Dill planting and care in open ground in spring
Dill is an annual umbrella plant. It can reach up to 1.5 meters in height. Mostly the leaves are eaten, but the stems are also very useful. Dill contains microelements such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium. And its seeds are rich in essential oils. But it’s one thing to cook food using dill, and quite another to grow it yourself.
Preparing dill seeds for planting in open ground
Dill seeds contain essential oils, and therefore for best germination it is necessary to minimize them. Namely, soak the seeds in warm water for a couple of days. As the water darkens, change it. After this procedure, the seeds are laid out on a cloth and dried, but not completely. After this, you can plant them in the garden.
How to plant dill in open ground in spring, summer and autumn
Dill is an unpretentious plant and does not require such fertilized soil as, for example, tomatoes and cucumbers. It prefers neutral soils. It is better to prepare the bed in the fall by adding humus and ash to it and leaving it until spring. When it’s time to plant dill, everything must be done sequentially:
When to plant dill
Most gardeners plant dill in the spring. And this is correct, but do not forget that other times of the year are also suitable for this. Throughout the summer, at intervals of 10 - 15 days, you can plant dill so that you always have this seasoning on your table. A slightly less popular option is planting dill in the fall. It is necessary to make the furrows twice as deep and be sure to have time to plant the seeds before the first frost. Afterwards, cover the bed with old leaves and grass.
Caring for dill in the garden
If you grow dill for everyday use, it is better to pick it when it is young, then its leaves will be more juicy. The stems can be cleaned of roots and leaves and frozen, and then added to soups and potatoes. If you want to get your seeds, wait until they fall off on their own, and then just pick off the umbrella. One umbrella usually yields as many seeds as are contained in five packages.
Dill (lat. Anethum) a monotypic genus of herbaceous annuals of the Apiaceae family, which is represented by the species fragrant dill, or dill. In the wild, the species is found in central and southwestern Asia, the Himalayas and northern Africa, and is cultivated throughout the world. Just like its relative parsley, dill has been known to mankind since the times of Ancient Egypt, but dill began to be used as a spice in Europe only in the 16th century. Today, this unpretentious cold-resistant plant is in demand in cooking and medicine.
Read more about growing dill below.
The dill plant has a strong spicy odor. Its stem is single, straight, reaching a height of 40 to 150 cm, the surface of the stem is dark green and finely grooved. The ovoid leaves are dissected into three or four parts, the lobules of the last order are bristly or linear-filamentous. Flowers with yellow petals are collected in umbrellas with a diameter of 2 to 9 cm, which in turn are arranged in umbrella inflorescences with a diameter of 15 to 20 cm. The fruit is a lichen. Widely elliptical or ovoid dill seeds reach a length of 5 mm and a thickness of 3.5 mm. The dill herb blooms in June-July, and the fruits ripen in July-September.
In the article “Sowing vegetables for seedlings in February” we wrote how to grow dill and parsley on a windowsill in the form of seedlings, and in the article “Sowing vegetables in the ground in March” we described how and when to sow dill in the ground, as well as how to grow dill and parsley in open ground. Today we will tell you in more detail how to properly grow dill at home, when to sow dill in open ground, how to grow dill from seeds and how to care for dill growing in the garden.
The first sowing of dill in open ground is carried out in early spring, but if you want to have green dill on the table in spring, summer and autumn, then it is best to use the conveyor method of growing the crop - sow the seeds every 10-12 days from early spring to the end of August. Planting dill in the spring involves preparing the site in the fall - digging up the soil to the depth of the fertile layer, but it is better to apply organic matter in the form of manure not under dill, but under its predecessors, the best of which are cabbage, beets, cucumbers and legumes.
You cannot plant dill in areas where Umbrella plants grew before it - carrots, parsley, caraway seeds, fennel and parsnips.
The best neighbors of dill are cabbage and cucumbers, and Umbrella crops are considered the worst. Dill and carrots are an unfortunate combination, just like parsley and dill. It is much better to grow dill and garlic in one area. Dill and potatoes get along well with each other.
In early spring, before sowing seeds, the soil is loosened with a rake and 15-20 g of urea, 15-20 g of potassium salt and 20-30 g of superphosphate per m² of land are added.
