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Growing Cress Indoors

When looking at herbs that have a quick germination period with basic skill level required you couldn’t go far wrong with cress. We hope to show you that all you need is somewhere sunny with warmth and moisture. A handful of seeds will give you the results you need and encourage kids to get involved as well.

Cress is packed with vitamin D as well as being a great source of calcium, iron and potassium. An all round great herb for eating raw and adding a delicate mustard flavour to any dish as a garnish or mixed in with a salad.

Do You Need Soil To Grow Cress?

You really don’t need to give too much care and attention to your cress seeds. With just a damp piece of kitchen towel you can get your seeds to germinate within 24 hours. By around day 7 you should have cress that is ready to eat.

cress is ready to germinate and grow

Be careful not to leave the paper towel drenched but instead just damp. Keep the seeds warm but not hot. Then make sure there is some sort of daylight available for them to flourish.

Does Cress Grow Back?

You will find that as long as you leave around half an inch at the bottom then the cress will grow back. Maybe as many as 5 times.

We have a little cress experiment going on at home to see if when grown in soil it is more likely to grow back than when grown on cotton wool. The judgement is inconclusive as both seem to perform well. Either way when it has stopped growing again, you can pop it straight on to the compost bin and it will all be added to the eco-system.

Perfect kids herbs!

Whilst not quite a perennial, cress is an instant crowd pleaser. With the cut and come again properties of the best herbs. We love the fast growing herbs for getting the kids involved with. The flavour is not too intense either. Sort of a gentle mustard flavour. Making cress perfect for adding to sandwiches or in salads.

To be honest the kids can grow the seeds in biodegradable pots that they decorate themselves and they are just as happy. Once you have cut the cress, you can pop it all on to the compost heap then. So it is pretty much the perfect herb to grow with them.

cress 5 days after watering
five days later and getting closer to being able to eat!

A herb growing project for adults too?

We love a quick turnaround and growing your own cress means you save money too. So many people want to grow vegetables and don’t have much space but these are ideal for a sunny spot around the house.

cress - day 5 and a bi more height is needed
A little bit of growing still left to go!

Cress growing kits have advanced since the days of an old pair of your mums socks with a face drawn on!

You have to agree they are a lot more fun and would look a lot more cool on your kitchen windowsill! Herb growing for adults.

Is it an all year round crop?

Because cress is so quick to grow you will see that the kids will enjoy growing it at any time. We love to grow easy windowsill herbs whenever we can as sunshine is not always promised. Hopefully you will do too! Cress is the first step to growing micro herbs and all of the tasty goodness that entails.

growing cress is easy

So why not give it a try?

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