Need Help Growing Dill?

brenda newton
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February 22, 20050 found this helpful

Dill, in my garden, is grown in full sun. Sprinkle the seed on the top of the ground, lightly rake over the area, water and voila...dill. I also let mine self-seed just like Donna Marie does.

If grown in a pot they will also need a "deep" pot as they are taproot plants (around 8 -10 inches).

What most folk don't tell you is that dill thrives in sweet soil, not acid. You know, all that Ph stuff. Well I don't know from PH levels, but I DO know that I tried to grow dill for years and then a neighbor suggested digging in some garden lime (about 2 cups in a small area) to sweeten the soil. Voila! I had a good crop of dill and I saved the seeds so I expect to have an equally good crop this year after I dig in some more garden lime (Dolomite). Good luck!

Donna Marie

February 22, 20050 found this helpful

I grow lots of dill each year. All I do is take it and throw the seed all over my garden.j It does need water to germinate, and likes it fairly moist, but it is quite easily grown.

Donna Marie

Is there a chance you are giving it too much attention? The dill and fennel both grow like weeds in my backyard, and I do abaolustely nothing to them except occasionally harvest stems or seeds.

wanda

February 25, 20050 found this helpful

I love dill all i do is use a big flower pot dump in the seeds you will have dill until Sept you will get lots of seeds/ stems. you can make great pickles with this or just dry the dill out have fun i did.

I've had the same trouble. Sounds like direct seeding is the way to go. Lots of water seems to be good too. I've only bought transplants, so I'm trying seed next.

I have dill growing in a flower pot that I keep outside on my back porch. It has been growing for about 5 weeks now and it is only about 2" high. My question is...can I use it now for cooking or do I need to wait to harvest it?

Dill needs medium to full sun from what I know. It grows to about 3 feet tall and are pretty thin and stalky (in pots they usually need staking.)
They like a lot of water but still like well draining soil so put small rocks in in the bottom of your pots or mix them into your garden. Harvest them when they get a big head on top (kind of like queen annes lace but green) before the seeds open.

I'd bet you have slugs. Try again with some slug bait around the transplant; be sure to apply the bait before the first night and reapply the bait frequently while the plants are young. Slugs will completely devour young dill and cilantro transplants!

I started dill from seed in the house and transplanted the plants into my garden, probably about 6 weeks ago. (I live in Texas.) The dill is doing GREAT, despite very weird weather. I had to cover my plants during an Easter snow! The plants are about 8 inches tall now.

We have a mostly clay soil and have had a ton of rain lately which flooded my garden twice. The dill is still thriving! So I would recommend starting them from seed inside and then put the containers outside for at least a few days before planting them in your garden. This gets the plants used to the outdoor climate.

Make sure you aren't wiggling the taproot when you plant dill plants purchased from a store. Resist the temptation to loosen up the roots! Also, dill is short lived, and generally bolts when it gets hot. I give mine some shade in the heat, to keep its dirt cool.

Hi,
My dill in a pot is growing tall, i take off the flowery tops, but I am getting alot of brownish yellow shoots, what am I doing wrong?

I cannot grow dill in my Nanaimo, b.c., canada garden. The seed sprouts and grows an inch or two and stops or grows a foot or two and turns yellow and dies before seed matures. I've tried different parts of the garden and even sterilized soil [slightly better results] but I never get anything worthwhile.

I'm in north west NJ, It is my first attempt at growing dill. Everyones advice would be even more helpful if you would tell us what part of the country you are in when having success or failures with your gardening. Thanks for the feedback, it has been helpful. Sonia

I haven't actually planted Dill in Years, it comes up on it's own by reseeding itself. Black swallowtail catapillars/butterflies love the stuff. oh BTW, it loves full sun and needs very little watering. I get so many that I have to thin it out.

Greetings troubled dill growers:) I have dill growing near 5 and a half feet tall as I type. My advice is to work on the soil you are planting it in. (I live in Ontario and my soil boarders on the sandy type) The soil is the medium for growing, but I use a lot of compost, including red leaves, and MINERALS! Rock dust is the most over-looked addition to any garden or flower bed.

Feeding the soil with minerals will create results that professionals would be amazed at. If you want healthy plants you need healthy soil. If you have followed all the advice on the subject with poor results, chances are your soil needs work.