Each of us is familiar with this incredibly useful plant, which contains a huge amount of vitamins and is used by us during cooking. Dill bush "alligator" is the decoration of any table throughout the season. If you wisely approach its cultivation, it will give you greens all summer and autumn.
Varieties of dill
There are a variety of varieties of dill. All of them differ in the shape of the outlet, leaf, color, height of the bush, as well as in terms of maturation. Not all varieties manage to fully mature in the beds. It depends on the region. "Alligator" refers to late-ripening varieties. Such plants have very close internodes on the stems, making them resemble bushes. Very often they are called bush. Such varieties are more moody in the care. But they are pleased with a large amount of greenery, which is enough not only in the summer, but you can still make blanks for the winter.
Shrub varieties are sometimes impressive in size, and therefore sowing seeds is at a decent distance. Such plants are very demanding on the climate. Very often they are planted in greenhouses. In central Russia, flower stalks can be cut. Since full seeds can not ripen, but at the same time the plant loses a lot of strength.
Preparation for landing
It would seem that it could be easier than growing dill “alligator” in the country? Reviews of gardeners suggest that even with such an unpretentious culture, problems arise. Therefore, its cultivation must be approached wisely.
First, you need to prepare the seeds of dill "alligator". According to experts, because of the high content of essential oils, they must be processed before planting. Enveloping the seeds, they surround them with an elastic protective film, and it is it that does not allow them to germinate quickly.
Violate this natural protection of the seed can be done by sparging. To do this, the seeds are placed in water at room temperature and include an aquarium compressor. Air bubbles gently remove the oil shell, but at the same time completely do not damage the seeds. The duration of this procedure is 19-20 hours. After its completion, dill must be urgently sown, because some grains could already hatch. If you do not use such a preliminary preparation, sometimes you have to wait long enough for seedlings.
The difficult process of bubbling can be replaced by soaking for two to three days, changing the water to fresh every six hours.
Sowing dates
There are several options when planting dill. It is sown in open ground in late autumn or spring. Dill "alligator" (reviews - confirmation of this) - a cold-resistant plant. It can tolerate frosts up to –6 degrees. Due to this property, its seeds can be planted in the soil in October or November.
If for some reason you forgot to sow dill “alligator” in the fall, it does not matter, with the advent of spring you can start planting. As soon as the earth dries out a little, you need to start sowing.
It is worth noting that dill multiplies well by self-sowing. If in the summer and autumn you did not cut off all the umbrellas, then most likely next year your whole garden will be dotted with fragrant greens.
Planting dill
Once the seed is ready, you can proceed to the next step. But here another question arises: when to plant dill in open ground? The plant is able to germinate at a temperature of +3 degrees, so you can sow it immediately after the snow cover has disappeared. Later on on cold days it will be possible to cover the plantings if you want to get the greens early. To avoid hassle, you can wait until the first steady heat and then start landing.
Before sowing, you can fertilize the soil, but it is preferable to do this in advance. It will be more correct to prepare the bed since the fall. To do this, dig the soil and add humus (per bucket per square meter). Then in the spring you will only need to form grooves at a distance of twenty centimeters from each other with a depth of not more than three centimeters, leave the seeds and cover them with earth above. As a rule, the soil in the spring is quite moist, but if you think that it is too dry, you can water the crops a little before the first seedlings appear.
Reusable culture
Planting dill during the summer can be made more than once. This is the uniqueness of culture. You can sow dill every 20-25 days (such are the ripening dates), so that you always have fresh herbs on hand. If you want to get new seeds, you have to wait for umbrellas on several plants. In general, planting and caring for the crop are not difficult, so even a beginner gardener will cope with the task.
Dill Care
Dill "alligator" (reviews - confirmation of this) does not need serious care. Like any plant, it must be watered regularly. In addition, sometimes you can feed potassium-phosphorus or nitrogen fertilizers. Such measures are necessary only if the branches are yellowed.
