Experienced gardeners can help novice gardeners grow fresh, aromatic dill. They know where to plant a bed, what to fill it with, and how to sow the seeds correctly to prevent the umbels from blooming. The plant's leaves are rich in nutrients, and their aroma is appetizing, making them prized and loved, adding them to salads and okroshka. Finely chopped dill is delicious in a light vegetable soup or a hearty borscht.
How to sow dill so that it doesn't flower for a long time
You can try a simple method used by many gardeners. In April, prepare a small bed. Fill it with humus. Make shallow furrows across the bed, no more than 1 cm deep.
Purchase a package of ready-made potting soil in advance. Spread it in a thin layer into prepared furrows. Scatter the seeds on top. Sow them very thickly, cover them lightly with soil (2-3 mm), and water thoroughly. This completes the sowing. Water the bed daily until green panicles appear. If you sow too thickly, the plants will not form umbels for a longer time.
You may be interested in:Not everyone succeeds in growing lush greens. It's a paradox, but some gardeners don't know what to do with their sturdy dill stems—it grows all over the garden like a weed. Others make beds for it every spring and sow them, but their resulting plants are stunted and bluish, making them hard to pick.
If you know a few secrets, growing juicy dill is not difficult:
- choose a sunny place;
- dig up, add humus or mature compost – 5-10 kg/m²;
- scatter dry seeds over the surface, do not cover with soil;
- water generously, cover with a piece of spunbond.
Don't remove the covering material until the seedlings emerge. To speed up their emergence, you can water the bed every evening. Pick the greens for food as they grow. When a young umbel emerges, break off the top of the plant above the upper axil. This will temporarily delay aging. Soon, new greens will emerge from the axil, which can be used for food.
Choosing the right variety
Dill grows quickly. The greens are usually ready for harvesting 40 days after germination. There are bush varieties, which take about 10 days longer from germination to harvest. They can remain in their original form for almost a month. This is very convenient if the crop is grown for its greens.
A cultivar with the unique name "Alligator" deserves attention. Initially, it forms a lush, raised rosette consisting of numerous leaflets. The flower stalk on which the umbel develops is absent.
Bush dill is not pulled out by the roots. Five to six leaves, reaching 20 cm in length, are plucked from each plant. The shorter leaves growing from the center are left. A single bush yields a decent bunch of soft, aromatic greens. After just 7 to 10 days, the dill is ready to be harvested again.
You may be interested in:The methods for growing aromatic herbs are not complicated. They are easy to apply. The timing of the harvest depends on the sowing time. For early greens, dill is sown before winter or immediately after the snow melts.
How to grow dill on a windowsill in an apartment?