Dill alligator planting and care in the open field

Each of us is familiar with this incredibly healthy plant, which contains a huge amount of vitamins and is used by us during cooking. Bush dill "alligator" is a decoration of any table throughout the season. If you are smart about growing it, then it will give you greens all summer and autumn.

Dill varieties

There are many different varieties of dill. All of them differ in the shape of the rosette, leaf, color, height of the bush, as well as in terms of ripening. Not all varieties have time to fully ripen in the beds. It depends on the region. "Alligator" refers to late-ripening varieties. Such plants have very close internodes on the stems, which makes them look like bushes. Very often they are called so - bush. Such varieties are more capricious to care for. But they delight with a large amount of greenery, which is enough not only in the summer, but you can still make preparations for the winter.

Bush varieties are sometimes impressive in size, and therefore it is worth sowing seeds at a decent distance. Such plants are very demanding on the climate. Very often they are planted in greenhouses. In central Russia, you can cut flower stalks. Since full-fledged seeds cannot ripen, but at the same time the plant loses a lot of strength.

Preparing for landing

It would seem that what could be easier than growing alligator dill in your country house? Gardeners' reviews indicate that problems arise even with such an unpretentious culture. Therefore, its cultivation must be approached wisely.

First you need to prepare alligator dill seeds. According to experts, due to the high content of essential oils, they must be processed before planting. Enveloping the seeds, they surround them with an elastic protective film, which prevents them from germinating quickly.

This natural protection of the seed can be violated by bubbling. To do this, the seeds are placed in water at room temperature and the aquarium compressor is turned on. Air bubbles gently remove the oil shell, but do not damage the seeds at all. The duration of this procedure is 19-20 hours. After its completion, dill must be urgently sown, because some of the grains could already hatch. If you do not use such preliminary preparation, sometimes you have to wait for seedlings for a long time.

The difficult process of bubbling can be replaced by soaking for two to three days, changing the water to fresh one every six hours.

Sowing dates

There are several options for when to plant dill. It is sown in open ground in late autumn or spring. Dill "alligator" (reviews - confirmation of this) is a cold-resistant plant. Able to tolerate frosts down to -6 degrees. Due to this property, its seeds can be laid in the soil in October or November.

If for some reason you forgot to sow alligator dill in the fall, it doesn't matter, with the arrival of spring you can start planting. As soon as the land dries out a little, you need to start sowing.

It should be noted that dill reproduces well by self-sowing.If you haven't cut all your umbrellas in summer and autumn, then, most likely, next year your whole garden will be dotted with fragrant greenery.

Planting dill

Once the seed is ready, you can proceed to the next stage. But then another question arises: when to plant dill in open ground? The plant is able to germinate at a temperature of +3 degrees, so it can be sown immediately after the snow covers. Later on, on cold days, you can cover the plantings if you want to get greens early. To avoid hassle, you can wait until the first steady heat and then start planting.

Before sowing, you can fertilize the soil, but it is preferable to do this in advance. It would be more correct to prepare the garden bed in the fall. To do this, dig up the soil and add humus (one bucket per square meter). Then in the spring you only need to form grooves at a distance of twenty centimeters from each other with a depth of no more than three centimeters, leave the seeds and close them with earth on top. As a rule, the soil is moist enough in spring, but if you think that it is too dry, then the crops can be watered a little before the first shoots appear.

Reusable culture

Dill can be planted more than once during the summer. This is the uniqueness of culture. Dill can be sown every 20-25 days (these are the ripening periods), so that you always have fresh herbs on hand. If you want to get new seeds, you will have to wait for umbrellas on several plants. In general, planting and caring for a crop is not difficult, so even a novice gardener will cope with the task.

Dill care

Dill "alligator" (reviews - confirmation of this) does not need serious care. Like any plant, it needs to be watered regularly. In addition, sometimes you can feed with potassium-phosphorus or nitrogen fertilizers. Such measures are necessary only when the twigs turn yellow.