Before sowing, dill seeds are poured with water for 3-4 hours, changing it several times to wash out substances from the seeds that slow down their germination. After this, the seeds are dipped in a strong solution of potassium permanganate for two hours, then washed, dried and sown in grooves 2 cm deep, located 15-20 cm apart. The seeds are laid out in the furrow at a distance of 1-2 cm and, having planted the seeds, the crops are watered. Dill germinates at a temperature of 5 ºC, and to speed up the emergence of seedlings, the area is covered with agrospan. The first shoots may appear in one to two weeks.
When to sow dill at home? Yes, at any time - this crop can be grown on a windowsill all year round. However, if you want to have green dill at home in the middle of winter, you need to know which variety is suitable for this. At home, it is best to grow early-ripening bush varieties of dill such as Gribovsky, Grenadier and Richelieu.
The seeds are pre-treated as before sowing in open ground, after which they are sown to a depth of 1-2 cm in large containers with a drainage layer at the bottom and a moist substrate of one part vermicompost and two parts coconut fiber, after which the containers are covered with glass or film and placed to a dark place. Do not forget to ventilate the crops and remove condensation from the glass. Shoots appear after two weeks, after which the covering can be removed, and the containers must be moved to the light.
Densely sprouted sprouts are thinned out, because dill does not tolerate crowding. The optimal distance between seedlings is 2-3 cm. The room temperature should not be too high, as the seedlings can stretch out. In the first week after germination, it is advisable to lower the temperature by a couple of degrees. To do this, you can take the crops to an insulated balcony. After a week, the temperature is raised to 15-18 ºC - this is the optimal indicator for the successful development of dill seedlings.
At a time when the days are shorter than the nights, dill at home will not be able to develop without additional lighting. A fluorescent lamp with a power of 40-80 W should be placed at a distance of 60 cm from the container with seedlings. The seedlings are illuminated from early morning for 5-6 hours.
Since dill does not tolerate chlorine, water the crops with water that has stood for 24 hours at room temperature or slightly warmer. If possible, it would be good to pass water for irrigation through a magnet or use melt water to moisten the soil. The soil should be loose and barely moist at all times; the substrate should not be over-moistened so that the seedlings do not get sick with blackleg.
Dill on the windowsill likes spraying from a spray bottle, especially if the box with seedlings is located near heating devices, for example, a central heating radiator.
Twice a month, seedlings are fed with a solution of complex mineral fertilizer, for example, Ideal or Raduga in a weak concentration. Avoid overdose, it can destroy young plants. The seedlings must be watered first, and after fertilizing, it is advisable to spray the seedlings with clean water to prevent leaf burn. You can carry out foliar feeding, as they say, on the leaves, but the concentration of these solutions should be even weaker.
We have already told you how to sow dill seeds in open ground, now we will tell you how dill seedlings are planted in the ground. It is better to grow bush varieties of dill in seedlings, especially if you want to get an early harvest. Dill is sown for seedlings in March, dill is grown in a greenhouse or on a windowsill, and a little over a month later, when the seedlings have developed 3-5 leaves, dill is planted in the garden bed. This should be done on a cloudy day or in the evening, when the rays of the sun cannot harm the seedlings.
In order to avoid thinning in the future, seedlings are planted at a distance of 20-30 cm from each other, keeping row spacing within the same limits. After filling the holes, the soil is lightly compacted, the seedlings are watered, then the area is covered with dry soil. Plants need to be shaded from the bright sun for several days. When flowering shoots begin to form on the bushes, it is better to remove them in order to enhance the growth of lateral branches.
Dill in open ground does not require any special care, everything is as usual: thinning, watering, loosening the soil, weeding and fertilizing. The soil on the site is loosened to a depth of 5 cm as soon as the seedlings take root. The next two loosenings are carried out at an interval of two weeks after watering or rain to a depth of 10-12 cm.
Weeding is very important until the plants get stronger. As soon as they come into force, weeds are unlikely to be able to harm them, but while the seedlings are small and fragile, do not give the weeds a single chance to take root in the garden bed.
