5 reasons why dill does not grow in the garden

Dill is one of the most common herbs growing in summer cottages. Salads and soups cannot do without dill, it is dried and salted, put in marinades. Like all spicy plants with a high content of essential oil, it releases phytoncides, which means that during the conservation process, it not only adds flavor, but also prevents the appearance of bacteria. It contains a lot of vitamins and is widely used in folk medicine. It is not difficult to grow dill, it is frost-hardy and rather unpretentious to care for. So why isn't dill growing? We will talk about the problems that have arisen in this article.

Why does dill grow poorly?

Dill is rarely given due attention, more often it is planted with other crops, sowing where it works. And they do not take into account that he is quite capricious, and can only get along on the same bed with cabbage (albeit with all its types). Taking into account the crop rotation, it can be planted after cucumbers, all types of cabbage, beans, peas, beans and after potatoes. But that's not all. There are five main reasons for the poor growth of dill.

The soil

Yes, dill is not capricious, but nevertheless it is a garden crop, and if you are counting on a harvest, then you need to take care of the fertility of the land (on acidic soil, either there will be no harvest at all, or it will be very frail). Plant it in a place prepared in advance, do not forget that young dill loves moisture. After watering, be sure to loosen the ground, avoiding the formation of a crust on the surface. If this is not done, then the plant may bloom too early, the seeds in this case will turn out to be bad, and they cannot be used for planting next year.

Lighting

To grow normally dill, like any plant, needs a lot of light. In shaded areas, it will stretch, the stem will become thin, the leaves will turn yellow, the plant will not have the desired juiciness. Experienced gardeners say that dill needs about 15 hours of light a day, which means that one of the brightest places in the garden should be chosen for it.

Seed quality and variety selection. It often happens that seeds bought in a store germinate very poorly (and this applies not only to dill). Therefore, for planting it is better to use last year's seeds from your garden, you will not find more reliable planting material. Put the collected seeds in a paper bag (after making sure they are dry well), sign the harvest year and store in a dry place at room temperature. Some gardeners also advise buying dill seeds in pharmacies, claiming that they are of much better quality there and germinate well. Be sure to pay attention to the ripening time of the variety. Early maturing varieties are sown as soon as the frost passes, they will stretch out and bloom by the middle of summer - you will have dill umbrellas for conservation. And the late ones must be sown at the beginning of summer, they will not have time to bloom, and all summer they will provide you with juicy greens.

Why dill does not grow: planting errors

There are several obvious mistakes that inexperienced gardeners often make, once again hoping that dill is unpretentious, which means "it will do just that." Never plant seeds in dry ground, in this case, seedlings can wait a very long time. The seeds will wait for the rains and only then after a while they will sprout. And if sprouted seeds are planted in dry soil, they will simply die. And if you sprout seeds, plant them very carefully, do not throw them, but carefully lower them into damp ground, otherwise there is a risk of breaking the sprouts.Do not deepen the seeds more than 2-3 cm, deeper planting will increase germination time. And don't plant all the seeds at once, sow several times at intervals of a couple of weeks. This will provide yourself with young greenery for the whole summer.

Improper care

It would seem that everything is fine, the dill has risen and is growing, but problems continue to arise from time to time. For example, the leaves suddenly turned red. This happens if you overdid it with fertilizers: lime, phosphorus and ash dill are categorically contraindicated. In the case of dill with fertilizers, you need to be very careful. Do not use urea, as well as calcium and magnesium nitrate, in this case it begins to accumulate nitrates, and we do not need this at all. To protect dill from pests and diseases, plant several marigold bushes on the garden bed, with their strong aroma they will scare away harmful insects, and thanks to phytoncides they will disinfect the soil and save dill from various types of rot. Observe the watering regime. Dill loves water, but if you overdo it, it can start to rot at the base. Initially, plant the dill in a zigzag rather than straight lines. After thinning, the plants do not fall and recover faster with this planting scheme.

Why dill does not grow: how to influence the germination and growth of dill

What can be done at the very beginning to accelerate seed germination? Often the seeds of various crops are soaked before planting, they swell and seedlings appear much faster. Dill is no exception. The seeds of all plants with a high content of essential oil germinate for a very long time. Some gardeners recommend rinsing dill seeds in hot water, others advise soaking them in water at room temperature, but for a couple of weeks before they begin to germinate. And since we have already said that you need to sow dill in several passes, you can try both methods and find out empirically which one is more effective and most effective for you. As you can see, we did not discover America, it is possible that you already knew all these rules. But it is important not only to know the rules, but also to actively apply them in practice. And believe me, if you follow these rules, then your efforts will definitely be rewarded with an excellent harvest.