However, do not forget that any greenery perfectly absorbs all chemicals, so it is not worth too much and often to add them. Dill grows well in fertile soil. All care for him comes down to watering and weeding. Getting plenty of greens is one of the advantages of the alligator (dill) variety. How to trim the finished greens? Since the bushes of the plant are large enough, they are not afraid of pruning. You can remove almost all the greens, leaving a few branches. This will be enough for the plant to continue to grow further. You can also cut the peduncle if the dill is not grown in the south. It is not possible to get good seeds in the middle lane, so it makes no sense to drain the plants. Housewives use flower stalks for harvesting for the winter.

Dill diseases

The main enemy of any dill is powdery mildew. She can appear at any time. Sometimes summer residents do not immediately pay attention to the white bloom that affects the stems and foliage. Most often, the disease affects plants in late summer, when the nights become colder. The affected twigs are no longer suitable for eating.

In addition, dill can suffer from phomosis. Fungal disease manifests itself as blackening on leaves, stems and seeds. And it doesn't matter where the plant grows: on the street, on a windowsill or in a greenhouse. As you understand, it is impossible to process dill with chemicals, so you will have to limit yourself exclusively to preventive measures. These include the alternation of crops grown, timely weed control. In addition, you should not neglect such a measure as disinfecting seeds before planting. To do this, they are heated in sufficiently hot water (temperature 50 degrees) for half an hour.

Reviews of the variety "alligator"

Experienced gardeners highly recommend a crop such as alligator dill. Reviews about him are the best recommendations for novice summer residents. The culture is especially good for the southern regions.In contrast to the early varieties, "alligator" produces a lot of juicy and aromatic greenery. Having planted such a plant on the site, you can prepare a spice for future use so that you can use summer gifts in cold weather.

What is good about alligator dill? Growing crops from seeds is no different from other varieties. But as a result, you get powerful green bushes, the greens of which will always come in handy for preparing fragrant dishes and preparations for the winter.

Dill on the windowsill: growing

Convenient when you always have fresh herbs at hand. The dishes prepared with it will be tasty and aromatic. Very often housewives try to grow dill on the windowsill. Cultivation of a culture is generally simple, but still has its own characteristics.

First you need to choose a suitable variety. You need to understand that there is no special dill for home growing. You will have to select from existing types. Early varieties will allow you to quickly get greens, but it is not very lush and juicy, and the plant quickly grows into peduncle growth. But later varieties will be able to please with lush green branches.

For growing crops at home, you should pick up a good soil. To do this, you can take garden soil and mix it with soil that is neutral for indoor plants. You should also choose a suitable box, the size of which will allow the dill to develop normally. A drainage layer should be placed on the bottom of the pot.

Seeds can be sown directly on the topsoil, without making depressions and grooves, sprinkling with soil on top. Next, we slightly moisten the ground and send the box to a dark, warm place. After a couple of weeks, it can be moved to the windowsill.

Conditions for growing on a windowsill

It is worth knowing that for home growing dill it is very important to provide plants with good lighting. Dill is an incredibly light-loving crop that can be grown on a windowsill at any time of the year. But caring for her will depend on the season. In winter, plants will need artificial lighting due to the low amount of sunlight. For supplementary lighting, you can use fluorescent lamps, placing them on the windowsill. Five hours of their work a day is enough for normal plant growth.

Dill must be watered regularly. Once every few weeks, the plant needs to be fed with complex fertilizer. For a plant, the optimum temperature will be +18 degrees. At higher temperatures, it is worth increasing the light time, otherwise the bushes may simply stretch up and be dull and lethargic.

Before planting, it is recommended to hold the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate. The first greens will be available in 4-5 weeks. You only need to cut off the side branches, which will actively grow for the first time. It must be remembered that dill belongs to moisture-loving plants, and therefore it must be watered regularly, especially in the spring-summer period. But it is not recommended to transfuse the plant. This can adversely affect its development and earlier death of bushes.

Provided that they are planted in good soil, the plants do not need feeding. The microelements available initially in the soil are quite enough for them. The time of vegetative development of dill is short, so you should not count on a long harvest. It makes sense to do new crops to get a fresh harvest.

Instead of an afterword

What summer resident has not tried his hand at growing dill? This oldest medicinal culture is one of the most readily available spices, widely used in our cooking. Knowing the basics of caring for and planting a crop, you can get a harvest of fragrant greenery even on the kitchen window.