Dill needs to be watered often, otherwise it loses its taste, turns yellow and may even lose its medicinal properties. On hot days, you need to water the plant twice a day. If you have the opportunity, install an automatic watering system. The amount of water per 1 m² per watering is 20-30 liters.
Dill needs nitrogen fertilizers, but one must take into account its ability to accumulate nitrates, so it is best to apply nettle infusion fermented for five days as a top dressing. This measure, in addition to feeding the dill with nitrogen, will rid the plant of aphids. Keep in mind that it is highly undesirable to use insecticides on dill, especially later than half a month before harvest. If the need arises, you can apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at the rate of 10-15 g per m².
When the seeds dry, take on the appearance of brown flat disks and become easily separated from the umbrella, you can begin to collect them. Dill seeds remain viable for 3-4 years. After collecting, it is advisable to dry them until completely dry.
After dill, you can grow onions and garlic, beans and peas, potatoes and tomatoes on the plot. You cannot grow celery (umbrella) crops after dill, since they have common diseases with dill and are harmed by the same insects. It will be possible to sow dill or any other crop from the Celery family after the dill harvest only after 4 or 5 years.
Dill is a fairly disease-resistant plant, but it can still have problems. Diseases that pose a danger to dill are blackleg, powdery mildew, fusarium, fomoz, cercospora and rust.
Blackleg It affects the root collar of young plants, causing it to become black, soft, thin and rot. Plants lie down and dry out. The disease usually occurs due to improper care, and is facilitated by excessive watering, sudden temperature changes, stagnant air, insufficient lighting or growing in the shade. At the very first signs of the disease, treat the plants with a solution of Fundazol.
Powdery mildew affects the ground parts of dill, sprinkling them with a whitish coating. Stimulates the development of heat disease against a background of high humidity. Powdery mildew is combated by treating dill with colloidal sulfur.
Downy mildew, or downy mildew also develops on the above-ground part of the plant and looks like chlorotic, gradually turning brown spots, on the underside of which a dirty purple coating forms. Downy mildew at the first signs of the disease is destroyed by treating plants with one percent Bordeaux mixture or copper oxychloride - 40 g per 10 liters of water.
Fomoz It appears as brown spots on the leaves, stems and umbels; it also affects the dill root, painting it with dark stripes arranged in rows. To avoid infection of the area with Phoma, you should warm the seeds for half an hour in hot water before sowing, then immediately immerse them in cold water, and then dry them until they become free-flowing. Diseased plants are sprayed with one percent Bordeaux mixture. Treatment can be carried out several times with an interval of 10-12 days, but the last spraying is carried out no later than two weeks before harvest. Before processing or eating, dill greens should be washed thoroughly.
Cercospora looks like dirty, yellowish-brown spots up to 6 mm in diameter on the stems and umbels of dill, which fade in the center over time, while the edges remain dark brown. Cercospora blight needs to be fought in the same ways as Phoma.
Fusarium wilt develops in plants in the development phase of 3-4 leaves: chlorotic spots appear on them and they droop. Waterlogging of the soil, overheating of the soil, or damage to the roots during loosening contribute to the development of the disease. Fusarium can be cured only at an early stage of development - dill is treated with fungicides to combat it. If the disease takes effect, diseased specimens will have to be removed and burned. The best way to protect dill from fusarium blight is to maintain crop rotation and grow disease-resistant dill varieties.
Rust At the very beginning of summer, it forms yellow-brown cushions on the underside of petioles, leaves and stems. As a preventive measure, you need to warm the seeds before sowing in hot (50 ºC) water, then immediately immerse them in cold water and then dry them. Plants affected by the fungus are treated several times with an interval of 10-12 days with one percent Bordeaux mixture. The last treatment is carried out no later than 15 days before harvesting the dill. Be sure to rinse greens thoroughly before eating or processing.
