Dill is the most common spicy plant. But in order for his greens to please the eye, and the taste and aroma to sweeten the taste, a minimum set of agricultural knowledge is necessary. And it all starts with planting a plant.
Origin of plant name
Dill from the umbelliferous family received its scientific classification in 1753: Anethum (lat), which means fragrant, burning. Old Russian synonyms of the word "copra", "sprinkle". The old words are long gone, but the word "dill" generated by them remains. By the way, in Ukrainian it is called "krip", which is very close to the Old Russian pronunciation.
There is another version of the name: when used, dill is finely cut, chopped, and earlier it was sprinkled, hence the "dill". The author likes the first version.
Most people, when asked what “dill water” is made from, do not hesitate to answer that from dill seeds. But no, - from a 1% solution of fennel oil, which looks very similar to dill plants from the umbrella family too.
Outdoor Landing Plot
Bearing in mind that the homeland of dill is the Mediterranean and India, it is desirable to arrange beds with dill in the most illuminated places of the garden. The plant prefers neutral or slightly acidic soil, dill grows healthy on it and the foliage has a saturated green color. Dill also loves moisture.
Such a riot of dill greens can only be obtained in a sunny place and good soil.
Preparation of beds for open ground
Dill grows on poor soils, but a full crop of this plant is obtained on well-fertilized soil. It is advisable to prepare the soil for spring planting of dill in the fall. To do this, they dig it to the depth of the shovel bayonet, after scattering humus or compost on the surface at the rate of 1 bucket per 1m2. In the absence of organic matter, it is replaced with mineral fertilizers: urea, potassium salt, superphosphate (20-30 g per m2).
It is better to prepare a bed under dill in the fall
Germination of dill seeds
Dill seeds contain a lot of essential oil, which impedes the process of their germination, so the seeds planted in the soil without preliminary preparation will sprout in 2-3 weeks, and specially treated seeds in a period of not more than 3-7 days.
Pre-treatment of seeds is not very difficult:
- Seeds are poured into a container with water and removed floated.
- The remaining seeds are either spread on a well-moistened cloth or placed in a moist gauze bag and placed in a warm place. As the matter dries, it is moistened.
- When the first sprouts appear, the seeds are placed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 hours. This disinfects planting material.
- Seeds are washed with warm water. All.
Preparing seeds for planting - video
It is believed that after 3-4 years of storage of dill seeds, their germination is noticeably reduced. But I felt sorry for throwing out the dill seeds, which lay for a much longer period in the bins of my parents in the kitchen, and he scattered them in the spring in the garden next to fresh seeds. The result was clearly not in favor of the latter. Maybe the fact is that essential oil escaped from old seeds and this compensated for the natural decrease in germination during long-term storage.
If there is a need to accelerate the germination of dill seeds, then the traditional preparation of seeds for planting is supplemented by the following methods:
- soaking the seeds in hot water (the hand suffers), the water drains during cooling and so on 2-3 times,
- use for soaking solutions of trace elements or growth stimulants, as well as ash infusion,
- use when soaking melt water,
- aeration of water with dill seeds (a pump from the aquarium is suitable),
- seed treatment with vodka for a period of not more than 10-15 minutes, vodka with essential oils after extracting seeds from it is used for its intended purpose.
For convenience, the seeds are placed in a tissue bag before working with them.
When, how and what varieties of dill to plant in open ground
Depending on the purpose for which the crop is grown, and dill varieties and the timing of its planting are selected.
Varieties of dill
- Early varieties of dill give the first greens a month later with a little after planting, but not much. Sockets are used for the first salting. If you leave some of the outlets on the stems, then you can not bother about the first greens for the next year: dill multiplies well by self-sowing. Such varieties include Gribovsky (very fragrant), Umbrella, Far, Redut, Grenadier (with a large umbrella).
Gribovsky variety is appreciated for its aroma
- Mid-season varieties Richelieu, Umbrella, Amazon, Hoarfrost ripen 2 weeks later than the early ones, but already have more greenery, larger umbrellas and are generally more aromatic than the early ones. The Richelieu variety is especially appreciated for its aroma, and if all leaves are taken from it, the stem will be in the lateral processes with large caps.
