea for a planting ring "island" for this stuff.....take one of my floating plant rings and put a nother piece of the fencing on the top. Then simply tuck the plants into the mesh holes!

hello....um...does anyone have an actual answer, not just a reply?

 

[vertigo72]

You sure thats watercress? Perhaps its a different variant, but mine looks much greener and with rounder leaves. Ill post a pic later.

As for the danger of eating it... I hadnt heard about it and have been eating everytime I walk near my pond. You scared me there! Did some googling, and it seems the risk isnt all that big, especially if you dont have cattle nearby and you pick the tops well above the water line, there should be virtually no risk, if this is to be believed:
http://www.torrens.org.uk/FFF/Fluke.html

 

[addy1]

Laughing vertigo, so it is now how much do we believe of what we find on the net.

No cows here, so safe lol

 

[Pond Boy]

hello....um...does anyone have an actual answer, not just a reply?

I cut mine bout in half planted one in upper part of the fall the other in the lower, Its all rooting up nicely grows fast...

 

[mouseams]

Question:
.................how short can i cut the stems on this watercress and still get good rooting results?
*** i think i have a good idea for a planting ring "island" for this stuff.....take one of my floating plant rings and put a nother piece of the fencing on the top. Then simply tuck the plants into the mesh holes!

Kooiguy, the roots will grow from any nodule on the stem where the leaves emerge. I had pieces that were about 6 inches in max length and they have roots in several spots along the stem. I understand the more you pinch back the better they grow and that they will trail into the pond for the hungry little critters to snack on

There are a few varieties of watercress. This was whatever I found at the supermarket, so I couldn't tell you the variety.

 

[riparks]

I have been to every grocery store in town and can't find this,

 

[koiguy1969]

I am going for the grocery store variety.... it looks like the stems continue to grow almost "vine like", true?

 

[mouseams]

It seems to, the stems are quite hardy. Riparks, maybe call the produce dept. maybe they can get some for you?

 

[vertigo72]

Here is what mine look like. Picked them up at the supermarket about a week ago, planted them among my irises, and they are hard to resist eating



Just looks quite different from the OP.

 

[phillyofish]

do you guys free float them or pot them in kitty litter?
bunch them together?

 

[riparks]

Good idea mouseams, embarrassed I didn't think of that myself, lol.

 

[vertigo72]

do you guys free float them or pot them in kitty litter?
bunch them together?

The ones on the picture are actually in clay. I also have a bunch in "kitty litter" in my filter, and they seem to do equally well.
edit: actually, I have some in heavy substrate that do well, and some in very light (both color and weight) thats more like kitty litter and they dont seem to do as well. But I only planted those more recently.

 

[sissy]

mouseams I hate you I miss ShopRite darn the south no ShopRite and we cannot get pork roll down here and my son loves pork roll and I love the ShopRite cheese and there bakery good good good .Cheaper to live here but we pay tax on food and clothes and in Jersey no tax .VA going to have a bunch of starving naked people here if it keeps up.

 

[vertigo72]

Here is a pic of the watercrest in one of my filter barrels. Quite a difference between the yellowish heavier substrate and the light white stuff. Not sure if thats coincidental or not, but the irises are also doing rather badly in the light litter stuff, although I planted those (and the watercrest in it) later:

 

[sissy]

I put the ugly rock on the bottom of my planters and just dressed the top with pretty rock