When to plant watercress in São Paulo

Why these dates

Plant or sow in spring once the water has warmed, and pick from late spring onwards. Left alone it flowers in midsummer and the leaf turns bitter, so cut hard to keep it vegetative.

Hardy to about -6C. The crown survives cold happily as long as it does not freeze solid, which is what makes running water the traditional site.

Watercress are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in São Paulo is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.

Hardiness is not the obstacle here. São Paulo is zone 10b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.

See every crop timed for São Paulo →