Watercress

Having learned watercress is purifying in water, I put a few pieces in a jar of water until roots began to grow then put it in my pond. It seems to have grown with avengence. There is a large patch seemingly growing on top of the oxygenating weed.
Has anyone else tried using it in their pond?

Please note, NEVER eat watercress grown in static water. It is highly toxic.

 

Yes my pond is full of it, the mild winter means its all survived and growing like crazy.

as I understood it you were not supposed to eat it because of something called liver fluke.

 

Pete, does blanket weed get largely eradicated by watercress?

I’ve tried barley straw but it made little difference. Nishikoi Clear Waters, by contrast, shifted the blanket weed but in the three years I used it the water lilies performed poorly. It might not have been cause and effect but I have my suspicions.

I’ve added water snails which might be munching away, it’s just hard to say if the problem would be worse without their addition.

In short, will watercress help me?

 

I grow watercress in the waterfall header pool of my pond and I do eat it.
Flukes are only a problem if cattle are drinking the water upstream - I only cut it above the water level and thoroughly wash it - and I always check for any cattle around the pond before harvesting

 

I use it and have done so for every pond I've had. It's very useful for helping with blanket weed, but not in shallower areas where the water heats up easily, understandably.
Just chuck some in from a bag from the supermarket if it doesn't overwinter.

 

I think water cress helps against blanket weed but I've never eliminated it, it probably has more effect on green water IMO.
I have used an additive the last few years which help and doesn't harm plants or fish.
Most of the surface of my small pond is covered with watercress ATM, and I will have to thin it out soon.

I'm reading that fish can also carry liver fluke.

 

We had watercress in our pond to help with controlling algae, but it became absolutely rampant tangled in other plants. It did help though so I might put some more back in as we’ve cleared out a huge overgrown water lily and some elodea etc. The pond was here when we moved in, but there are fish which mean the nutrient levels in the water are consistently high. A heron takes them occasionally, but never all.

 

The big advantage of it is - it's easy to pull out.
It'll root anywhere - among rocks etc, or float around on the surface, but it would only be a problem if it was planted in a container and had a solid root system or similar.

 

I have grown it in one of those soft plastic pots sold for tomatoes, half fill with compost, sprinkle seed on surface and stand in a washing up bowl full of water. Just wash it thoroughly before eating, not done me any harm
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