Cress Garden Guide

View All Vegetable Garden Guides
You can also get this information in our new Vegetable Gardening Guides book or as a PDF!

Custom Garden Guide

Did you know you can create a Custom Garden Guide?

It's an easy way to get all the growing and harvesting information you need for the vegetables in your garden in one place.
Cress

Cress Stat Summary

Plant Spacing: 1/2-1" (12-25 mm)
Row Spacing: 1/2-1" (25-25 mm)
Planting Depth: 1/8" (3 mm)
Plants Per Person: 5
Soil Temperature: 55-75°F (13-24°C)
Days to Emergence: 2-7
Recommended Soil PH: 6.2-6.8
Earliest Outdoor Planting: Before Last Frost
Tick Can direct seed outdoors

Planting Cress

Cress is an early-spring and late-fall crop; warm weather makes the plant inedible. Prefers moist fertile, humus-rich soil that has a slight acidic pH of 6.2 to 6.8. Direct sow seeds as soon as you can work the soil by broadcasting seeds in a 1 to 2 foot patch. Cover very lightly with soil or compost. Because plants can be ready to harvest in 7 to 12 days, thinning is not necessary.

Growing Cress

Keep cress well watered and provide shade when weather warms. Control weeds.

Harvesting and Storing Cress

Harvest well before it matures; begin cutting or pinching off cress when plants reach 3 to 4 inches tall. Plants cut back to 1/2 inch will quickly regrow.

Cress Insect and Disease Information

Cover with fabric row covers if flea beetles or other pests are a problem; control weeds.

Cress Yield Information

No yield information for Cress.