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  • From: Steve Diver <steved AT ncat.org>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Water cress production
  • Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 16:41:00 -0500

Nancy -

ATTRA has a resource packet on water cress. You have to
request this in print. It is not on the web page. Keep in mind
that we have 3x to 5x more resources than what you see in
"published" format.

Steve Diver
ATTRA - National Sustainable Agric Info Service
http://www.attra.ncat.org.

P.S. One of the perplexing problem in water cress production,
is whether you spell it "water cress" or "watercress."

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Excerpts from the ATTRA resource packet on water cress:

Water cress grows wild in clear streams flowing through limestone formations
in many parts of the southern and eastern U.S. The plant thrives in full sunlight
and cool water. A site with a stream flowing across it is a asic requirement for
getting into commercial water cress production.

The soil in the bottom of the trenches should be prepared much the same as
a regular vegetable garden by adding several inches of compost and then tilling
it in and raking it smooth. The bottom of the ditches is then filled with a half-inch
of gravel to provide an anchor for the plant roots. Some growers in the
northeastern U.S. use oyster shells for this purpose.

Commercial plantings of water cress are either direct-seeded or established in
seedbeds and then transplanted. Cuttings from wild patches of water cress can
be used to establish beds as well.

Water ress should be precooled promptly after harvest, either by hydrocooling
or vacuum cooling, and stored at 32° F. with high humidity (95 to 100 percent).
It is bunched and usually packed in alternative layers with flake ice. Water cress
stored at 32° F. in waxed cartons with top ice holds up well for 2 to 3 weeks.
A similar storage life is possible by using perforated polyethylene crate liners
and package icing to minimize wilting. Naked bunches of watercress are highly
perishable, even at 32° F., and may keep only 3 or 4 days.

In research conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, water
cress held up well at 32° F. and 95% relative humidity for up to 4 weeks in
perforated polyethylene bags, but only 4 days in naked bunches. At 68° F.
and 60%relative humidity watercress held up for only 2 days in polyethylene
bags and 1 day in naked bunches. Using container storage and top ice,
water cress held up well for 2 to 3 weeks.

Water cress has traditionally been raised in outdoor beds with running water,
in regions where spring water is abundant. Yet watercress can be adapted to
hydroponic greenhouse production.

One hydroponic method that seems especially well suited is float bed hydroponics.
The fact sheet below from the University of Kentucky provides an introduction
to float bed hydroponics of selected edible greens. In the photo, please note the
small plastic cups that hold a rooting substrate, and are then placed in styrafoam
boards.

Production and Yield of Selected Edible Greens in Hydroponic Ponds
(Float Beds) in a Greenhouse
Robert Anderson, University of Kentucky
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/anderson/brassica.pdf

HortTechnology published a review article on watercress in 2001, focusing
on the phytochemical properties in watercress that give health benefits.
Watercress contains antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, as well as high
concentrations of a chemopreventive specific to tobacco carcinogens. In
the notes on culture, it suggests that watercress can be grown in standard
hydroponic solutions in beds with running water. Here is the citation:

Palaniswamy, Usha R., and Richard J. McAvoy. 2001. Watercress: A
salad crop with chemopreventive potential. HortTechnology. Vol. 11, No. 4.
(October-December) p. 622626.

The Growing Edge magazine published an article on watercress in 2003,
What would you grow in water&. watercress. It features a grower in
New Zealand, Glenn Woolsey, who perfected a hydroponic system for
watercress production. The production system has worked so well that
Woolsey has franchised an additional 24 farms for the production of watercress,
which they sell in large volumes to a burdgeoning specialty greens market.

Some details are provided in The Growing Edge article, but it is obviously
incomplete.

I suppose a grower could pay Woolsey a consulting fee to get specifications
and expert advise, or discuss the purchase and establishment of a franchise.
The Woolsey system looks similar to float bed hydroponics; i.e., it uses framed
beds with a waterproof liner. The article does provide some essential clues,
such as the use of capillary mats, electrical conductivity of the solution, and so
forth. Here is the citation:

Smith, Rob. 2003. What would you grow in water?... watercress. The Growing
Edge. Vol. 14, No. 3. (January-February) p. 8187.

Acta Horticulturae is the science journal of International Society for Horticultural
Science. It published a research article on greenhouse watercress production.
Seeds were directly sown into substrates in pots. The substrates that performed
well included various types of poorly decomposed peats and a mixture of clay
pebbles and peat. The pots sat in basins of slow flowing water, with topdress
fertilizers supplying fertility. Here is the citation:

Habegger, Ruth, M. Kohl, and D. Fritz. 1989. A cultivation method for
Nasturtium officinale (watercress) grown in greenhouse. Acta Horticulturae.
Vol. 242. p. 291295.

Acta Horticulturae has a Web site that can be searched for citations to articles.
Several abstracts on watercress production in greenhouses are there.

Acta Horticulturae
http://www.actahort.org/index.htm

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  • [Market-farming] Water cress production, Steve Diver, 05/28/2004

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