Growing Upland Cress: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Upland cress delivers watercress’s peppery flavor without watercress’s constant-moisture growing requirements, since it grows in ordinary garden soil rather than needing a bog-like bed or running water.
Slow but steady germination
Direct-seed from midspring onward for full-size rosettes, sowing about 15 seeds per foot, a quarter inch deep. Germination is slow, so keep the seedbed consistently moist rather than assuming a bare patch after a week means the sowing has failed. Thin to 4 to 6 inches apart. For a baby-leaf crop instead, sow more densely at 3 to 5 seeds per inch in rows at least 2 inches apart.
Two harvest styles
Harvest full rosettes by cutting below the basal plate, taking the whole plant at once. For baby leaf production, cut individual leaves above the basal plate instead, which leaves the plant intact to regrow a second flush.
Upland cress has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for upland cress for how it’s tracked. At 9 plants per square foot, it’s a dense, quick-turnover salad green for the Garden Designer, useful anywhere a peppery bite is wanted without watercress’s specialized growing conditions.
Source: Cress (Watercress & Upland Cress): Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Upland Cress · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Upland Cress doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Upland Cress plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 9 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 4-8 in.
Varieties worth considering
- Straight-species upland cress (Barbarea verna): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this species plain, without competing named cultivars, and notes it's similar to watercress but easier to grow, which is the whole reason to plant it. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy upland cress seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing upland cress" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Upland Cress: A peppery salad green with watercress's flavor but grown in ordinary garden soil, which makes it the more practical of the two for most gardens.
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