There is in the cress ( Lapidium sativum) family a variant called Polycress which is not
generally known about but I believe it has special merits.It is of rapid growth (3 weeks) and
nutritious as a salad vegetable and the mature leaves are a reasonable size. However the detail is confusing.
First Thompson and Morgan say
Best suited to outdoor growing
Sow March to September, thinly, drills 1.2 inch deep 1ft apart. It has relatively large divided
leaves Harvest by picking a few leaves at a time.
Price £1.50+pp
Unwins had marketed it as an indoor plant for sprouting at any season,sow thickly on damp kitchen roll,
grow at 15 C., harvest with scissors
The current catalogue lists it under the name Cress Wrinkled and Crinkled and says it can
be grown indoors and outdoors.
Price £0.99 +pp
I have grown some last year in a box outdoor, quite a good yield but when cut hard the
next cutting was disappointing, similar result from a September sowing.
The first (T&M) packet was a very meagre supply, subsequently they declare 2000 seeds and a
much bigger foil packet.
I have now traced a bulk supply at Pro-Veg Seeds, 100 gms for £10 post paid, as the seeds are tiny this is quite a lot.
Has anybody tried this?
"new" salad, Polycress
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hi Allan
I was reading Christopher Lloyds Gardener Cook over the winter and he says Lepidium sativum is the true garden cress and you can grow it indoors or out. It takes about twice as long as salad rape (Brassica napus) to grow to harvest, which is why supermarkets always have the latter and sell that as cress.
He sows garden cress on the surface of seed tray of compost, germinates it in a cold frame then brings it in to sit on the windowsill for a harvest of seedlings. He also says you can grow it outside for it's true leaves as a cut and come again.
I think that's why T&M and Unwins have given somewhat confusing info out - I was thinking of trying it this year and couldn't work out if what the catalogues were offering was the right thing. I wish more of them would just put the botanical name in somewhere to make it clear.
I know you grow veg to sell so picking a few leaves off each plant at a time is probably a bit of a fiddle, but maybe if you take the T&M advice and don't cut back so hard, it will perform better as a cut and come again?
The late Mr Lloyd reckoned he never bothered with it after his first indoor crop as there were better salads available after March. I also get loads of flea beetle so was going to take his advice and stick to non-brassica type cut and come agains, but let us know how you get on with it because I'm still tempted to give it a go.
Sue
I was reading Christopher Lloyds Gardener Cook over the winter and he says Lepidium sativum is the true garden cress and you can grow it indoors or out. It takes about twice as long as salad rape (Brassica napus) to grow to harvest, which is why supermarkets always have the latter and sell that as cress.
He sows garden cress on the surface of seed tray of compost, germinates it in a cold frame then brings it in to sit on the windowsill for a harvest of seedlings. He also says you can grow it outside for it's true leaves as a cut and come again.
I think that's why T&M and Unwins have given somewhat confusing info out - I was thinking of trying it this year and couldn't work out if what the catalogues were offering was the right thing. I wish more of them would just put the botanical name in somewhere to make it clear.
I know you grow veg to sell so picking a few leaves off each plant at a time is probably a bit of a fiddle, but maybe if you take the T&M advice and don't cut back so hard, it will perform better as a cut and come again?
The late Mr Lloyd reckoned he never bothered with it after his first indoor crop as there were better salads available after March. I also get loads of flea beetle so was going to take his advice and stick to non-brassica type cut and come agains, but let us know how you get on with it because I'm still tempted to give it a go.
Sue
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Geoff
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I discovered something called Greek Cress last year and think it is great. I used to grow American Land Cress but it has stopped germinating for me (perhaps it knows I hate America) - does anybody have a method for this?
Sue, several cress come under lapidum sativum. What distinguishes this one in particular is this relatively large leaf and it may be that it has other advantsges. Have a look at T&M internet catalogue, I think the picture should give you a better idea. The packet says Ready To Eat in just 25 days! which means getting more off the land in a season. Avoiding flea beetle is achieved by the right timing along with fleece and a (polytunnel) cover.
I got a packet of Unwin's seeds of polycress today. They make a great point of the fact that the growing time is the same as for mustard. I therefore bought a packet of mustard seed, why not sow them at the same time. I shall grow them in a polytunnel for conveniemce. There are not many crops that you could sow and harvest 12 times a year on one patch of ground.
DW has saved the seed from the last lot we grew so maybe we won't need to purchase again.
I should say that my efforts to bulk buy the seeds fell through.
Allan
DW has saved the seed from the last lot we grew so maybe we won't need to purchase again.
I should say that my efforts to bulk buy the seeds fell through.
Allan
Further to my last, DW's efforts mean that we have a relatively huge stock of seeds. As it is one of those plants that grows to fill the space available you don't get any more by sowing thickly. At present I am growing in modules and planting out so a little seed will go a very long way indeed.Unwins and T&M are still selling it, one packet with care should start you off with about 15 metres of row.I thought I had found a wholesale supplier of seeds but after months of waiting I got notification that the merchant could not supply.
I recommend all KG'ers who are selling their produce to get a succession going for winter use under cover ASAP. I regret that there just wasn't room in my tunnels to sow more than I did but restoration of neglected tunnels will mean that it will not be like that again.
As to name, surely the format will be Lepidium sativum "polycress" or is that not allowed
I recommend all KG'ers who are selling their produce to get a succession going for winter use under cover ASAP. I regret that there just wasn't room in my tunnels to sow more than I did but restoration of neglected tunnels will mean that it will not be like that again.
As to name, surely the format will be Lepidium sativum "polycress" or is that not allowed