The most common pests of dill are umbrella blinds, Italian bugs, or striped stink bugs, carrot psyllids, carrot flies, melon, willow-carrot and carrot aphids.
carrot fly damages the above-ground part of dill, after which the plants begin to lag in growth, their leaves first become red-violet, then turn yellow and dry. A fly may appear on dill due to the proximity of the area to a carrot bed, since it is the smell of carrot tops that a fly flies to, like a bee to honey. To prevent pests from appearing in a dill area, mix tobacco dust in half with sand and sprinkle the soil along the rows with this mixture. This will need to be done 2-3 times during the season. Instead of a tobacco-sand mixture, you can use a mixture of sand with hot ground pepper, mustard powder, wood ash or dry peat. If you were unable to prevent the invasion of carrot flies, you will have to treat the dill with Vantex, Arrivo or Karate Zeon no later than two weeks before harvest.
Umbrella blind people- small bugs that infect all plants of the Celery family - both cultivated and wild. They suck the juice from the inflorescences, leaves, and shoots of plants, dooming the green part of the dill to death. In areas invaded by blind people, yields drop by 30-40%. To destroy these bugs, treat the dill with Actellik or Fitoverm.
Italian bedbugs lead the same lifestyle as umbrella blinds, respectively, and the harm from them is approximately the same. In one season in warm areas, these insects can produce two generations, but the bug can only pose a danger when there are too many of them. In such cases, it is suggested to treat the area with Fitoverm or Aktellik.
Experts distinguish dill varieties by the shape of the rosette, width, length and shape of leaf segments, color and degree of leaf dissection. It is more convenient for amateurs to focus on such a sign as the beginning of stem formation. Based on this characteristic, early, middle and late varieties of dill are distinguished.
Dill is one of those plants that we eat all year round. A significant role in this recognition among humanity is played by the substances contained in its leaves that are necessary for the body, such as nicotinic and ascorbic acids, carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, pectins, flavonoids, vitamins A, B2, B6, C, PP, as well as potassium, iron , phosphorus and calcium. Dill fruits contain a high concentration of fatty oil, consisting of palmetic, oleic and linoleic acid. All parts of dill contain essential oil with a characteristic aroma of the plant.
The iron and magnesium salts contained in the leaves in an easily digestible form have the property of enhancing hematopoiesis, and dill essential oil stimulates the formation of bile and digestive enzymes, and also disinfects the human genitourinary and digestive system.
In the medical industry, a drug called Anetin is obtained from dill - it stimulates the heart, promotes the dilation of blood vessels in the heart muscles and brain, which greatly enhances their nutrition.
The benefits of dill for nursing mothers are obvious - it enhances lactation. It is also useful for respiratory problems, hypertension, and blurred vision. Preparations made from it act as a sedative, diuretic, analgesic for ulcers of the duodenum or stomach, and an antispasmodic.
An infusion is prepared from dill seeds that improves digestion and stimulates appetite, relieves kidney inflammation and helps cope with insomnia. Two teaspoons of dill seeds are poured into two glasses of boiling water, covered and left for 10 minutes, then filtered and drunk a glass a day. This infusion is effective as an antihemorrhoidal and antiallergenic agent, as well as an external wound healing agent.
Dill seed powder, used to enhance lactation, is also popular. It is consumed in the amount of 1 g three times a day, half an hour before meals.
An infusion of dill leaves is successfully used to eliminate bags under the eyes; you just need to soak cotton pads in it and apply it to your eyes for 10 minutes.
Dill oil is effective for pneumonia and bronchitis - it promotes the rapid separation of mucus from the walls of the bronchi.
Dill water eliminates gas formation in babies. To prepare dill water, you need to dissolve one part of dill oil in 1000 parts of water. In addition, dill water lowers blood pressure, slows down intestinal motility, increases diuresis and dilates blood vessels.
Is there any harm from dill? Eating dill won't hurt anyone - how much dill can you eat in a salad or in soup? But drugs made from it that lower blood pressure can cause weakness, loss of strength, decreased vision and even fainting in hypotensive patients. Dill preparations should not be used by persons suffering from intolerance to the product. It is advisable for women to limit their consumption of dill during menstruation and pregnancy, but this healthy and tasty spice should not be completely excluded from the diet.
4.6666666666667 Rating 4.67 (15 votes)
After this article they usually read
Dill is a spicy herb rich in vitamins, minerals, and essential oils. In cooking it is used for cooking, in folk medicine - to cure ailments. Planting and care in open ground is carried out in early spring. But there are ways to plant dill in the winter to get fresh herbs all year round.