The first representative of bush dill is the Kibray variety, which appeared in the early nineties. The plant acquired bushiness due to the fact that new leaves were formed in the leaf axils.

Bush dill

After some time, breeders managed to improve this culture and bring out its new varieties - Salut and Buyan. The main advantage of the latter was the long period of development before flowering, thanks to which gardeners were able to collect a large amount of fragrant greenery. But there were also disadvantages, including poor shape, fragility and a high susceptibility to rot of the root system.

Bush dill bed

At the beginning of the 2000s, the breeding of “new generation” varieties began, devoid of the above-mentioned disadvantages. The most popular representatives of this group are the Alligator and Amazon. Soon, the Almaz variety was brought out, which absorbed an even greater number of improvements. The main difference between Diamond is the long period of collecting greens. This plant is able to provide fresh greens throughout the summer, growing new leaves after each harvest, but only with proper care.

Dense bushes of dill

As a rule, bush dill is cultivated for a long time, during which the leaves accumulate a large amount of essential oils, which provide a tart and unique aroma of the culture.

Features of culture

According to statistics, to obtain 200 grams of greens, it is necessary to sow about 20 grams of ordinary dill seeds and only one gram of the Alligator variety.

The very procedure for growing this crop seems extremely simple, but in reality it should be approached thoroughly. The fact is that there are many different oils in the seeds, which significantly slow down the growing period. If conditions are favorable, seedlings will form about eight to ten days after sowing, while at low temperatures this can take several weeks.

Note! To speed up germination, gardeners resort to an etching procedure, which consists in soaking the seeds in warm water for about 24 hours. What is characteristic, in this case, the water needs to be changed periodically as it cools. After etching, the first shoots should be formed after a couple of days.

Soaking seeds before planting

Shrub dill is a light-loving crop; it is also extremely demanding on the fertility and structure of the soil. The optimum temperature for growing is about 18-20 degrees. The height of adult specimens reaches 1.5 meters, and grown in greenhouse conditions - 2.5-3 meters. Leafy shoots grow from the sinuses (the latter, as noted above, provide the shape of the bush), internodes in the lower part are drawn together. The length of a single leaf is up to 45 centimeters, which is why, by the way, bush dill is often confused with fennel.

Densely growing bush dill

Bush dill - varieties

There are many bush varieties that differ from each other both in their shape and in the height of the bushes. Let's get acquainted with each of them in more detail.

Table. Brief characteristics of bush dill

Aurora	It is an early maturing culture (between shoots and collection of greens takes from 25 to 35 days). A relatively "young" variety with sprawling low bushes. Tellingly, the collection of greens can be done many times.
Amazon	This mid-season variety is characterized by the fact that it has a universal purpose. The time between germination and collection is 40 to 45 days. The leaves are large, gray-green. The yield can reach 6.5 kilograms (for spices) and 4.1 kilograms (for herbs) per square meter.
Fireworks	Another mid-season variety, forming three to four stems from each baptismal node. Between germination and harvesting takes from 35 to 45 days. The leaves are dark green, medium in size. The aroma is somewhat sweet.
Sultan	A highly aromatic crop with 40 to 45 days between germination and harvest. If the seeds are sown in open ground in the spring, then the period for collecting greens can be extended to two months. Shooting is rather weak, which allows you to get greens in large quantities.
Buyan	A mid-season dill variety that, thanks to its long growth period, builds up an impressive deciduous mass. Ideal for conveyor production, since it does not require subsequent reseeding. It should be planted more spaciously, so the distance between the seeds should be left larger. The greens are removed gradually, the large ones are cut off (this will ensure thinning).
Bouquet	A highly aromatic early ripening variety that has become increasingly popular in recent years. The time between full germination and harvest is 35 to 40 days. The foliage is good, the leaves themselves are large and tender. Height reaches 65-80 centimeters, upright rosette. It is also worth noting the rather slow laying of inflorescences and the formation of stems.
Salute	Late ripening culture. Not suitable for preservation as a seasoning, because due to late flowering, the seeds do not have time to fully form. High productivity. The height of the rosette reaches 40 centimeters.

