Give it time and it'll start sprouting roots. I bought two bunches last Saturday and have them sitting in a pail of water in my sunroom. I leave mine bunched together till the roots form then I break them apart and put them in my skippy filter. Last year I just plopped them in the skippy and after two weeks unwrapped them and spread them out. We are expecting temps in the lower 30's tonight with a light frost so I am keeping them in the house till the danger of frost is over.

Jenny

I keep looking in my supermarket, but no luck so far. Do what Jenny says. After five days or so it will look terrible, and you will want to throw it out, but be patient, just a few days later the roots will be there.

Good luck!

:) Mary

Watercress is hardy to zone 4, so you should be able to just put it right in your ponds. My dad reported he used to find it growing wild in mountain streams in Idaho when he was a kid....and it gets pretty cold there. :)

Brenda

Maryo, It will be a few weeks before I can do it, but I will be glad to send you some with roots. Right now mine is pretty raggidy due to some kind of bugs feasting on it. I can't see any bugs though. I pulled some out the other day and it looked pretty good underneath the top layer. But I will be away from home til the end of the month. Glenda

I put mine in last summer and it just took off. It lived thru all the freezing nights and snow we had here... Didn't even faze it.

I bought mine a month or so ago (thanks to recommendation on this forum!)& just threw it in the pond. After a week, I thought it was going to die, but then it started to get new leaves and now it's got all kinds of roots and looks nice and healthy. I will put it in my new skippy-type filter as soon as it's up and running. It was REALLY cold outside when I bought it, but they keep it on ice at the grocery, so I figured it would be fine. It's been getting down to freezing temps the last few days, but watercress is hardy stuff. I read in a pond book that it will stay green even with an ice cover! Frost didn't even hurt the tender new leaves!

Jill

I grew mine from seed last spring. I was ripping out armfuls in the summer. A piece of it must have been under the rocks in my stream from last fall. Guess what, it's growing by leaps and bounds!So it definitely survived my winter!

Theresa

Glenda, thanks, you're very sweet. But hold off on that thought, usually they sell watercress sooner or later at the grocery store. And I'm planning to stop by the chinese grocery one of these days, they always have it. So I'll have some soon enough.

:) Mary

Mine is at least a foot tall now and blooming its little...ok, BIG....head off. :D

Brenda

I bought it at a nursery last year. They sold it in a small pot, and by the end of summer I could have supplied the entire neighborhood. It is one of those things that pays off with a little patience.

Does anyone have a picture? I can't find watercress at my grocery store, it might help if I knew what I was looking for.

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Picture+Watercress&FORM=QSRE

Here you go. Glenda

Click on the first picture to get more pictures. Glenda

Thank you!

I have the WaterCress in a kitchen bowl of mine, even though its outside. Every two days I change the water. Today when I looked at the Watercress bunches before I changed the water, I noticed that there were nice healthy deep green leaves. Then when I was changing the water, I saw roots on some of the stems.

So, Sunday I went to a the watercress. It's in four different places in the pond. We'll see which pieces root first.

The one piece that ended up in the middle of the pond has of course been completely eaten already.

:) Mary

* Brenda, a foot tall? You braggin'? *

LOL! No, Mary, I SWEAR! The stuff that has grown down into the actual pond from the stream is even taller than a foot! In bloom, of course. I'll try to remember to get a pic today.

I know if I don't get it out of the pond, I'll be trouble soon, the way this stuff grows...

Brenda

Just throw it in the pond. The best place is right under a waterfall or in the running water.
We bought some about 6 yearsw ago and it just kept growing and starting up again every year even though it never really died back and it would sit there frozen in the ice (not under the ice but ine the ice and sticking through the ice).
We planted from the same batch into several ponds and even took it with us when we moved. Planted it in our creek and all the new ponds.
This year NONE of it came back in any of the ponds or in the creek. It's like this one strain was only good for six years so we had to get a new starter batch.

I have checked every grocery store in a 45 mile radius (with the help of friends), no luck. We're talkin' RURAL here...But THANK YOU to whoever sent me seeds along with a trade last spring! Sorry I can't remember who, but they are just starting to sprout! S

Oh Sarah, I may have you beat. It's at least 110 miles to the nearest bunch of watercress! My neighbors were laughing at me when I went into the market last week for fresh parsley! I don't know what I was thinking.
Glenda, if you end up with too much, here's someone who'd take some off your hands!
Vanessa

I can send you some as soon as I get back home. The last part of the month. Around Memorial Day. My daughter keeps my pond going when I am gone, but I would rather take care of this myself. Need some Lizzard Tail? How about some Ramshorn snails? Glenda

Ok, here's the stuff that's migrated from the stream down into the pond. It's over 2 ft. now in bloom...

{{gwi:194100}}

Brenda

Oh, my word. You weren't kidding. I never even knew it would grow like that. I guess mine has not grown like that because some kind of bug likes to chomp on it. can't find anything at all on it, but it sure is moth-eaten looking. It's in the skippy filter so, I can't use any kind of insecticide. But there is about a good 6-8 inches of root mass underneath that does a good job of filtering the water that goes back into the pond. Glenda

Yeah, the root mass on these plants is insane, Glenda! The last time I cleaned a bunch out of my creek, I about threw my back out trying to lift it. I guess I shouldn't complain; at least nothing is eating on it! LOL

Brenda

Ok, my home grown watercress has roots and its growing. Should I just throw it in the pond like a floating plant or should I anchor it in a pot like I did with my Anacharis?

I never can find it in the stores here in Des Moines either- I've grown some from seed but it usually croaks before it gets much farther than the seedling state. I never have any luck with it yet everyone else seems to have watercress overload !!! Ugh !!!

Rita, I just stick it in the water between the edge rocks. It supports itself with the rocks, and grows sideways into the water.

Of course, mine never gets to be two feet tall with blooms!

:) Mary

I have no edge rocks. My pond is an above ground stocktank.

I put it in the pond today in one of those floating hoops to contain it. But it seems to want to sink.

Rita, you could try tying it to the hoop until it grows enough roots to balance itself out. Not sure if it'll work, but it's worth a try. :)

Brenda

I use a hoop with bird netting attached. The watercress is able to stay upright and partially out of the water with the support of the bird netting. The roots drape through the netting.

I just started this about ten days ago and it seems to be working well. At some point the weight of the plants might sink the hoop, but I have some glass floats to put under the net when that happens.