The culture is unpretentious, it can be sown all year round, in winter - in a greenhouse or at home, placing containers with the plant on the windowsill. Growing dill has several features, and to get a harvest you need to know them.
When to plant dill seeds depends on the time of year:
For planting you need an open place, or at least partial shade. The crop does not tolerate waterlogging, so it should not be sown near groundwater or where water stagnates. Suitable predecessors are potatoes, garlic, cucumbers, cabbage, and onions. It is advisable not to plant after carrots, parsley, parsnips, caraway seeds.
Soils that are neutral in acidity are needed; on others, the greens turn either red (acidic) or yellow (alkaline). In order to get a harvest of greens, you need to know how to grow dill in soil that is not suitable for it. The soil can be deoxidized by adding additives such as chalk, dolomite flour, lime at least 2 weeks before sowing.
Before growing dill in open ground, you should remove the remains of previous plants in the fall. If the organic matter is not damaged by pests and is not externally infected with anything, it can be burned and the ash can be used as fertilizer or left for compost.
Before winter, add urea, potassium chloride, and superphosphate to the soil. Until spring, harmful substances are neutralized, the soil is enriched with nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Organic fertilizers (manure, humus, wood ash) are also applied to the beds in the fall.
Dill loves light, loose soil rich in nutrients. If it is severe, it will grow slowly, get sick, and the harvest will be small. To change the structure of heavy soil, you can use river sand (1 bucket per 1 m²). Along with it, add compost to the soil, which will increase looseness and increase fertility.
Before planting dill in the country, the soil must be dug up to 25-30 cm, having previously scattered fertilizer over the surface of the future beds. Turn over large lumps and break them up. For dill, which is planned to be planted in open ground with seeds in the spring, such preparation is carried out 2 weeks before winter sowing or as the beds are cleared of plants growing on them.
How to grow good dill - choose a variety suitable for given climatic conditions and time of year. Varieties differ in the time of cultivation and sowing, external characteristics, and area of application. There are 3 groups:
To grow dill from seeds in open ground before winter, early varieties are used. They are very unpretentious and will sprout quickly. The first harvest will be 2 weeks earlier than that sown in early spring, but the yield of dill is low, as it blooms quickly and stops producing new branches.
On a note! The shelf life of dill seeds for planting is only 2-3 years; it is better to store no more than one year. Good seeds have a strong odor and feel cool and moist to the touch.
Bush varieties are grown in greenhouses in winter. They can be used to grow dill from seeds on the windowsill. Late-ripening ones are more demanding to care for, so they give a good harvest at home. A large branchy bush grows on the window, producing new leaves.
To obtain a good harvest of dill in open ground, you must follow the rules of cultivation and care. It is important to choose a suitable place (light, not flooded), pre-prepare the soil (dig, fertilize), and water it abundantly.
In some cases, first prepare seeds for planting, for example, for growing in a greenhouse or on a windowsill, accelerating the ripening of plants planted in summer, and obtaining an early harvest. But untreated seeds withstand weather changes better.
To sow dill in spring in open ground, seed preparation is not necessary.
When umbels form and seeds ripen, the plant can disperse throughout the garden by self-sowing. It is undesirable to allow this, since it does not get along well with all plants, and may even harm some. In addition, there will not be a high yield from the spice itself. To get a good harvest, you need to know how to plant dill correctly.
Before planting dill, the seed material should be prepared. This will help speed up the appearance of the first shoots and reduce the time until the first greenery is obtained. This is especially important for bush varieties. They require more time to develop and are more demanding of growing conditions.
Seed preparation is also necessary in cases where it is necessary for dill to sprout faster. The seed coat contains essential oils that prevent it from opening and protect it from external influences. During preliminary preparation, the oils are washed off and the seeds germinate faster. Accelerated germination is not required when sowing dill before winter.
The easiest way to prepare seeds for planting so that they sprout quickly is soaking. They can be laid out on a plate and filled with water or placed in a gauze bag and placed in water. Water temperature 20-25°C, change every 4 hours, stir occasionally. You can use water at a temperature of about 50°C for disinfection. The duration of soaking is 3 days; the beginning of pecking of some seeds can also serve as a guide. Next, you should dry the seed material for about 30 minutes. and sow. If you soak the seeds before planting, seedlings will emerge earlier than if you use dry seed.
