Growing dill on a windowsill in an apartment all year round

Today, on the windowsill you can find not only indoor plants, but also other types of herbs and herbs (the same parsley, green onions), as well as vegetables (cucumbers, tomato) and even berry bushes (strawberries). It is especially important to have a home garden in winter: when it is still snowing outside, and, for example, fresh fragrant dill grows on the window. This is not to say that growing dill at home is very easy. However, if you can create the necessary conditions, then you will definitely get a harvest, albeit not as plentiful as in the open field.

Features of growing dill on a windowsill

For the successful cultivation of dill in an apartment, you need to know the characteristics of the plant and take into account certain rules. This will require:

• good seeds;
• suitable planting containers and the necessary substrate;
• choose the optimal place for growing and create all conditions (light and temperature);
• additional lighting (mandatory in winter);
• perform unpretentious care - watering;

Even a novice gardener can grow dill, but if in the open field the culture almost does not require special attention to itself and grows well after sowing, then at home you will have to try a little to get a bunch of fresh fragrant dill as a result.

What varieties of dill are suitable for growing on a windowsill

There is a misconception that the best option for growing dill at home is only its early varieties.

If you need to quickly get greens, you need to choose purely early varieties (Gribovsky, Grenadier, Aurora, Dalny). However, these varieties are more demanding on the conditions of their maintenance in the future. With a lack of light and sharp temperature changes, the greens of early varieties stretch and acquire a light green tint, which negatively affects the quality of the grown dill.

In the case of growing medium (Richelieu, Lesnogorodsky, Abundant-leaved, Bushy) and late varieties (Kibray, Salute, Dill, Alligator) the cut of the first harvest, although it lags 10-20 days behind the early varieties, but at the same time the dill is distinguished by more lush bushes that better withstand home conditions.

Attention! There is no special variety of dill for home cultivation, so everyone must determine for himself (experimentally) which variety suits him best and turns out on the window.

Sowing dill at home - step-by-step instructions

To grow dill in an apartment, on the windowsill, you need to choose the right containers for growing, a suitable substrate, prepare (soak) the seeds and sow correctly.

Growing container

In order for dill to grow and develop fully at home, preference should be given to sufficiently voluminous and deep pots. The depth of the container should be at least 15-20 cm, which will ensure the normal development of the root system of the plant, which is long and pivotal in dill.

Worth knowing! In fact, the height of the dill bushes corresponds to the length of the root trunk, i.e. the lower the capacity you have, the healthier the dill will be. Therefore, the deeper the container, the better it will grow.

There should be drainage holes in the bottom of the pot, through which excess moisture will escape, which will help to avoid stagnant water. It is also recommended to pour a layer of drainage (expanded clay) about 2-3 cm on the bottom of the container.

Suitable soil

Growing dill, like any other greenery, requires a nutritious substrate. The simplest solution may be to purchase a universal soil for growing seedlings in a specialized store, while it must be neutral in acidity.

But you can make a nutritious potting mix yourself. This requires the following components: garden soil, peat, humus and sand.

Note! Any soil, even purchased one, is recommended to be disinfected in advance (the day before sowing), for example, by roasting in the oven or steaming in a double boiler, so that all pathogenic organisms and fungi die under the influence of high temperatures. Either (or you can do both) spill it with a pink solution of potassium permanganate or Fitosporin.

Presowing seed preparation

Dill seeds are high in essential oils, so they take much longer to germinate compared to other plants. To speed up this process, it is worth pre-soaking the seeds for 1-3 days, while not forgetting to change the water several times a day (3-4 times a day).

But you don't have to.Many sow successfully with dry seeds and get normal shoots, albeit a little later.

Direct sowing

Step-by-step instructions for sowing dill for further cultivation on the windowsill:

• Fill the prepared planting containers with a substrate and level the surface.

Important! Never fill the pots with soil to the top, always leave a minimum of 3 cm to the edge of the container.

• Spill the soil abundantly with settled water and wait until all the moisture is absorbed.
• Spread the seeds over the surface of the soil or make shallow rows (1-1.5 cm deep).

