How to Grow Garden Cress From Seed

Garden cress is one of the fastest crops there is, so you can grow it almost any time. Outdoors, direct-sow in the cool of spring and again in fall, when it grows lush and mild. Indoors on a bright windowsill, sow it year-round: seeds sprout within a day or two and you are snipping leaves in about a week. Because it matures so quickly and bolts in heat, the trick is to sow a small fresh batch every week or two rather than one big planting.

Cress needs light to germinate, so surface-sow it: scatter the seeds thickly across moist seed mix, potting soil, or even damp paper towel, and press them in gently without burying them. Keep them constantly moist, ideally under bright light, and they sprout in 3 to 7 days. There is no need to thin. A shallow tray or dish on a sunny sill is all it takes, which makes cress a favorite first crop for kids.

The whole job with cress is keeping it moist and bright. Never let the tray dry out, since it wilts in a flash, and mist or bottom-water gently so you do not flatten the delicate seedlings. Give it a bright windowsill or grow light so it comes up sturdy and green rather than tall and pale. It grows so fast that pests are rarely an issue indoors. In hot weather outdoors it bolts quickly, so keep it in the cool shoulders of the year or grow it inside; in mild-winter regions like the South it grows outdoors right through winter.

Cress is a quick, peppery salad crop that pairs naturally with other fast, mild-to-spicy leaves and roots. These make good companions in a salad bed, and you can add any of them in one click:

Snip cress with scissors once the seedlings are a couple of inches tall, usually within a week or two of sowing, taking just what you need for the meal. Cut it right before you use it, since it does not keep well once picked. If you leave about a half inch of stem, it may push out a smaller second cutting, but most growers simply sow a fresh tray for the next batch.

Garden cress has a bright, peppery, mustard-like bite that livens up mild foods. Scatter the frilly leaves over egg-and-cress sandwiches, salads, soups, and baked potatoes, or use them as a fresh garnish on grains, meats, and roasted vegetables. Because heat dulls its punch, add cress raw at the end. Its quick, dependable growth also makes it a classic for windowsill microgreens all year.

• Drying out: cress wilts the moment it dries. Keep the tray constantly moist and bottom-water or mist gently.
• Tall, pale, floppy seedlings: too little light. Move it to a bright windowsill or under a grow light for shorter, greener growth.
• Bolting and sharp flavor: heat makes cress flower fast and turn bitter. Grow it cool or indoors and sow small fresh batches often.
• Poor or patchy germination: cress needs light, so surface-sow it and only press it in, never bury it.