Important! Seeds suitable for sowing sink to the bottom when soaked. The ones that float up should be removed immediately; they will not produce a harvest.
To speed up germination and disinfect the seeds, another soaking method is used. Fill with water for 3-4 hours, periodically draining and pouring new water, then immerse for 2-3 hours in a strong solution of potassium permanganate. Rinse and dry before sowing.
For the same purpose, soaking dill seeds in hydrogen peroxide is used. To do this, place the washed seeds in 3% peroxide for 6 minutes, then rinse and dry. You can also use an infusion of wood ash. 2 tbsp. l. pour dry matter with warm water and leave for 2 days. Stir occasionally. Drain the infusion, place a bag of seeds in it, and leave in the solution for 4-5 hours.
Before planting dill in open ground, the seeds can be soaked, but they cannot be germinated, as this reduces the survival rate of the sprouts. The soil must also be prepared in advance. Many varieties do not require any preparatory measures, but preliminary fertilization and digging of the soil significantly increase the yield.
First, the soil should be watered abundantly and left for 1-2 days. Make furrows 5 cm wide and water. Instead of water, you can use a hot solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect the soil. Sow dill along the furrow in a zigzag pattern to a depth of 2 cm. The distance between future plants is 3-4 cm, and between rows 15-20 cm. Sprinkle the top with a thin layer of loose soil or humus. Do not water, otherwise the seeds will go deep into the ground.
After planting, dill sprouts in 2-2.5 weeks. There is no need to apply additional fertilizers at this stage; the crop grows quickly. If the leaves change color to yellow-green during development, this may be a signal that there is not enough nitrogen in the soil. Applying suitable fertilizer will correct the situation.
Important! You cannot add large amounts of nitrogen-containing fertilizers to the soil - the spice accumulates nitrates. Instead, the sown dill can be watered with nettle infusion fermented for 5 days.
In order for dill to sprout quickly in the spring, you need to sow it before winter. You can also prepare the soil in the fall, and in winter clear a small area of snow, sow seeds, and cover the top with compost or humus.
It can be planted in autumn or winter, grown in a greenhouse or on a windowsill. In autumn, seeds should be planted in open ground. It is advisable to do this no earlier than 2 weeks before frost, so that it does not have time to sprout. Seed consumption is 1.5-2 times more than during spring planting. Do not soak the seeds, plant them to a depth of 3 cm. Mulch the soil on top to retain moisture and protect the crops from frost. For pre-winter planting of dill, use early varieties.
To plant spices in winter, you need to prepare the soil in the fall. To do this, dig up the beds and add fertilizer. Remove the remains of previous crops. In winter, clear the area of snow and scatter the seeds over the surface without burying them. Cover the top with a layer of humus or loose soil with manure; you can additionally cover it with film. This method, just like the previous one, is used to obtain an early harvest of greens. The amount of seed material is 2 times greater than the spring consumption. Do not prepare seeds for planting; sow them dry.
The secrets of growing dill in open ground after seedlings have germinated are watering, fertilizing, and removing weeds. The seedlings can withstand temperatures down to -4°C, so periodic drops in temperature are not a problem. It is advisable to cover the top with film if the frost lasts longer or the temperature drops below the permissible level.
How to sow dill in a greenhouse:
In order for dill to grow in a greenhouse all year round, you need to use bush varieties. Sow new seeds every 20 days. There should be a distance of 15-30 cm between the rows. Fertilize the soil as necessary and water moderately. Thin out dill seedlings and remove weeds. Make sure there are no pests or diseases on the crop.
Depending on the variety, dill grows from 30 to 65 days. Green twigs can be plucked before an umbrella with seeds grows. This period also lasts for different times depending on the variety. Caring for the plant consists of watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil, and removing weeds.
Watering regime for dill - as needed. Usually 1-2 times a week is enough, but in hot, dry summers daily watering in the evening may be necessary. Avoid stagnation of water and drying out of the soil.
