WHEN AND HOW TO PLANT DILL, GROWING DILL AT THE DACHA

Delicious and fragrant dill seasoning has not lost its popularity for thousands of years, continuing to be one of the most famous and affordable spices in mid-latitudes.

After a long winter, when the body is weak and you want fresh vitamins from the garden, the question becomes: when to plant dill in the open ground in spring?

Did you know? Dill was known to the ancient Egyptians as a medicine. The ancient Greeks ate dill, Sappho sang the scent of dill, Feofrast mentioned dill in incense, Hippocrates, Dioscorides left tips on how to use dill medicine. In ancient Rome, lovers gave each other bouquets and wreaths of dill. In the 10th century, Ibn Sina described in detail the effects of dill on the human body. In the Middle Ages they believed in the ability of dill to protect from witchcraft.

Dill: a description of herbal seasoning

Dill (Anéthum) refers to annual umbrella plants. Dill has a dark green straight stalk (height from 40 to 150 cm), covered with very thin grooves. At the top of the stem branches. The leaves are pinnate four times (the last lobes are in the form of threads). From June to July, flowering occurs: dill flowers are collected in inflorescences and form a large umbrella (up to 15 cm) of 25-50 rays. The color of the petals is yellow. Seeds (up to 5 mm long and 3 mm wide) fully ripen in September.

The content of vitamins B2, B6, C, A, P, PP, macro-and micronutrients (magnesium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, etc.), acids (oleic, palmitic, petroselinic), flavonoids dill occupies one of the leading places among garden cultures. It is especially rich (primarily seeds - up to 4%) with essential oils.

Did you know? Dill enhances blood formation in the body, has a disinfecting effect on the gastrointestinal tract, urinary system, improves digestion, normalizes metabolism, reduces high pressure. Anetin contained in dill, dilates blood vessels, improves blood flow to the brain. The combination of useful substances and properties, their easy digestibility make dill equally useful for both children and adults.

What loves dill, choosing a place in the garden

Dill does not differ capriciousness. This plant is cold-resistant (withstands slight frosts, and the seeds begin to revive in the ground at a temperature of +3 ° C). If you want to achieve a good harvest of green spices, you need to take into account that he loves dill, and the proper cultivation of dill involves the creation of favorable conditions for it.

Important! Adding frozen dill to salads will spoil the dish - an unpleasant herbal flavor and wateriness will appear. A pleasant smell and taste of salads will be given by dried (salty) dill. Frozen dill is used in soups and sauces.

Dill Lighting

How to sow the dill? There is nothing complicated about it.

First, you need to provide the right lighting. Bright sunshine is what dill like. Open areas are suitable for it. With enough light, dill has an emerald green color, it develops normally. Ideal conditions - solar lighting 12 hours a day at a temperature of 18 to 25 ° C.

Secondly, it will be necessary to ensure the availability of the necessary soil.

What soil prefers dill

Selecting a plot for planting dill, it should be borne in mind that the plant prefers neutral soils with good ventilation and hygroscopicity. Dill does not require special fertility of the soil (for its planting suitable areas on which previously grown cabbage, cucumbers or other vegetables - last year dressing unpretentious plant will be enough).

It is best to prepare the beds for dill in advance (preferably in the fall). It is necessary to dig, fertilize (you can fertilize with manure, urea, superphosphate or potassium salt - at the rate of 20-30 g per square meter). Such a dressing of dill will help to harvest a large crop.

Sometimes dill begins to change color to yellow-green, its growth slows down. These are signs of nitrogen "starvation" of the plant. The remedy against this is the introduction of nitrogenous fertilizer (20 g per square meter).

Planting dill: how to prepare the seeds

Practice shows that even beginners can grow dill early on. Before preparing the seeds for planting, you need to select the variety of dill. Dill varieties vary in terms of aging:

early varieties - ripen for 30-35 days, umbrellas quickly form, very unpretentious, fragrant, but you will not get much greenery from them (Redut, Dalny, Gribovsky, Grenadier);
medium varieties - ripen 10-15 days later, have up to 10 leaves on the stem, more productive greens ("Alligator", "Umbrella", "Kibray", "Amazon", "Richelieu");
late varieties - ripening time 70 days, more than 10 leaves are formed on the stem, give high yields of greens ("Kutuzovsky", "Hoarfrost", "Fool").

When choosing seeds should be borne in mind that we sow dill in open ground. Early ripening varieties are more cold-resistant, they will easily endure frost up to -4 ° С. Late varieties - more thermophilic.

Essential oils in seeds inhibit the process of spitting and germination. Reducing their concentration before sowing dill in open ground, will significantly reduce the time of germination. For this you need:

make a cloth bag and fill it with seeds;
immerse in hot water (60 ° С) for two minutes. Heat treatment disinfects planting material from possible infection;
leave seeds for three days in water (water needs to be changed 3-5 times a day, with seed washing);
remove the seeds, spread out for half an hour in the air. After that, they are ready for landing.

Did you know? The use of a compressor for the aquarium and aeration of soaked dill seeds will help three times to reduce the period of their preparation for planting.

