It is convenient if at the right time there is fragrant dill greens on hand - dishes with such an additive will be tastier and more aromatic. Why do inexperienced gardeners often have a problem - dill does not grow on the windowsill?
After all, this is an unpretentious plant that grows well in the garden, you only need to sow it in a box with the ground and, if necessary, water the seedlings. But often, instead of dense thickets of fragrant greens, pale and thin blades appear in the pot, completely without aroma. What is the reason, how to grow this culture on the windowsill to get the same greens as on the market?
The first step is choosing the right variety
Most often, for the cultivation of dill in the apartment, an early variety of dill Gribovsky is chosen. It is resistant to temperature extremes, is not demanding to care for, it resists diseases well and gives a good harvest.
Also, such varieties are well suited for this:
• Early Grenadier;
• Medium Richelieu with fragrant leaves that have a bluish tint;
• Late Qibray, with broad large leaves.
They grow houses and southern varieties, very demanding plants with a spicy aroma. There are no special varieties for the windowsill, so when choosing mainly pay attention to the ripening period of dill. It is impossible to make a mistake here - an early variety will quickly give a little greenery, but it will immediately throw out flower stalks and grow a much smaller crop than a late variety. At the same time, the late variety in the garden may not have time to ripen, but it grows well on the windowsill. He will grow thick bushes, which will additionally throw new shoots from the sinuses.
How to grow dill at home
Dill on the bed grows well on almost any soil, but on the windowsill for it you need a pre-prepared soil mixture. In autumn, you need to stock up loose, nutritious soil from the garden, there must be a sufficient amount of humic acids in the soil mixture, for this you can add biohumus.
To plant dill, you need to choose a capacity of about 3 liters, so that dill has enough free space. A drainage layer of fine gravel or coarse sand is poured to the bottom, so you will prevent waterlogging of the soil during irrigation.
Due to the large amount of essential oil, dill seeds sprout for a long time and in order to eliminate this problem, they need to be soaked for 20 hours in warm water. It is advisable at this time to supply air to the glass with soaked seeds using a compressor from the aquarium. Instead, the seeds simply withstand 2 days in warm water, changing it every 6 hours. You need to plant those seeds that drown when soaked, those that swim are considered unfit.
Dill is sown directly on the soil surface, having moistened it beforehand; there is no need to make holes or grooves; they are sprinkled with a mixture of humus and peat on top of them with a layer thickness of 0.7-10 mm. For 10 cm2, it is enough to sow - 0.3 g of seeds. Boxes with seeded dill are covered with plastic wrap and transferred to a place with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.
The leaves and stalks of dill do not grow again, only stepsons can grow in order to provide themselves with greenery, you need to sow a new portion of seeds every 3 weeks in your mini-garden.
Reasons - why dill may not grow on the windowsill
Lighting is very important for dill, this culture loves light very much. Boxes with seedlings should be placed on the lightest window sill, and in addition in winter, additionally illuminate plants by installing fluorescent lights no higher than 50 cm above the boxes with dill. It is enough to include them additionally in the morning for 5 hours, if the plants are located in the back of the room, then they need to be illuminated for 15 hours a day.
How to care for dill
For this crop, it is necessary to ensure regular watering, this is especially important during seed germination and during emergence. Once every 15 days it is tedious to feed plants with complex fertilizer. Indoors, you need to maintain a temperature of about 18 degrees, so the plants will develop better. Dill is able to withstand significant temperature drops, at 8 degrees Celsius it normally develops on a glazed balcony.
Note that when the temperature rises above 20 degrees, it is necessary to increase the duration of exposure of plants, otherwise they will stretch, become faded and lethargic. After the emergence of seedlings so that they do not stretch out, the first week, at night, it is necessary to lower the temperature in the room. You can open the window for a while, or you can move the drawers to a glazed balcony.
1. To grow fluffy dill, and it did not begin to stretch to one side, it is necessary from time to time to turn a little pot around the axis;
2. You need to water the dill bushes regularly, but little by little, its roots may begin to rot and the plant will die;
3. The key to a rich harvest, timely top dressing, this should be done 2 times a month.
The easiest way to get dill greens on the windowsill is from March to August, at which time it will have enough sunlight without additional lighting, only you need to provide fertile soil and regular watering. In the autumn-winter period, it will not be possible to get lush greenery without illumination, plants will start to reach and fall.
The green mass must be sprayed with water every day, this is especially true in a room with dry air and at high temperature. This operation will make it possible to get tasty, fragrant and juicy greens on the windowsill. If this is not done, dill bushes will grow in adverse conditions - in a warm room with a lack of light, the greens will grow pale, begin to stretch, and after a while the plants may die from exhaustion.
When the first seedlings appear, it is necessary at night to maintain the temperature in the room no higher than 18 degrees, so the shoots will become juicy and strong. After 1.5 months in such conditions, you can enjoy fresh herbs. Under the root, pruning the branches is not necessary, so they will not form, and lateral shoots will grow.