Fertilizers for dill are applied 2 weeks before planting. If the location is chosen correctly, additional feeding will not be required. During plant growth, organic fertilizers can be added if necessary. For example, yellowing of the leaves indicates a lack of nitrogen, redness indicates an excess of potassium or waterlogging. Early flowering begins when there is insufficient nutrients in the soil.
How to feed dill in the garden: urea (1 tsp per 1 bucket of water), mullein (1:10), fermented nettle infusion.
The infusion is prepared as follows: pour water over the nettle in a ratio of 1:8, add kvass or yeast. Place in the sun for 1 week, stir occasionally. The infusion is ready when there are no bubbles and the color of the liquid is dark. Dilute with water 1:10, can be used once every 2 weeks.
Caring for dill in open ground differs from greenhouse cultivation in the need to remove weeds more often and protect the crops from diseases and pests. Weeding is of great importance at an early stage of growth, so that weeds do not interfere with their development; carry it out once a week.
When you cut off the branches, others do not grow back, but in the case of bush dill, you can cut off the leaves, new ones will continue to grow. For further growth of the plant you need to leave a few leaves. If the peduncle is not needed for pickling or other purposes, you can remove it; the plant will not die from this and will not waste energy on developing an umbrella.
You can protect your greenery from aphids by planting several thyme bushes nearby. Spraying with ethyl crude alcohol with fragrance is used (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). Fallen aphids should be covered with soil.
A plant affected by powdery mildew (white fungal coating) should be destroyed; at the first signs of the disease, it can be sprayed with a sulfur suspension. Fomoz (dark spots throughout the plant) cannot be treated, diseased specimens are removed, sowing in this area can be resumed only after 4 years. Spraying with copper oxychloride or copper sulfate helps against downy mildew (light to purple oily spots on the leaves).
Dill can be grown on a windowsill in winter. The container for sowing must be chosen of a suitable size to allow the root system to develop well. Place a layer of expanded clay or pebbles on the bottom and sprinkle a little coarse sand on top. The main content of the container is garden soil mixed with neutral soil. You can use a special soil mixture for dill or mix turf, humus and peat; hydroponics is also suitable.
Pre-prepared seeds should be used for planting. There are no special features in preparing dill for sowing on the windowsill; you can use any of the methods described above. Seeds must be disinfected.
Sow dill on prepared soil in any desired order; you can make small holes or grooves and place the seeds in them. Sprinkle a thin layer of soil on top (up to 2 cm). Lightly moisten the surface with a spray bottle, cover with film to create a greenhouse effect, leave for 2 weeks at a temperature of 20°C.
After sowing, the first shoots will sprout in 7-10 days. Remove the film after all the sprouts appear. Once a day, the container should be rotated so that the greens grow upwards rather than sideways. It is necessary to arrange lighting for at least 10 hours. If there is not enough light, the sprouts will stretch out instead of forming leaves. In winter and on cloudy days, it is useful to illuminate the boxes with a phytolamp.
Growing dill on a windowsill is the best way to grow herbs in winter. Doesn't require a lot of work, the only difficulty can arise with lighting. Watering once a week is enough, more often if necessary. It is advisable to fertilize with mineral fertilizers 2 times a month. Every 15-20 days you can sow new seeds.
Dill is a healthy, vitamin-rich plant that is simply irreplaceable in cooking and medicine. It is one of the most unpretentious plants and does not require special care. But there are still certain recommendations on how to plant dill in order to get thick, aromatic herbs and enjoy fresh seasoning for a long period.
To grow appetizing and healthy dill, you need to know a few very simple principles of proper planting. The following factors are of great importance for the successful cultivation of dill:
Dill is a light-loving plant that does not grow well in the shade. Without enough sunlight, plants can grow very thin and pale. Therefore, to obtain a good harvest, it is recommended to sow dill in well-lit areas. Soil preparation includes mandatory digging, which is done in the fall or spring before planting. The soil must be loose to ensure good penetration of moisture and air to the sown seeds.
It is best to plant dill in fertile, organic-rich soil. To do this, you need to add humus to the soil (half a bucket per 1 m²). In the absence of humus, diluted mullein or bird droppings are used as fertilizer. The plant loves potassium and phosphorus, so it is recommended to add ammonium nitrate, potassium fertilizers and superphosphate to the soil. Fertilizing the soil can be done in the fall, while digging, or in the spring, before planting seeds.