If at the dill Richelieu pick up all the leaves, then side processes with umbrellas will develop from the sinuses of the stems
- Late-ripening varieties Bouquet, Salute, Alligator, Hanok, Dill go to the growth of the stem about 2.5 months after planting, while the plant resembles a small bush. They have many leaves, but rosettes when planting in the open ground may not have time to form. Record holder for the size of the umbrella variety Salute: the cap diameter reaches 25 cm with a mass of almost 100 g, but this variety does not differ in flavor. At the same time, planting dill in open ground and caring for it will not be difficult.
Salute - a typical representative of bush dill
Landing time
Spring-summer planting of dill in open ground is made from the end of April to July, summer planting is suitable only for picking greens. Such terms are due to two circumstances:
- Dill seedlings should not fall under serious return frosts in spring, temperatures below minus 50 can destroy the plant.
- The optimal daylight size for the formation of greenery is at least 9 hours, and sockets - 14.
A graph of daylight hours in central Russia clearly shows the time range when dill can be sown
To obtain early greenery, they also practice planting in late autumn, from the end of October, in such a way that the seeds do not have time to germinate before the onset of stable frosts.
There is also an exotic winter view of dill planting, which also provides an early harvest.
How to plant dill: ways
Landing can be done either in grooves, or scatter. In any case, it is assumed that the land is pre-fertilized. When planting in the grooves, the soil is pre-moistened, and after laying the seeds, they are sprinkled with earth and slightly compacted. When planting randomly, it is more convenient to water the bed immediately after completion of work.
Table: methods for planting dill at different times
| Landing time | Landing in the grooves | Scatter landing |
| Spring Summer | The distance between the grooves is not less than 20 cm, between the seeds in the groove 1-2 cm, the depth 1-2 cm. | Based on 1g of seeds / m2. For uniform planting, seeds are evenly mixed with dry sand. Next, a rake is embedded in the soil. |
| Autumn | Also, as in the spring-summer, only the depth is 2-3.5 cm. | Seeds do not undergo pre-sowing treatment. Sowing rate of 1.5-2 g / m2. The rest, as in the spring - in the summer. |
| Winter | - | The bed is freed from snow, seeds are scattered 1.5-2 g / m2, sprinkled with a layer of compost and snow. |
Many gardeners do not sow dill, but are content with what self-seeding gives.
Self-sowing dill - video
Outdoor Dill Care
Unpretentious dill does not at all imply a lack of care for it. Here are the main points to pay attention to.
- Watering and loosening. Dill loves light and moist soil. Therefore, moderate watering, without stagnation of water, and loosening will be rewarded handsomely.
- Weeding. Do not allow the appearance of "parasites" for dill in the form of weeds, it is necessary to pull them out in time.
Ideally, a dill bed should be maintained in this condition.
- Thinning. This is especially true for cases when dill has grown after planting scatter or self-sowing. The thick forest of dill consists of frail pale plants with poor taste. The distance between plants should be at least 5 cm.
- Top dressing. Usually, on a well-trained garden bed, dill is not needed. But what to do if dill lacks nitrogen, which may indicate yellowing of the foliage. After all, dill has the ability to actively accumulate nitrates when using nitrogen fertilizers, especially ammonia and sodium nitrate. Nettle infusion will help out here, which, in addition to feeding, will ensure the absence of aphids on dill.
Stages of making green nettle fertilizer
- Dill compatibility with other plants. Dill is friendly enough to the vast majority of garden plants. The main thing is that he does not grow very close to them, and does not create competition for food. The exception is another representative of the umbrella family - fennel. With a close proximity of these plants, cross-pollination and the formation of hybrids are possible. Also, some gardeners do not plant dill next to carrots and caraway seeds.
