7 Types Of Salad For Your Garden. The Best Varieties. Sowing, Cultivation And Care. Description, Photo - Page 6 Of 8

5. Watercress

A very decorative and miniature watercress, it has not earned its botanical name "klopovnik sowing" at all. Small leaves of this salad look great as a decoration for dishes, but the watercress became famous primarily for its surprisingly sharp "mustard" taste of small beautiful leaves. A fast-growing, perishable, bright and aromatic watercress in terms of the intensity of its taste characteristics, it can even compete with arugula.

The use of watercress in cooking

Watercress is used only fresh. It goes well with fresh vegetables and sauces, snacks, omelets, fish and meat, and is used as a seasoning.

Sowing dates for watercress

The first sowing of cress is carried out at the end of March. It is advisable to constantly sow the cross for replacement plantings every 7-10 days. In the summer, it is better to take a break: in typical summer conditions in the middle lane, this type of salad rapidly turns to flowering, does not like long daylight hours and heat. Optimal conditions - germination at a temperature of about 6-8 ° C warm and growth at 10-15 ° C - are achievable with sowing in spring and September.

The necessary conditions

For watercress it is necessary to provide very nutritious and light soils. This type of salad does not like the bright sun, it gives the most delicious greens in partial shade (only the earliest sowing in March is best done in a sunny garden). This plant is considered one of the most cold-resistant salads.

Growing watercress

It is better to prepare the salad beds in the fall. The first sowing of cress is carried out in early spring, after warming up the soil. The seeds are buried in the soil up to 1 cm. Seedlings appear very quickly, after a few days. It is better to cover the first March sowing with a film or a film tunnel. After the release of the third true leaf, fragile crops must be thinned out, leaving only one plant at a distance of 10 cm.

The specifics of caring for watercress

Since the watercress is very low and grows in loose rosettes, it is best to mulch the soil to keep the foliage clean. Watercress will need regular watering, because interruptions in moisture instantly affect the taste of the leaves. Watercress just loves spraying every day for juicier, more tender greens. It is better not to use fertilizers.

Harvesting and storage

This is an early ripening salad that reaches technical maturity in 2-3 weeks after sowing (and its seeds ripen in two months). Even the plants remaining after thinning can be eaten. Harvesting can begin as soon as the watercress has grown to 10 cm.

Watercress belongs to the most perishable types of salads: fresh watercress is stored for no more than a day, after which the leaves brighten due to the loss of chlorophyll and lose their taste. Even in the refrigerator, when the leaves are moistened, it can be stored for only 2-3 days.

The best varieties of watercress:

• "Danskiy" is an early variety that reaches technical maturity at 14 days with semi-raised rosettes, spicy and sharp, but delicate leaves;
• "Cupid", a mid-early variety, ripening for about 40 days with semi-raised rosettes of very light, large, weakly fibrous and delicate, surprisingly fragrant leaves, reaching 20 cm in height and 30 cm in diameter;
• "Vest" is a mid-early variety that ripens in a month with a higher rosette, reaching not only 40 cm in height, but more than 60 cm in diameter.

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