It is necessary to take into account that acidic and heavy soil, despite digging and fertilizing, is not at all suitable for growing dill.
Dill loves moisture, so you need to carefully ensure that the soil does not dry out. And sowing seeds must be carried out exclusively in moist soil. Dill begins to be planted in April, then sowing is repeated every 15 days to ensure a constant harvest.
The seedlings tolerate frosts well down to -5°C. However, sudden changes in temperature (cold temperatures or sudden heat) can contribute to plant suppression. Therefore, if there is a possibility of frost, it is advisable to cover the seedlings with plastic wrap. Bush varieties can be planted through seedlings. To do this, you need to plant one seed at a time in small containers filled with peat, and then plant the bushes in a greenhouse.
Before planting, the seeds are soaked or sown dry. Soaked seeds will germinate faster, and seedlings from dry seeds are much better adapted to weather conditions.
In order for the plants to develop evenly, without suppressing each other due to crowding, dill is sown at the rate of 1 g of seeds per 1 square meter of land.
How to sow dill correctly:
After a couple of weeks, the first seedlings sprout, which need to be thinned out, maintaining a gap of 5–10 cm between plants. Care must be taken to prevent the plantings from becoming thicker, because dill may stop growing. In greenhouses and greenhouses, dill can be sown along the perimeter of the passage, as well as against the northern wall. High air humidity promotes plant growth and succulence.
Almost all garden crops are planted in the spring, including dill. But for most lovers of this delicious seasoning, the question is relevant: is it possible to plant dill in July, will it have time to grow and ripen? The good thing about dill is that it can be sown throughout the entire summer season, from spring to autumn. However, summer sowing has some peculiarities.
The beds are usually already filled with other plants. Therefore, it is necessary to find the right neighbors for dill. It is best suited next to cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes. The essential oils contained in dill will significantly improve the taste of these vegetables and rid them of some harmful insects. And the fertile and well-fertilized soil underneath is excellent for the successful germination of dill.
One more nuance: if you sow the seeds dry, they can sprout only after 15 days. Therefore, sowing dill in summer requires mandatory soaking of the seeds.
First, let's figure out how many days it takes for dill to sprout. At an air temperature of +5°C, dill usually germinates in 14–20 days. In warmer periods, at a temperature of +20°C, seeds germinate in 10–15 days. But in some cases it is necessary to hurry up the germination of seeds. Therefore, the question arises: how to plant dill so that it sprouts quickly?
To do this, the following measures must be taken:
Thanks to these procedures, essential oils that prevent germination are washed off from the seeds, and after planting, dill germinates on the 4th–6th day. The seeds are sown in moist soil and covered with a thin layer (5 mm) of peat, humus and sand. Soaked seeds do not need additional watering. Dill planted in this way is cut after 30 days, when it grows to 20 - 25 cm.
Fragrant, vitamin-rich fluffy bushes, unpretentious in cultivation and growing in any conditions - dill, familiar to everyone. To obtain early fresh greens, which are especially valuable in a meager spring diet, you should know the nuances of planting in open ground and caring for them. Knowing when and how to plant dill, at what stage of development and what to fertilize with, will help you reap a rich harvest.
Types of crops differ in many characteristics, of which the most significant is the ripening period. To continuously obtain a fresh product, the conveyor method of growing it from seeds by repeated sowing every 10-14 days is practiced.
At the end of May, early varieties are sown in order to obtain the “umbrellas” necessary for preservation by mid-summer, and late-ripening varieties are sown in July.
Knowledge of varieties is necessary, because you can grow good dill using only those that are zoned for cultivation in a given region:
In fact, there is not much difference when to plant dill: in order to obtain both greenery and seeds, it is sown in the fall before winter and in the spring, as soon as the snow melts. The vegetable is not afraid of frost; it can withstand temperatures dropping to -4°C, and will germinate only when the thermometer consistently shows at least +3°C. Winter crops are sown in open ground at the end of October - the first ten days of November. Growing dill in this way allows you to get greens to the table at an early date.