Making nettle infusion is easy. The stalk of fresh nettle is cut into several parts and filled with water. For 10 liters of water, 1 kg of nettle. The composition is placed in a warm sunny place and the process has begun! The mass begins to bubble in a few days and give off a characteristic odor. Stir it regularly. After 1-2 weeks, the fermentation process stops, the composition is ready for use. Before use, it is filtered and diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
Because of this green fertilizer, the author for a long time spoiled relations with a neighbor in the plot. I closed the fertilizer in a 100-liter barrel and placed it near the fence on the sunny side of the plot. The barrel was located at a decent distance from his and my houses, but everyone felt an unpleasant nauseating smell, although a decent amount of mint was added to the barrel. As compensation for non-pecuniary damage, I poured out half of the prepared infusion to my neighbor, but I did not immediately receive pardon.
Planting dill in a greenhouse
The widespread use of cellular polycarbonate in equipping greenhouses for summer cottages allows gardeners to harvest dill almost all year round. For this, however, it is necessary to provide them with additional heating and lighting. If this is not done, then the first eat of greens can be obtained already in April-May, two months earlier than when planting in open ground.
Planting dill in a heated greenhouse with lighting
Such a greenhouse is usually put up for commercial use: the cost of its equipment and operation will greatly exceed the cost of greenery for the needs of the family that you will buy in the store.
The power of the heaters and their location should maintain the temperature in the greenhouse at least 15-20 in winter0C, and lighting lamps need to provide a daylight hours of at least 10 hours.
As an option - heating with infrared heaters
If these conditions are met, then growing dill will not be difficult. For planting, we acquire varieties less sensitive to lack of light, such as Grenadier, Sevastopol, Kutuzovsky, Diamond, Amazon, Kibray. Preparing seeds for planting is no different from preparing for planting in open ground.
Despite the fact that the greenhouse is heated, making beds on the ground is not worth it: the surface of the earth is the coldest place in the greenhouse. Therefore, shelving for boxes with soil is organized at a height convenient for caring for the plant.
On such shelves it will be convenient to care for dill
Dill has a long root, so the height of the boxes should be at least 30 cm and drainage holes are mandatory.
- The soil, a mixture of fertile soil and peat in a ratio of 3: 1 is prepared in advance. It is seasoned with mineral fertilizers. Their number depends on the size of the landing boxes: per 1m2 15-20 g of urea and potassium salt and 20-30 g of superphosphate should be added.
- Immediately before landing, grooves are made in the drawers with a depth of 1.5-2 cm, and the distance between the grooves is 15-20 cm.
- The soil is moistened and the seeds are planted in the grooves with a step of 2-3 cm and covered with soil from above.
This completes the landing process. Next, you need to monitor the temperature and light conditions and keep the soil moist. When the dill grows to a height of 3-5 cm, it must be thinned out, leaving a distance between plants from 5 to 10 cm, depending on the variety of dill.
Planting dill in an unheated greenhouse
This option does not require large financial expenses (except for the purchase of the greenhouse itself, of course). Autumn planting of dill seeds in such a greenhouse due to the creation of comfortable climatic conditions in it in early spring will make it possible to obtain fresh greens already in late April-May.
What is valuable, do not bother with additional equipment of the greenhouse, and the seeds are planted directly in the ground, as described above (see table). If the winter was snowy, then the capillary conductivity of the soil will provide the plant with the necessary moisture in the initial period of development when the snow melts even in the absence of it in the greenhouse. If not, then it is advisable to throw snow into the greenhouse.
Spring dill shoots in an unheated greenhouse - video
When growing dill in such a greenhouse, it is necessary to carefully monitor the soil moisture on sunny days and prevent its drying out.
Planting dill at home
To get dill greens at home all year round you need quite a bit:
- a free window sill on the sunny side of the apartment,
- tall drawer with drainage holes,
- properly prepared soil
- correctly selected seeds,
- additional lighting during short daylight hours.
Pamper yourself with a fresh dill, if there is a small area of free land, it is not difficult. It is necessary to correctly select the seeds, plant them on time and in a month or two until late autumn enjoy the odorous greens.