• Sprinkle the seeds with a thin layer of 1 cm soil.
• Moisten the top layer of the substrate liberally with a spray bottle.
• For successful germination of seeds, high air humidity is required, therefore, after sowing, the planting containers should be covered with glass or film, creating a kind of greenhouse effect.
• Place the pots in a dark and warm place with an air temperature of at least +20 degrees, or even better about +25 degrees.

Attention! Condensation will collect on the lid of the container, therefore it is recommended to ventilate and remove the accumulated moisture once a day with a paper napkin, otherwise it can cause the development of mold and fungal diseases

• Already when the first shoots appear, it will be necessary to remove the shelter and move the container to the windowsill (or under the phytolamps), and also lower the temperature of the content to + 18-22 degrees. If possible, the night temperature should be within +15 .. + 18 degrees, which will prevent the seedlings from pulling out.

However!After the emergence of friendly shoots, many recommend not immediately removing the shelter (greenhouse), but starting to gradually adapt to the environment. To do this, on the first day, the containers are opened for 30 minutes, with each subsequent day increasing the interval by 2 times. After a week and a half, the container with seedlings can already be fully opened.

Video: how to grow dill at home - an easy way

How to care for dill onwindowsill

In order to ultimately achieve a harvest of dill on the windowsill, it is necessary not only to properly plant, but also to create the most suitable conditions for the growth of greenery, as well as adhere to certain care rules.

Choosing a place and conditions of detention: lighting and temperature

It is recommended to place the planting container with dill on the southern or western or eastern window, i.e. where there is maximum light. This is if you are sowing in late spring or summer, when daylight hours are already long enough.

If you want your greenery to actively grow and develop in late autumn, winter or early spring, then you will definitely need additional lighting with phyto-lamps or full-spectrum LED lamps in the morning and / or evening, as well as on cloudy days.

Dill loves fresh airso it follows put in drafts (but not frosty). In general, some plants need for proper strong formation, so that they "flutter", so in greenhouses dill grows rather frail.

Important! It is recommended to regularly turn containers with dill in different directions in relation to the window, as the greenery tilts towards the light over time.

The duration of daylight hours should be at least 12 hours, and preferably 14-16 hours.

Important! If at first friendly shoots appear, then with a lack of light they will stop growing, and some will even begin to die. Lack of lighting during the period of active growth will negatively affect the dill stems, which will stretch.

An important factor is the creation of the correct temperature regime for the content. Dill loves light, but does not really like heat. A favorable temperature for growing dill on the window is + 18-22 degrees. At night time, finally, a slight decrease in temperature to +15-18 degrees, but without very sharp changes.

Note! At an elevated temperature of the content, the daylight hours should accordingly increase, otherwise the dill will stretch strongly or not grow at all.

It is with this problem that you will surely face in winter, when the central heating batteries work. Therefore, you cannot do without additional lighting.

Thinning

If the seeds have shown high germination and have sprung up too densely, they should be thinned almost immediately so that the distance between the plants is at least 2-3 cm, while leaving stronger and healthier shoots. Otherwise, they will begin to interfere with each other, shade, they will lack light, and they will stretch up.

Watering, loosening and feeding

Watering greens is carried out regularly when the top layer of the soil dries up, while overflowing and overdrying the soil should be avoided.

INIn conditions of low air humidity (in winter, when the house is warm and dry), it is necessary to regularly spray the foliage from a spray bottle.

For irrigation, you should use settled, filtered or rainwater at room temperature.

For air access to the roots, it is necessary to loosen the soil at least once a week, which will help accelerate the growth and development of greenery.

An important factor in the full growth of dill is feeding. Naturally, first of all, he needs nitrogen, which is best applied initially, even during the preparation of the substrate, or choose a soil with its high content.

Video: how to grow dill at home in winter

The timing of emergence and harvest of homemade dill

Dill seeds are distinguished by long germination, so you need to be patient, since the first shoots will appear no earlier than 10-14 days after sowing.

And the first dill harvest can be carried out 1-1.5 months after germination (depending on the variety - early or late).

Observing all the recommendations, you can grow dill in an apartment, on a windowsill, but you should not really hope for high yields. Still, fresh and fragrant greens grown by oneself are very pleasant.

Video: how to grow dill on a windowsill