It is also worth noting that in most cases, gardeners plant the Alligator variety.

Video - Shrub dill

Growing bush dill at home

The varieties of the culture described in the article can be grown in two ways:

• by sowing seeds in open soil;
• by growing seedlings with subsequent transplantation into the ground.

Let's get acquainted with the features of each of the methods in more detail.

Method one. Outdoor cultivation

Dill sowing dates

The cultivation process traditionally begins with careful preparation.

Stage one. Preparing the seeds

As a rule, the flower stalk of bush dill is formed at the end of the season, so in most of the country the seeds do not have time to ripen. And in order not to buy planting material every year, at least a few plants should be grown through seedlings - this way the seeds will ripen before the onset of cold weather.

Dill seeds

Note! Due to the high content of essential oils, seed germination deteriorates over time. And if you are not sure about the freshness of the material, then it is better to soak it in warm water as described at the beginning of the article.

Before sowing, spread the grains on a piece of cloth and dry until flowable.

Dried Dill Seeds

Stage two. Preparing the soil

Shrub dill loves fertile soil, which absorbs moisture well, although most of the neutral soils are quite suitable for it. And due to the fact that the roots of the culture are powerful and can go to a depth of up to half a meter, an appropriate thickness of the fertile layer is required for normal development.

First of all, apply a mineral / organic fertilizer to the soil; the application rates you must adhere to are as follows (for one square meter):

• 15 to 20 grams of urea;

  Nitrogen fertilizer Urea (urea)

• 20 to 30 grams of superphosphate;

  Superphosphate

• from two to three kilograms of humus.

  Humus is the same as rotted (mature) manure

Note! Do not add ash, dolomite flour and lime under the dill - because of this, it may turn red and stop developing. In addition, the soil must be well drained, since the culture does not tolerate stagnant water.

Stage three. We sow the seeds

Sow seeds in loose, moist soil. The optimal time for this is late April or early May. Sowing should be done across the beds.

In the photo, sowing dill

For greater convenience, take a small board and make grooves with it (the distance between them should be 15-20 centimeters). If the planting is more dense, then side shoots are not formed, and the development of plants will be the same as that of ordinary garden varieties. After that, water the soil and place the seeds in the furrows in steps of 1.5-2 centimeters. Dig in on top of the furrow with a two-centimeter layer of peat or humus, slightly compact the soil. You do not need to water again.

It remains only to cover the planting site with a piece of film until shoots form. It is difficult to answer when exactly bush dill will rise, since a lot depends on the type of soil and temperature conditions. However, when the seedlings appear, thin them out.

Dill after thinning

Thinning, by the way, is necessary several times. When the height of the seedlings reaches 6 centimeters, the distance between them should be increased to 5-7 centimeters; in the future, as it grows, the distance between the bushes should be increased first to 10-12, and then to 15-20 centimeters.

Stage four. Further care

Caring for bush dill consists of watering and removing weeds. Remove weeds until three to four leaves appear on each seedling. Further, the dill will begin to grow more intensively, and the weeds will no longer be able to drown it out.

Dill needs weeding

Water the plants every week, while the water consumption should be 5 liters per square meter. Fertilization is not required if you have fertilized the soil before sowing. Although you can make root feeding several times during watering (add ½ liter of mullein and 1 teaspoon of urea for every 10 liters of water).

Proper watering of dill

Note! Do not use nitrogen fertilizers unless absolutely necessary, as nitrates can accumulate in dill leaves. The exceptions are cases when plants suffer from nitrogen deficiency, as evidenced by yellowed leaves and a slowdown in development.

Video - How to grow bush dill

Method two. Growing through seedlings

Let's make a reservation right away that the procedure is not much different from the seedling cultivation of other crops, therefore, it will be considered only briefly.

For such cultivation, the Almaz variety is most suitable. Sow seeds about a month before transplanting into open soil - in other words, sometime in early April.

Step 1. Pour the seedling mixture into wooden boxes or other containers, make grooves of a centimeter deep in it in steps of 1.5-2 centimeters.

Step 2. At a distance of 0.5-1 centimeters, place dill seeds in the furrows.

