Cress is a herbal plant originally from Iran. Annual, widely used in medicine and cooking. The salad has thin white stems and many green leaves. Lettuce blooms with pale purple or white hues. Unpretentious vegetable that conquers unusual taste, grow it almost all over the world.
Some varieties are grown even in order to obtain a useful oil, which is used in cosmetology. Even in ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt, useful properties of the product and the presence of it were noticed. beneficial trace elements: phosphorus, calcium, iodine, flavonoids, vitamins of different groups, essential and fatty oils.
Table of contents
Watercress Varieties
Whole leaf
Plants are fast or late ripening. The most popular of them - "Ducat". Early. Already after 3 weeks (and sometimes after 2), the first crop can be harvested after germination. The plant is cold-resistant.
Such a salad can be grown all year round not only in the open field, but also in the greenhouse, on the balcony or windowsill. Leaves are half-raised. You can use both young shoots and leaves for salad or as decoration of dishes.
Curly
Got this name because of the rugged leaves. The type of salad has varieties late or middle maturityand.
Sowing campaign
The variety matures quickly. Outwardly, it has something in common between whole-leaf and curly. The leaves have a pleasant delicate flavor and fresh aroma.
Known variety "Danish". Early ripe, resistant to low temperatures. Perhaps year-round cultivation. Care does not require special conditions. Used mainly only raw.
Features of growing cress salad
Sowing cress lettuce in open ground is carried out in early spring - from April to May. It matures quickly. Therefore, for the season (before the middle of autumn) you can get a few harvests. It all depends on the climatic and weather conditions of the area.
Mandatory conditions for landing are:
- No snow. The soil should warm up a little (at least to a depth of 5 cm).
- Average daily temperature should not fall below +8 degrees.
Site preparation for sowing
For growing plants, it is desirable to give preference slightly acidic or neutral soil. The culture will respond well if planted on the place where potatoes, beets or onions used to grow. It is not worth sowing at the place where cabbage grows.
For growing crops, gardeners recommend choosing a site that at least a few hours a day will be in the shade. In the shade or partial shade, watercress can be grown from mid-spring to early autumn.In sunny areas, after the onset of heat, cultivation is stopped.
The soil itself should be taken care of in the fall. If the site is not fertile and is not famous for its high yields, it is better to apply fertilizer per 1 sq. M. in such proportions: compost - 5 kg, superphosphate - 20 gr., calcium chloride - 15 gr.
Landing technology
Seeds buried deep in the furrows 5-7 cmrespecting the row spacing around 15 cm. No need to fear that when planting the soil is not warmed. Seeds and young sprouts perfectly tolerate temperatures up to - 4 degrees.
When the first shoots appear, you need to consider that for 1 adult plant, will be required area in 10-12 cm. If the plot is densely planted, it is better to thin it. Because plants can grow not only weak and small, but also more exposed to fungal diseases.
Care rules
Watering
In case of complete absence of precipitation, the plant should be watered. dailyespecially in the summer season. In the rainy period, watering is not needed. When the weather is cloudy, moderate watering is sufficient. 2-3 times a week.
It is important to prevent an excess of moisture, as this makes it very fragile and vulnerable to decay and fungal diseases. Afraid of windy weather. Plus, the taste of the salad can change. After watering, you need to gently loosen the soil and timely remove weeds.
Top dressing
Fertilize after landing not worth it. The period of maturation of the culture is very small, so if there are nitrates in the feed, they do not have time to be processed. Because of this, it is better to fertilize the soil before planting, and even better prepare a plot from autumn.
If, however, fertilizing cannot be done without sowing seeds, then use only minimal concentrations. After harvesting greens on the same plot, it is better to plant potatoes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, or legumes.
Disease prevention
Diseases and pests affect watercress in very rare cases. This is due to the rapid maturation of the crop.
The only problem may be waterlogging. It threatens to infect a black leg or rot. In such situations, the only way out is to re-harvest. Treatment with fungicides will be hazardous to health.
Among the pests is considered dangerous cross-colored flea. To get rid of it, the plants are treated with tobacco broth. As a preventive measure against pests, crop rotation and keeping distances between plants are used.
Harvesting and storage conditions
Some varieties ripen in 14-20 days after the first shoots. Determining that the cress salad is ripe is very easy: leaves should be wide bright greencrush leaves produce a pleasant fresh scent.
Keep refrigerated. In order for the vegetable to keep its freshness and useful microelements longer, it is better to put it in a bowl with cool water.
Watercress is a garden crop that produces crops very quickly and does not require difficult maintenance conditions; it can be grown even at home on a windowsill. Used by not only in cooking, but also in cosmetology, medicine. Included in many recipes for healthy eating.
If you make a cross-salad part of your diet, you can significantly reduce the risk of cancer and endocrine diseases, protect yourself from serious problems with joints and swelling, avoid problems with digestion and kidneys.