Growing Dill On The Site

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Spicy greens on your table from spring to autumn

Dill is perhaps the most popular crop at their summer cottage from early spring to late autumn. Fresh, aromatic, spicy dill greens give any dish an attractive look and special taste. Dried herbs can be added to many spices, and dry buds and seeds are indispensable for canning.

Considering that this is a cold-resistant plant, dill can be sown in open ground as soon as the soil thaws. A temperature of 3-5 ° C is sufficient for seeds to germinate.

However, seedlings will appear faster if the soil warms up to 8 - 10 ° C. The optimum temperature for active growth and accumulation of valuable nutrients is 15 - 18 ° C. For seeds to ripen, a higher temperature is required (at least 20 ° C).

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To get an early harvest in May, dill can be sown in a greenhouse or in temporary film shelters, and ridges in open ground can be covered with Spunbond nonwoven fabric. The harvest will be ready in 35 - 45 days. During this period, plants are most valuable in terms of biochemical composition.

To always have young greens on your table, sow dill during the spring and summer at intervals of 10 to 15 days. Greens from protected ground are less fragrant, wither faster. The last sowing in open ground is in mid-August. Autumn sowing in protected ground can be done immediately after complete or partial harvesting of plant residues of tomato, cucumber and other vegetables in early September.

When sown with dry seeds, seedlings will appear only after 20 - 25 days and only under the condition of constant high soil moisture. Slow germination of seeds does not allow loosening and removing rapidly emerging weeds.

For emergence of seedlings on the 4th - 6th day, the seeds are soaked for three days to remove essential oils that prevent germination. Initially, the seeds in a tissue bag are washed for 2 - 3 minutes in a stream of hot water (60 ° C), and then placed in water at room temperature for 2 - 3 days. At the same time, the water is changed every day 2 - 3 times a day, and the seeds are washed in running cold water. A good effect is obtained by a combination of soaking and bubbling seeds, when air is passed through the water for 20 hours at a temperature of 20 ° C.

Before sowing, dry the seeds to a loose state. It is better to sow dill not in one line, but with a wide furrow of 3 - 5 cm, then the plants at a seed rate of 5 g per 1 sq. m will not fit tightly and shade each other.

The crops are covered with fertile moist soil, slightly compacted and mulched with peat, humus and sand with a layer of 0.5 cm, do not water. Cover the surface of the ridge with old foil or thick paper before emergence.

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If the sowing turned out to be thickened, when the third true leaf appears, thin out the plants, but this is a laborious process, and young plants do not like such anxiety. Better take your time planting and stick to the optimal seed rate.

To get umbrellas, thin out the plants every 8 - 10 cm, do not pluck the leaves from them. They are necessary for the formation of full-bodied umbrellas and, moreover, lose value as soon as the plant starts flowering.

A lush lace rosette of leaves is given by the varieties Superdukat, Lesnogorodsky, Gribovsky, Grenadier, Umbrella, Richelieu. The varieties Uzbek and Armenian are suitable for producing the most fragrant umbrellas. Their rosette of leaves is small, and the plants quickly turn to flowering.

Many gardeners complain that dill does not grow in their garden. Indeed, this seemingly simple and artless culture has its secrets:

• dill loves light fertile soil; apply before sowing 1 sq. m bucket of compost, humus, 50 g nitroammofoska;
• do not add ash or lime before sowing, otherwise the dill will turn red and be thin - it loves a slightly acidic soil environment;
• do not sow dill in shaded areas, where it stretches, becomes pale, quickly begins to shoot, forming weak umbrellas with flowers;
• dill does not like peaty and heavy clay soils, it becomes tough from the first leaves, grows slowly, shoots quickly, and does not form a lush rosette;
• when sowing, saturate the grooves with a solution of mullein (1:10) or vermicompost;
• the soil should always be moist to a depth of 15 cm, so watering should be regular and abundant, but from excessive waterlogging it lays down, gets sick with fusarium and dies;
• when grown in a greenhouse for dill, a combination of high air and soil humidity with high (more than 25 ° C) air temperature is dangerous;
• do not water dill with a solution of organic fertilizers (manure, mullein, bird droppings, feces) - this is dangerous for sanitary and hygienic reasons;
• do not sow dill in areas next to carrots, celery, parsley or the next year after them, but cabbage is the best companion for dill;
• do not use herbicides and pesticides;
• The root system of dill is very sensitive to lack of oxygen, so regularly loosen the soil between the rows with a regular fork.

Dill is ready for harvesting in 35 - 40 days at a height of 20 - 25 cm. Plants in a row pull out everything from the root, making room for re-sowing.

A real find for gardeners is bush dill. It does not turn into flowering for a long time, one plant gives 100-200 g of very fragrant greenery, provided that there is no thickening. Therefore, plants are sown in a row every 2 - 3 cm. Between rows - 25 - 30 cm. When a height of more than 6 cm is reached, dill is thinned out after 5 - 7 cm, and later within 10 days - after 15 - 20 cm between plants in a row. Plants after thinning are used for food, but not planted.

Shrub dill can be grown as seedlings. Sowing in pots with a diameter of 5 cm can be done in early April, and in May, plant the plants in a greenhouse or open ground, trying to keep a whole lump of earth. In the greenhouse 2 - 4 bush dill plants will provide you with fresh herbs and scare off pests of cucumber, pepper, eggplant.

Leaves are periodically cut off from the plants, starting from the lower ones, or 2 - 3 cuts are made 3 - 5 cm from the soil when the plants reach a height of 15 - 20 cm. From the beginning of the transition of plants to flowering, they are completely removed. Once the flower stem begins to form, remove it at the very base. This will prolong the formation of leaves and enhance the growth of the lateral branches.

Bush dill with good care in 30 - 35 days will give the same yield, which is formed in ordinary varieties in 45 - 50 days after germination. The harvesting period for bush dill is longer - 2 - 3 weeks. Then the plants begin to emit a flowering shoot. But the seeds of bush dill rarely ripen even in a greenhouse.

Bush dill plants can be used in different parts of the garden as an addition to floral arrangements.

Varieties of bush dill: Buyan, Salut, Borey, Anna, Esta, Amazon, Alligator, Grenadier.