An example of sowing seeds in a pot

Step 3. Sprinkle a little soil over the furrows, water, cover with glass or PET foil, and place the containers in a warm place. The temperature should be between 18 and 22 degrees.

Step 4. After germination, remove the glass / film, and place the boxes in a cool place (from 10 to 12 degrees) for several days. After this time, maintain the temperature specified in the previous step.

The pot is wrapped in plastic

Step 5... When the first true leaves appear, move the plants into cassettes with a mesh size of 5x5 centimeters.

Growing seedlings of bush dill

Step 6... In the future, periodically water the plants. When the seedlings have six to seven true leaves, you can transplant the seedlings to the garden bed. We have already familiarized ourselves with the peculiarities of the subsequent care earlier.

Neighborhood of dill with other plants

Dill - a plant with a history spanning several millennia. This herb was known in ancient civilizations - in Rome and Greece, where it was used to prepare various dishes, decorate wreaths, and was used as a medicine. Dill is widely known today, it is a useful and healing plant, which even a novice gardener can cope with growing.

When to plant dill?

Growing dill can be started all year round. You just need to take into account the peculiarities of each season.

• Spring sowing starts quite early, just after the snow melts. If frosts are expected, it is better to close young shoots, but in general, dill should not be scared by cold weather. The second half of April is the best time for planting.

• Summer Dill seeds you can gradually sow on an existing garden bed, and if the spring sowing time is missed, it doesn't matter - you can plant dill even in the middle of summer, and in 3-4 weeks you can get young shoots of fresh greenery.

• To enjoy the early spring harvest, dill is planted in late autumn. Here it is important to correctly capture the moment of sowing - the temperature should drop closer to 0 degrees. If you plant dill seeds too early, they will have time to germinate in the fall. It is not scary if the first snow has already covered the soil - it is enough to clear the bed, scatter the seeds and cover it with a layer of mulch on top.

• In the cold season, it is possible growing dill in a greenhouse... You just need to remember about good lighting, fertilizing the soil with minerals, maintaining the required temperature at about 12-15 C °, and timely watering. In winter for growing dill deep boxes with holes are suitable - this will protect against possible freezing of the soil.

In the photo, dill seeds

How to plant dill?

Dill growing technology is simple, not much is needed for success: sun, food, moisture. Future dill needs to be provided with nutritious soil. They dig it up in advance and fertilize it well. Let's give the earth time for the beneficial ingredients to dissolve. The best time to prepare is late autumn.

Dill loves sunlight. If the site is very small, the plant will feel great in close proximity to vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes.

Seeds will germinate faster if they are dipped in hot water for 10-15 minutes and left covered, warm and moist. It will take 3-4 days for future seedlings to hatch. Before the seeds go to the garden, you need to dry them slightly.

Planting is not difficult - we loosen the ground, make small grooves, pre-moisten them and evenly distribute the future dill.

Do not cover the seeds with a too thick layer of soil, optimally 1-2 centimeters. That's all. The first shoots will appear very quickly. And it will take about a month before a full harvest.

What varieties of dill are best to grow?

To choose the right one dill varieties, you must first decide for what purpose it will be grown. Varieties differ in size, shade and shape of foliage, structure of the rosette, and ripening times. To get early spring greens and umbrellas for pickling, you should pay attention to early ripening varieties.

The most famous and unpretentious dill is Gribovsky early. He is not afraid of adverse conditions. He will not give a too rich harvest of greens, but in the middle of summer he will release seed baskets that can be used in preparations for the winter.

Dalny and Redut varieties give good yields. Plants have a waxy coating on the leaves and abundant fluffy greenery. For delicate light green herbs with a delicate aroma, you can sow Anker dill.

Mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties are grown to obtain abundant greenery, but these plants do not form seed umbrellas soon. These are bush varieties of dill, they are perfect for both family needs and for sale. They are also good for sowing indoors.

In the photo dill of the "Alligator" variety

The gardeners received great recognition dill alligator... This plant has the shape of a large, powerful bush, the greens are juicy and fragrant, it can be cut multiple times throughout the season. Such varieties as Borey, Kibray, Lesnogorodsky, Salut have also proven themselves well.

