About[]
Watercress is a spicy, water-borne plant of the same family as mustard.
It is prized as a food because of its rarity and short shelf life.
Some things to keep in mind when it comes to hydroponics:
- Watercress favors a slightly alkaline environment, so you may not get optimal performance in a system with other hydroponic produce at a normal pH of 5.8-6.5.
- Watercress does not tolerate stagnant water, it needs to be moving and aerated.
Starting Seeds[]
Start your seedlings indoors on damp paper towels.
Starting Cuttings[]
A better option to starting from seeds is to use watercress purchased at the grocery store. Just cut into pieces and toss into your system. Buds at the crease of branches will develop into roots!
About sunlight[]
I've read some sources that say full sunlight, but most mention partial shade, which makes sense, as the natural environment for watercress is along creekbeds and natural springs, where a light treecover is present. Obviously, it needs light to grow, but not full sunlight.
Suitable System
The ideal system type is NFT, although the DFT raft technique is used by at least one person (find pics on the 'net). A recirculating drip with a layer of nutrient at the bottom would probably work, like a shallow Bato bucket system.