However, do not forget that any greens perfectly incorporates all the chemicals, so you should not add too many and often. Dill grows well on fertile soil. All care for it comes down to watering and weeding the weeds. Getting a lot of greens is one of the benefits of the alligator variety (dill). How to cut 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 to keep the plant growing further. You can also cut and flower stalk, if dill is not grown in the south. It is impossible to get good seeds in the middle lane, so it makes no sense to deplete the plants. Mistresses use peduncles for harvesting for the winter.
Dill Disease
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 coating, which affects the stems and foliage. Most often, the disease affects plants in late summer, when nights become colder. Affected branches are no longer suitable for food.
In addition, dill can suffer from phomosis. Fungal disease is manifested by blackening on leaves, stems and seeds. Moreover, it does not matter where the plant grows: on the street, on the windowsill or in the greenhouse. As you understand, it is impossible to process dill with chemicals, so you will have to limit yourself solely to preventive measures. These include the alternation of crops grown, the timely destruction of weeds. In addition, do not neglect such a measure as disinfection of seeds before planting. To do this, they are heated in sufficiently hot water (temperature 50 degrees) for half an hour.
Reviews about the variety "alligator"
Experienced gardeners highly recommend such a crop for cultivation as dill "alligator". Reviews about it are the best recommendations for beginner summer residents. Especially the culture is good for the southern regions. Unlike early varieties, the “alligator” gives a lot of juicy and fragrant greens. Having planted such a plant on the site, you can prepare the spice for the future, so that you can use summer gifts in the cold.
What is good alligator dill? Growing from seed culture is no different from other varieties. But as a result, you get powerful green bushes, the greens of which will always be useful for preparing fragrant dishes and preparations for the winter.
Dill on the windowsill: growing
It is convenient when fresh greens are always at hand. The dishes prepared with it will be delicious and aromatic. Very often, housewives try to grow dill on the windowsill. Cultivation of culture as a whole is 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 species. Early varieties will allow you to quickly get greens, however, it is not very lush and juicy, and the plant quickly goes into the growth of a peduncle. But later varieties can please lush green branches.
For growing crops at home, you should choose a good soil. To do this, you can take garden soil and mix it with neutral soil for indoor plants. You should also choose a suitable box, the dimensions of which will allow the dill to develop normally. A drainage layer should be placed at the bottom of the pot.
Seeds can be sown directly on the topsoil, without making indentations and grooves, sprinkled with soil on top. Next, slightly moisten the ground and send the box to a dark, warm place. In a couple of weeks, it can be moved to the windowsill.
Conditions for growing on the windowsill
It is worth knowing that for home growing dill it is very important to provide plants with good lighting. Dill is an incredibly photophilous culture that can be grown on the windowsill at any time of the year. But her care will depend on the time of year. In winter, plants will need artificial lighting due to the small amount of sunlight. For illumination, you can use fluorescent lamps by placing them on the windowsill. Five hours of 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 plants, the optimum temperature would be +18 degrees. At higher temperatures, it is worthwhile to increase the time of illumination, otherwise the bushes may simply stretch up and be dull and sluggish.
Before planting, it is recommended that the seeds be kept in a potassium permanganate solution. The first greens will be available in 4-5 weeks. You need to cut only the lateral branches, which will actively grow at first. It must be remembered that dill is a moisture-loving plant, and therefore it must be regularly watered, especially in the spring-summer period. But transfusion of the plant is not recommended. This can adversely affect its development and earlier death of bushes.
If planted in good soil, the plants do not need additional fertilizing. They are quite enough trace elements that are originally in the ground. The vegetative development time of dill is small, so you should not count on a long harvest. It makes sense to do new crops to get a fresh crop.
Instead of an afterword
Which summer resident did not try his hand at growing dill? This oldest medicinal crop is one of the most affordable seasonings that we widely use in cooking. Knowing the basics of crop care and planting, you can get a harvest of odorous greens even on the kitchen window.