How to care for dill?

Dill care does not require a lot of effort. It is enough to water it 1-2 times a week, and if the summer is hot and dry, then every day, after sunset.

Periodically, the soil in the garden needs to be loosened. It is not necessary to remove weeds, but if you are interested in a rich harvest of greens, this will not be superfluous at all. If the plants grow too densely, you can thin them out a little so that they do not interfere with each other.

In the photo dill variety "Anker"

A full crop can be harvested in 30-40 days.There is no need to let the dill overgrow - the plant forms a stem, and the greens become tougher, and their taste deteriorates.

Features of growing dill at home and outdoors

At home dill may well please with fresh vitamins and fragrant herbs, you just need to properly prepare the site for planting. Growing dill on a windowsill it is worth starting by choosing a well-lit sunny side.

In winter, for good growth, the plant will certainly need additional lighting to lengthen the daylight hours. In the summer, he will feel great in the loggia.

In the photo, the dill variety "Richelieu"

Seeds for planting are chosen from early maturing undemanding varieties - Gribovsky or Richelieu. Sowing containers should be roomy - they can be plastic containers or roomy pots.

Be sure to take care of the presence of drainage holes and trays for water drainage. A little pebbles or expanded clay are poured at the bottom of the container, the soil can be used industrially or take land in the garden.

As with open field sowing, seeds are germinated and planted in moist soil. You do not need to pour the seeds on top too much. Crops are covered with polyethylene until confident sprouts appear.

In the photo, the variety of dill "Gribovsky"

Care is very simple - loosen, take care of watering, regularly unfold the pot so that the sprouts do not stretch sideways, to the lighter side. Of course, it is much easier to grow dill in the open field, there are no super-complications and secrets here, but with some effort, you can provide it with sufficient comfort at home.

I will tell you about a plant that is known to every summer resident, gardener, even people far from agriculture. The plant belongs to the umbrella family. This is odorous dill or garden dill. It was named so because before, instead of "finely cut" they used the word - "sprinkle". Without it, you can't cook cabbage soup, you can't cook okroshka, you can't pickle a cucumber. It would seem that growing dill is so difficult? Now there is such a large selection of varieties - the eyes run up. Landing, too, does not seem to cause any particular difficulties ... But I had time, difficulties arose.

As a plant, dill has been known for over 5 thousand years. And as a spice, they began to use it for food in the 16th century. It is believed that he began to "walk" the planet from Central, South-West Asia. In some places I met information that North Africa is also referred to the homeland of this plant. Now he is known everywhere, all over the world. It is cultivated almost everywhere, all over the world. It is grown on purpose, but it also grows savage.

This is an unpretentious cold-resistant culture. Now it is difficult to find a plot or a vegetable garden where it would not be grown.

To be honest, I have never treated it as some kind of special garden plant, for the cultivation of which you need some specific knowledge. He grew and now grows on potatoes - he, sows himself, sprouts himself. I ditch greens or umbrellas as needed. It is impossible for our whole family to eat it, so a lot remains for the seeds that sprout in the spring - I seem to be doing nothing for this. Well, maybe not all of the weed out when weeding or hilling potatoes.

↑ to the content ↑ How to accelerate the germination of dill seeds

The seeds germinate slowly, as they are covered with essential oils, which prevent moisture from penetrating into the seed, delaying germination. Germination can be accelerated by soaking the seeds in hot water (not boiling water) - this will cause excess oil to float. When the water cools down, drain it, rinse the seeds with cold water.

I make it easier - I read somewhere that essential oils dissolve alcoholic solutions well - I fill the seeds with vodka (you can't burn them for more than 15 minutes), rinse them, dry them to a loose state, and sow them. Seedlings appear in 4-5 days.

I do such a vodka seed treatment if no rains are foreseen ahead, there is hot weather. This is usually a re-sowing in the second half of the summer. And in early spring, when the soil is moist after winter, there are enough moisture reserves, I sow seeds without vodka treatment - shoots appear in 10-12 days. Seeds do not lose their germination for 3-5 years.

