How to plant dill at home in winter
Content:
Dill is an annual herb of the Umbrella family, found in the wild in the southwest and in central Asia, as a garden crop is widespread everywhere. Before planting dill at home, you should consider a number of features:
- the plant loves warmth and moisture;
- needs abundant lighting, which requires the installation of energy-consuming equipment in winter;
- develops poorly on acidic soils;
- fresh seeds grow slowly due to their high content of essential oils.
Greens sprouted at home
Varieties for growing on a windowsill
How to grow dill seeds at home? The timing and characteristics of harvesting depend on the variety.
Distinguish between early ripening, mid-ripening or late-ripening varieties:
- The early varieties of Gribovsky or Grenadier will provide quick production of greens or umbrellas with seeds indoors. Sowing will rise early, but the harvest will be poor (4-6 leaves), a short period of time will pass between the appearance of the first leaves and umbrellas.
- Mid-season varieties (Richelieu, Umbrella, Kibray) will grow a week later, but there will be more leaves (6-10 branches).
- Late-ripening bush dill (Amazon, Alligator, Dill, Buyan, Salute) gives the latest and richest harvest (more than 10 leaves).
At home, the last option for growing dill is more often used.
Growing dill on a windowsill
The best harvest is given by dill crops from spring to August, planting without illumination forms lush greenery with high soil fertility and a light windowsill. In autumn and winter, plants require more attention, and the costs of growing will increase due to the consumed electricity. Uniform illumination is achieved with aluminum foil or portable screens.
If the plants are leaning in a certain direction, the pots should be rotated 180 ° daily. Oblique stem growth reports uneven lighting. Simultaneously with turning the containers, adjust the lighting equipment in height and angle of inclination to the sowing.
Fortified plants are sprinkled with earth at 3-4 weeks of growth. The method improves productivity, makes the seedlings lush and juicy. The process of throwing out peduncles slows down.
Fertilizing greens with liquid fertilizing, you should treat the leaves with clean water, excluding burns of the processes and the penetration of chemical compounds into food.
The hydroponic plant will allow you to grow dill in a greenhouse, outdoors and indoors. Seedlings usually appear after 5 days.
How much dill grows in a pot
The average duration of dill germination after sowing is 7-12 days, the greens are ready for harvest by 6-8 weeks. Usually dill is consumed fresh, periodically picking off the side leaves to add to dishes. Old dill is cut from the top, stimulating growth and a bountiful harvest.
Growing dill in the winter at home
Effective cultivation of dill in an apartment in winter is possible while maintaining a temperature of 15-20 degrees (a room thermometer will help to control the indicators). If the temperature in the room is low, it is raised with a heater. Lighting will have to be artificially extended with a phytolamp, an incandescent lamp or daylight. With the onset of cold weather it gets dark earlier and brightens later, an additional light source should work 6 hours / day. It is advisable to turn off the lamps in winter 3 hours before dawn and 3 hours after sunset. Lamps are placed 50 cm from the plants, observing a gap of 1 m between the lamps.
Uneven germination of dill seeds in winter
Before the first shoots, the soil is moistened daily with a spray, preventing drying out. After waiting for green shoots, the soil is watered every 3-4 days. A high level of humidity in the house is also achieved by spraying the shoots every 2-4 days. Fertilize the soil with "Nitrofoskoy" or ammonia agents 2 times per winter. More frequent feeding makes no sense when using a special soil mixture with a high mineral content.
The grown dill is thinned out, leaving intervals of 5-10 cm between the shoots, the extracted greens are transplanted into additional pots. The rest of the care is reduced to loosening the soil and removing weeds. Harvest the crop completely by uprooting or cutting off the tops. In the latter case, the plant will successfully germinate again.
How to plant dill seeds at home
Seed preparation
For the rapid emergence of seedlings and active growth of healthy plants, you will need to pre-soak the seed for several hours in a warm, unlit place. To disinfect the culture, a solution of potassium permanganate, boric acid (one teaspoon of the chemical composition per glass of water is required), hydrogen peroxide.
Preparing dill seeds for planting
Sowing seeds
Dill is planted immediately in large tanks or seedlings are germinated with further transplantation (the first technology is suitable for novice gardeners). It is enough to stock up on cylindrical pots with a volume of 1 liter or long rectangular containers 10 cm high.
The bottom must be drained with pebbles or expanded clay. The soil is used purchased or mixed in equal parts sod soil with river sand. It is advisable to fertilize the soil with vermicompost or humus. Ready-made complexes of mineral fertilizers are also suitable.
To correctly plant dill seeds on a windowsill or balcony, step-by-step instructions from experts will help:
- Grooves are made in the soil at a distance of 5 cm, the depth of the grooves is 2 cm.
- Soaked and pickled seeds are placed in the grooves. It is recommended to sow not very densely; for a standard oblong pot, two parallel rows are enough. The soil is moistened with a sprinkler.
- There is no need to sprinkle the funnels with the sown seeds with soil and tamp.
- The pot is placed on a windowsill, covered with foil or polyethylene.
After 5-6 days, the first shoots will appear, then the film is removed, using a backlight, a controlled temperature regime.
Plant care rules
Shine
Adequate lighting is the key to growing green herbs at home; if there is not enough sunlight, the plants will take on a light green hue.
Dill seedlings on the balcony
Dill needs 6 hours of sunshine a day.
Temperature
Comfort mode for greenery - + 15 ... + 18 degrees. When the temperature in the room reaches more than +20 degrees, the illumination should be increased, otherwise the dill stalks will turn out to be elongated, sluggish and faded. After 7 days, as the first shoots sprout, it is advisable to lower the temperature in the room or to carry out crops at night on a glazed balcony.So the greens will not stretch.
Watering
In the summer, the sprouts need frequent watering, excluding the drying out of the soil. In winter, water evaporates more slowly, it will be necessary to moisten the earth less often (once every 3-4 days). It is recommended to water the crop with melt or rainwater. Tap water is defended for 24 hours to remove chlorine. Dill reacts negatively to bleach, which inhibits the reproduction of microorganisms in the soil, contributing to the assimilation of nutrients by herbaceous processes.
Spraying
Green twigs will be juicy and fleshy if they are sprayed with water daily. Irrigation water should be kept at room temperature. Otherwise, the herbaceous culture will turn yellow.
Fertilizers
Fertilizer Agrolife will be an ideal top dressing for dill grown on poor-quality soil. The solution is added to the soil, 1 teaspoon per month. Alternative option - Vermicompost (2-3 tablespoons of powder will be enough for a month).
Thinning
Dense seedlings slow down the growth of the crop. The optimal distance between plants is two centimeters.
Harvesting
Harvesting is carried out 3-4 weeks after planting the dill. With incomplete cutting of the shoots, pinching off the lateral shoots, the greens will continue to grow, develop and delight with a new harvest.
In addition to the ground part, dill roots are used for cooking. Plants that have thrown out the peduncle are recommended to be kept on the windowsill for a week. Then the roots are dug up, washed with running water and dried. Dry roots retain their beneficial properties throughout the year; they are used whole or crushed for cooking.
Dill root
Ease of care and unpretentiousness of dill, the ability to harvest within 2-3 weeks after germination allows you to enjoy the freshness of the herb, along with parsley and other spices, all year round. Housewives choose the sowing period on their own, taking into account the timing of seed ripening. For example, for harvesting in February, dill is recommended to be planted in January or December.
