Dill
Where should you grow dill?
Dill thrives in most locations. However, it is a great advantage if the soil is nutrient-rich, loose and well-drained. As dill is sensitive to both dehydration and moisture, you should avoid heavy clay soils and excessively sandy and easily dried soil.
You can grow dill in pots, window boxes, pallet collars or directly outdoors. If you grow dill outdoors or in a pallet collar, you should rotate the location of the dill at least every 5 years to avoid the development of certain fungal diseases in the soil. Also avoid growing together with carrot, parsley and fennel.
Sowing dill
If you grow indoors, or have access to a greenhouse or glazed balcony, you can start sowing your dill as early as February. Direct sowing in the open air or in pallet collars takes place in spring. You can then sow dill in batches throughout the summer to ensure a steady harvest.
The seeds should be sown shallowly, about one centimetre. They can be sown in rows or in groups, which then form clumps. We prefer to sow in groups – as this makes it easier to distinguish the clumps from the weeds when the plants are small. Sprinkle 10-15 seeds in each group, about 20 centimetres apart to the next group. Don’t press the seeds, just sprinkle them with soil to cover them.
Then make sure to keep the soil moist, but watch out for drowning the seeds. We have had to resow the dill a couple of years when heavy spring rains washed the seeds away before they had time to germinate. The risk of this is reduced if the soil is well-drained.
Once the plants have grown up a little, they benefit from a little grass clippings. It helps to keep the moisture in place and to keep the soil moist.
Pre-cultivate dill?
Yes, you can actually pre-cultivate dill. It’s a bit tricky, but it’s fine if you sow groups in pots during the spring-winter. In the same way as above, scatter the seeds in a pot and cover with a thin layer of soil. Then you’ll have ready-made clumps to put out when spring comes. Be very careful when planting them out. It is not absolutely necessary to pre-plant dill, but it can improve your chances of a good harvest.
Harvesting dill
Start harvesting when the dill is about 20 centimetres tall. Harvest the leaves and stems during the summer by cutting them off. You can harvest the seeds when the flower heads turn brown.
Using dill
There are few things as summery as fresh dill. We usually chop up the leaves and stems and add them to a summery salad. Or, by all means, use dill with new potatoes or fish – it’s a classic for a reason.
Dill seeds are widely used in Indian cuisine. Make a palak paneer in the darkness of winter and remind yourself of the summer gone by. The seeds are also a classic ingredient in pickles with herring and cucumber.
Author: Johanna Damm
Fact-checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2022-10-14