↑ to the content ↑ Features of planting and growing dill

Several years ago I had a little problem. Self-sown dill greens can only be torn until mid-summer. And then umbrellas appear, which are indispensable for conservation, but you want to add fragrant greens to borscht, salad ...

I learned that there are bush varieties that do not produce a flower-bearing stem for a long time, remain green much longer (by 1-1.5 months). I decided to sow. This is where difficulties arose.

I didn't want to get up. But I coped with this - I wrote above that I filled the seeds with vodka before planting.

But even if the seedlings appeared, they were some frail, not appetizing. In addition, they quickly disappeared or formed an umbrella, although according to the idea of ​​the seed producers this should not have happened so soon.

I began to look for the reasons for my failures. Found it. More experienced gardeners suggested something, read something, and thought of something myself.

Why does dill grow poorly?

First, it must be sown very early. You can even before winter or as soon as the snow has melted. In the Kuban - grows well, sown in the "February windows".

Secondly, it does not need to be sown thickly. Thickened crops grow poorly, slowly, almost immediately after germination, the plant goes into the trunk - there is nothing to pick for greens.

Third, it can be sown by scattering seeds all over the plot. You can scatter them over ready-made beds, for example, with onions, garlic.

Fourthly, if you decide to sow this spicy greens in the second half of summer, then give him a bed in partial shade - the sun before lunch - the shade after. This is a short-day plant, so it needs to artificially create such conditions in the summer. It is necessary to sow it in moist soil, not thickly, be sure to water it. If the soil is dry, then he will immediately start up the trunk - you will not get a green, lush dill. Try to loosen up the aisles - all crops love lush soil.

Now I can say with a light heart that growing dill does not cause any particular difficulties.

Still, he prefers to grow on well-loosened light nutritious soils. Grows poorly on clay soil, wetlands or lowland areas. Does not like excessive acidification of the soil.

It is not particularly picky about moisture, but responds well to sufficient watering. With a lack of moisture, yield decreases. Prefers open, sunny places, but in partial shade it also gives a good harvest.

Seedlings

This is an annual plant, therefore, in one growing season, all stages of development go through - from germination of seeds to the formation of new ones. A single sprout usually emerges from a seed with two linear, elongated leaves, completely different from the leaves of an adult plant.

The soil for sowing seeds is prepared in advance - they apply humus or any complex fertilizer, so that only later do not apply any fertilizers, since there is a danger of nitrate accumulation. It is very good if you add superphosphate, nitroammophoska during sowing. Phosphorus, so necessary for plants, is well absorbed by them precisely during germination.

When sowing dill, it must be sown so that you have to look closely - is there a seed in the groove, is it visible - then you will get normal sparse shoots. And if you see seeds when sowing, it means that they are too thick - the seedlings will have to be thinned out.

Yes, I forgot to note that the seeds sprout not only in the spring, but have time to give another harvest in the fall. Here it does not come to umbrellas - I tear off almost all of it for food, freeze it for winter use. By the way, I like autumn dill more. Greens are more juicy, fragrant - the heat is gone, there is enough moisture for it for juiciness.

A specific dill smell appears in the plant, starting from the 4-5th leaf. The older the plant, the more fragrant green it has.

Dill grows very quickly. It takes about 40 days from germination to harvesting for greenery. After that, you either cut the greens or leave them "on the umbrella."

I have never practiced myself, but I have come across information that he tolerates picking and transplanting very well in the presence of the first or second leaf. Hence, it can be grown through seedlings to get greens as early as possible. This is how it is grown by farmers, agricultural enterprises in winter in greenhouses.

↑ back to contents ↑ Shrub dill

Above, I said that I sow only bush varieties, and the usual one, which I use for canning, sprouts on my own in a potato field after winter. There is so much of it - he sows himself, he rises without my help in the spring. But such dill quickly reaches the umbrella stage. Then I get juicy fragrant greens from the bush.

For bush varieties, this period is 50 days. They do not bloom for a long time, that is, the period for collecting greens is extended by 2-3 weeks, and in some even for a longer period.

Bush Bushy differs from ordinary varieties in appearance. The plant, while young, does not have a stem. The leaves grow in a rosette from the root at an acute angle. The rosette of leaves is raised, a flowering stem does not form for a long time. So don't root it out - just break off the larger, more fragrant leaves. New leaves will grow from the center of the rosette. After 5 days on this plant, the harvesting process can be repeated.