When and how to plant dill

Dill sown in any season (while receiving the harvest). It all depends on weather conditions and temperature.

To properly sow dill, you need:

on a flat surface of the prepared area, make the grooves 2 cm deep. For convenience, you can use a long board (the distance between the two grooves should be at least 20 cm);
having moistened the soil well, sow the prepared seeds. Dill seeds are usually sown at the rate of no more than 1 g per square meter (so that the plants do not drown out each other);
sprinkle with soil and slightly compacted (for good contact of seeds with the ground). The first two days of the planted seeds do not need to be watered - water can wash them away, deepen their occurrence;

A clear answer when you can plant dill in open ground, no. The first spring disembarkation is often carried out after the disappearance of snow, and in the fall - at the beginning of November and later.

Did you know? The healing properties of dill are actively used in cosmetology. Dill is a part of various cosmetics. You can get rid of bags under the eyes with the help of dill infusions (herbs and seeds). Frozen dill water whitens and refreshes the skin.

When to plant dill in the spring

Dill sowing time in spring depends entirely on weather conditions - if the spring is warm and early, then the dates will be earlier. Experienced gardeners recommend sowing after April 20.

After germination of the seedlings, they should be thinned so that there is no thickening (the distance between the shoots should remain from 5 to 10 cm).

Important! Dill reproduces perfectly by self-sowing - you need not to miss the moment, otherwise the whole garden next year will be planted with dill. Experienced gardeners advise: to avoid spontaneous sowing with dill, ripen baskets with gauze.

Planting dill in summer

Summer landing has certain features. This is an opportunity to get fresh greens every day (it is enough to sow a new portion of seeds every 10-15 days). Another feature is that in the summer the garden beds are all distributed, occupied by other plants. There are questions whether it is possible to plant dill and parsley, dill and other vegetables together. Dill does not get along with some plants, for example, with fennel, beans. With others (cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, celery) - is friendly, protects with its oils from pests (aphid, caterpillars), improves their taste, increases the fruiting period. Instead, dill uses the fertile soil of its neighbors.

How to sow dill before winter

Certainly popular planting dill in the fall. The purpose of the autumn planting is to obtain the earliest possible harvest of greenery in spring. Autumn planting should take into account that:

seeds need to be laid 1-1.5 cm deeper than in spring;
seed rate increased by 25%;
the plot is covered with mulch for the winter;
To decide when to sow dill in the fall, you need to remember that you need to complete sowing before the start of frost and freezing of the soil.

Important! If the dill soil is not moist enough, it can accelerate the "transition" of dill in the stem and flowers.

Winter is also the time when you can sow dill. To do this, prepare a place in the garden (for example, remove the snow). Dill seeds are scattered on the cleared area (no preliminary seed preparation is necessary). Humus mixed with the soil is put on top of the seeds and covered with snow (as the snow melts, the seeds will gradually begin to germinate). In case of severe frosts, the area can be covered with a film.

Planting dill in the winter and winter allows you to win one or two weeks in obtaining the first crop of greens.

Features care for dill, how to get a rich harvest

Dill, planted in open ground, requires more attention to itself than growing in a greenhouse. One should remember the preferences of dill (sunlight, light neutral soils and moisture) and adhere to several rules:

feed (if necessary);
watering (not abundant, but regularly);
loosen the beds;
time to weed and thin out (this is especially true in case of dill planting with a solid carpet);
Do not plant near "unfriendly" plants - cumin, fennel, etc.

Harvesting and storage

For daily use, dill is best picked at a young age, when the height of the stems is 17-25 cm. This happens about 30-40 days after planting. With the beginning of flowering taste data greens deteriorate.

Dill is collected by different methods:

pulling out along with the root of the whole plant;
breaking leaves from the stems;
thinning with carpet sowing. More tall plants are selected, the rest remain for rearing;
harvesting raw materials (stalks, umbrellas) for canning - at the beginning of the wax ripeness phase (50-70 days after emergence).

Surplus dill can be saved for future use:

freezing (rinse, remove water, cut, put into tare and freeze. Making dill cubes - a slurry of finely chopped dill and boiled water; fill in small dough cubes. Afterwards it is good to use them in cooking first courses and cosmetic purposes);
salting (wash the dill, dry it with a napkin, cut and lay layers with salt in a jar and close. Store in a cool place. There are a lot of minuses: salt absorbs juice, dill loses flavor and some properties. But it makes it possible to stock dill without a freezer);
vacuum (use of special vacuum packaging);
marinating (pour dill sprigs with marinade - 0.5 l of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar 6% and 1 tablespoon of table salt. Sterilize for 10 minutes in a water bath and roll up).
natural drying (dry under a canopy with good ventilation. Can be dried in a room, finely cut and spread out on a sheet, stirring occasionally. Store in glass jars with an airtight lid, paper bags).

Of all the ways of harvesting dill for the winter, the most "gentle", in which the aroma and most of the useful substances and properties remain, is natural drying. Drying dill in the oven completely kills all the beneficial properties and flavor of the plant.