Leafy green
How to grow land cress (American cress)
Barbarea verna
Land cress gives watercress flavour from ordinary garden soil. Sow it direct from March to May, or better in August and September for leaves from autumn right through winter. It needs two things watercress growers will recognise: moisture at the root all the time and shade in summer. In dry soil or full sun the leaves turn tough and fiery and the plant runs to seed.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Light shade, moist
- Soil
- Rich, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- High, keep damp for mild leaves
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting land cress (American cress)
WhenSow Mar to May and Aug to Sep; harvest 8 weeks later, through winter
Starting off
Direct sow March to May for summer and August to September for the winter crop, germinating in 7 to 14 days at 10 to 20 °C; a September sowing under cloches crops right through winter. Modules at 15 °C, 2 seeds per cell, planted out at 3 weeks also work. Leave a few plants to flower and it self-sows for next year.
Spacing and planting
Sow 1 cm deep in drills 20 cm apart and thin to 15 to 20 cm, or 5 cm apart in a band for baby leaves; the rosettes reach 20 cm across. Ideal in a 15 cm deep trough or 25 cm pot kept in shade and watered daily, and self-sows into damp paths.
Varieties worth growing
- Land cress (Barbarea verna)
- The plain green species, sold as land cress, American cress or Belle Isle cress. There are no named selections; any seed packet is this plant.
- Variegated land cress (Barbarea vulgaris 'Variegata')
- Cream-splashed leaves on a closely related species. Grown as much for looks as for eating, and it comes true from seed.
- Wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris)
- The native wild relative, hardier and coarser with a stronger bite. Sometimes sold as a wild salad seed; sow it only if you like heat.
Month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Pick outer leaves from the autumn sowing. Keep cloches or netting on.
- February
Keep picking. Order seed.
- March
Sow outdoors under fleece. Pick overwintered plants hard before they flower.
- April
Sow again. Overwintered plants bolt: leave one or two to seed and clear the rest.
- May
Last spring sowing, in a shaded spot. Start picking the March sowing.
- June
Water daily in dry weather. Cut off flower stems as they appear.
- July
Spring plants finish. Nothing to sow until next month.
- August
Sow the main autumn and winter crop on moist, shaded ground.
- September
Sow again for cloches. Thin the August sowing to 15 to 20 cm.
- October
Start picking. Cover a row with cloches for cleaner, faster leaves.
- November
Pick as needed. Net against pigeons.
- December
Pick lightly. Growth is slow until February.
Feeding land cress (American cress)
A moderate feeder that wants rich, moist soil rather than heavy feeding. Compost and one base dressing carry most crops; one light top-dress helps plants that are picked repeatedly.
Moderate, but needs constant moisture for mild leaves.
Feeding plan
Before sowing
Garden compost
A 5 cm layer forked into the top of the bed. Its main job here is to hold water.
A week before sowing
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², the bottom of the label range, raked in. With rows 20 cm apart that is about 14 g per metre of row (70 × 0.2).
Once, when regrowth slows after several pickings, March to October
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
50 g/m², the low end of the label, scattered between the rows and watered in: about 10 g per metre of row (50 × 0.2). That makes 120 g/m² for the season, inside the label limit of 150. Skip it if the leaves are dark green and growing well.
November to February
Nothing
No feeding in winter. The plants are barely growing and cannot use it.
Signs to watch
Fiery, bitter, tough leaves
Dry soil, full sun or a plant running to flower, not nutrition
Shade, water daily and cut flower stems
Pale, small leaves after several pickings
Nitrogen short
A light top-dress of the dry feed in the feeding plan, watered in
Bolting in May
Long days and heat, inevitable for spring sowings
Rely on the autumn sowing
Pests, diseases and problems
Seedling leaves peppered with small round holes, growth checked
Flea beetle, worst on spring sowings in warm, dry weather
Cover the row with fine insect mesh or fleece from sowing and keep the soil damp. Late August and September sowings largely escape it.
Leaves eaten to the midrib, green or yellow and black caterpillars present
Small and large white butterfly caterpillars, June to October
Fine mesh over the crop keeps the butterflies off. On a short row, check the undersides of leaves weekly and rub off eggs and young caterpillars.
Irregular holes and slime trails, seedlings missing
Slugs and snails, which like the same damp shade the crop does
Hand pick after dark, keep neighbouring grass and weeds short, and water in nematodes in spring and again in September.
Winter rosettes stripped to stalks
Wood pigeons
Net the row or grow it under cloches from November to March.
Plants stunted and wilting on warm days, roots swollen and distorted
Clubroot, a soil-borne disease of the cabbage family
There is no cure. Pull and bin affected plants, do not grow land cress where clubroot is known, and move it to a trough of fresh compost instead.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Pick outer leaves at 8 to 10 cm from 8 weeks after sowing, leaving the central rosette, or cut whole plants 2 cm above the base to regrow; pick before flowering, when the leaves turn very hot. A plant gives 200 to 300 g, picked from autumn to April. Eat within 2 days from a bag in the fridge; it does not freeze.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: brassica group, but as a self-sowing biennial often treated as a self-sowing edging. Grow under taller crops such as brassicas, leeks or sweetcorn, whose shade it needs in summer; mint and watercress share its damp corner. Keep away from dry, sunny beds.
Good to knowA peppery watercress substitute for ordinary moist soil, keep it shaded and damp through summer.
Growing in pots
Land cress is a good trough crop for a shaded yard or the north side of a wall. Use a container at least 15 cm deep filled with peat-free multipurpose compost, with 5 g of Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6 per litre mixed in, which is 40 g for a 25 cm pot of about 8 litres. Three plants fit a pot that size. Water every day in summer and stand the pot in a saucer so it never dries out. A trough sown in early September and moved under cover gives clean leaves all winter.
Common questions
Is land cress the same as watercress?
No. Land cress (Barbarea verna) is a different plant that tastes very similar and grows in ordinary moist soil, while watercress (Nasturtium officinale) needs its roots in water. Land cress is slightly stronger and coarser, and far easier to grow in a garden bed.
Is land cress a perennial?
It is a biennial that behaves like a perennial because it self-sows. Each plant flowers and dies in its second spring, but if you leave one or two to drop seed you will have seedlings in the same patch every autumn.
Can you grow land cress through winter?
Yes, it is fully hardy and winter is its best season. Sow in August or September and pick outer leaves from October to April; a cloche is not needed for survival but gives more leaf and keeps pigeons off.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.