Ordinary dill necessarily has a flowering stem. After breaking off large lower leaves, new ones do not grow in this place.

Above I wrote that it is growing very quickly. That is, the conclusion suggests itself that if we want to be with fragrant greens all summer long, then it must be sown several times. This is indeed the case.

Now there are many varieties with different ripening periods. After sowing a few with an interval of 1.5-2 months, you will be with greens throughout the season.

For example, if you sow varieties such as Alligator, Amazon, Salute, then in 1-1.5 months you will have greens, you will eat it for 1.5-2 months - until mid-summer. In the first half of June (in the Kuban, these are the last days of May), you can sow dill again to provide yourself with greens until the end of summer.

I get the third harvest in late autumn. The harvest of potatoes has been harvested, the potato field has been cleared of plant residues, the autumn rains have passed. Tender bushes sprout up again by themselves, without my help. They do not grow to an umbrella state, but it is these greens that I freeze. All winter I add to borscht, salads, meat dishes.

↑ to content ↑ Dill varieties

As I already said, many varieties of dill have now been bred. It is quite difficult to decide which one to choose.

They are distinguished by the ripening time, by the shade of the leaves, by the stronger or weaker aroma and, of course, by taste.

What you should pay attention to when choosing a variety. This is not as easy as it sounds. The State Register contains about 50 titles. How is one different from the other? There are many subtleties here. Some are visible only to specialists. For example, there are such varieties as Redoubt, Max. How do they differ from each other? Both of them belong to the same group in terms of ripening - medium late, both are intended for obtaining greens or umbrellas. And the differences are the drawing of the leaf, foliage, pubescence, the length of the leaf segment. At the Redoubt, leafy branches are more rarely located, and at Max, they are denser. But we are unlikely to notice such differences in our garden.

The most popular varieties among summer residents are Alligator, Amazon (the seller of the seed store told me this in secret). They are very similar. These are bush varieties that produce a lot of fragrant greenery.

I sowed the Alligator. What I liked - a lot of greenery, it cut off juicy slightly bluish leaves all season, the umbrella began to form only towards the end of summer.

Alligator (May 2016) True, I sowed it where the sun is only from the morning until 11 o'clock, and then the whole hot day there is a shadow, only about an hour before sunset - the sun again.

A good variety is Kibray. Refers to bush. Still, he forms an umbrella before the Alligator.

There are a lot of umbrella varieties, it seems to me that there are more of them than bush varieties. Umbrellas include Grenadier, Richelieu, Carousel.

There is a group of varieties that occupy an intermediate position - for example, Max, Redoubt, Umbrella, which give enough greenery. The umbrella also has time to mature.

An interesting variety is Preobrazhensky. It gives a lot of greenery, the rosette of leaves is powerful, compact, but the umbrella also ripens early enough.

Some varieties can be appreciated not only for their rich rich taste, but also for the unusually delicate and beautiful foliage. This is Richelieu. Its leaf is rather sparse, with long segments, thin, graceful. This variety is good because it blooms quickly. That is, we will not get a lot of greens from it, but we will get umbrellas for salted early cucumbers.

↑ back to contents ↑ Diseases of dill

The main problem with dill is fusarium wilting. It is an infectious disease. It is seed-borne. It often occurs under unfavorable conditions - sharp changes in air temperature. Chemical treatment of dill is unacceptable for us - after all, we eat leaves.

Therefore, the solution is as follows.

Firstly, this is seed dressing before sowing - soaking them in a solution of phytosporin, potassium permanganate.

Secondly, if you know that the site is infected, for example, I did not have one year of dill for this reason, then the drug Trichodermin is introduced into the soil in advance. It is advisable to do this before sowing. Trichodermin is not a chemical preparation, it is fungal spores, which also need to create conditions for development. It is introduced into moist soil, that is, before sowing dill, water the garden bed, and then sprinkle it with peat substrate with mushroom spores. Trichodermin successfully fights fusarium wilting of dill.

I hope that now you will not have any difficulties in growing dill.