Dill "alligator": reviews, planting time, peculiarities of cultivation

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 an ornament of any table during the whole season. If you wisely come to its cultivation, then 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 shape of rosette, leaf, color, height of the bush, and also in terms of maturation. Not all varieties have time to fully ripen in the beds. It depends on the region. "Alligator" refers to late-ripening varieties. Such plants have closely interconnected internodes on the stems, which are apparently reminiscent of bushes. Very often they are called - bush. Such varieties are more whimsical in care. But they are pleased with a lot of greenery, which is not only enough in the summer, but you can also make blanks for the winter.

Shrub varieties are sometimes of impressive size, and therefore the seeds are sown at a respectable distance. Such plants are very demanding on the climate. Very often they are put in greenhouses. In the central strip of Russia, you can cut off flower stalks. Since full seeds can not ripen, but the plant loses a lot of energy.

Preparation for planting

It would seem that it can be simpler than growing a dill "alligator" in a dacha. Comments gardeners say that even with such an unpretentious culture there are problems. Therefore, it needs to be approached with intelligence.

First you need to prepare the seeds of dill "Alligator". According to experts, because of the large content of essential oils, they must be treated before planting. By enveloping the seeds, they surround them with an elastic protective film, which prevents them from sprouting rapidly.

It is possible to disturb such natural protection of the seed material by bubbling. To do this, the seeds are put in water at room temperature and include an aquarium compressor. The air bubbles gently remove the oil shell, but do not damage the seeds at all. The duration of such a procedure is 19-20 hours. After its completion, dill should be sown urgently, because some of the seeds could already have been pierced. If you do not use such preliminary training, you sometimes have to wait for a long time to shoot.

The difficult process of bubbling can be replaced by soaking for two or three days, changing the water to fresh every six hours.

Terms of sowing

There are several options when planting dill. In the open ground it is sown in late autumn or spring. Dill "alligator" (reviews - confirmation) - cold-resistant plant. It is able to tolerate freezing up to -6 degrees. Due to this property, its seeds can be laid in the soil in October or November.

If, for some reason, you forgot to make the planting of the dill "alligator" in the fall, it does not matter, with the advent of spring you can start planting. As soon as the earth dries a little, you need to start sowing.

It should be noted that dill perfectly multiplies self-sowing. If in summer and autumn you did not cut all the umbrellas, then most likely, the next year your entire garden will be studded with fragrant greens.

Fennel planting

Once the inoculum is ready, you can proceed to the next step. But then another question arises: when to plant dill in an open ground? The plant is able to germinate at a temperature of +3 degrees, so you can sow it right after the snow covers come off. In the future, on cold days, you can cover the plantations, if you want to get the greens early. To avoid the hassle, you can wait until the first stable heat and then tackle the landing.

Before sowing, soil can be fertilized, but it is preferable to do this in advance. It will be more correct to prepare the garden from the autumn. For this, the soil is dug and add humus (in calculation one bucket per square meter). Then in the spring you will only need to form grooves at a distance of twenty centimeters from each other not more than three centimeters deep, to leave the seeds and close them on top of the ground. As a rule, the soil in the spring is rather humid, but if you think that it is too dry, then the crops can be watered a little until the appearance of the first shoots.

Reusable culture

Planting of dill during the summer can be done far more than once. This is the uniqueness of culture. You can sow dill every 20-25 days (these are the terms of ripening) in order to always have fresh greens on hand. If you want to get new seeds, you'll have to wait for umbrellas on several plants. In general, planting and caring for the culture is not difficult, so even a beginner gardener will cope with the task.

Care for dill

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 with yellowing of the branches.

However, do not forget that any greens perfectly absorbs all chemicals, so do not overreact and often make them. Dill grows well on fertile soil. All care for it comes down to watering and weeding. Getting a lot of greenery is one of the advantages of "alligator" (dill). How to trim ready-to-eat greens? Since the bushes of the plant are large enough, they are not afraid of scraps. You can remove almost all the greens, leaving a few branches. This will be enough for the plant to continue growing. You can also cut flowers, if dill is not grown in the south. In the middle belt, it is impossible to get good seeds, so it makes no sense to deplete the plants. Mistresses use peduncles for harvesting for the winter.

Dill diseases

The main enemy of any dill is powdery mildew. It can appear at any time. Sometimes summer residents do not immediately pay attention to the white plaque, which affects stems and foliage. Most often the disease affects plants in late summer, when the nights become colder. The affected branches are no longer suitable for eating.

In addition, dill can suffer from phomosis. Fungal disease is manifested by blackening on leaves, stems and seeds. And 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 treat dill with chemicals, therefore it will be necessary to limit oneself exclusively to preventive measures. These include the alternation of cultivated crops, the timely destruction of weeds. In addition, do not neglect such a measure as the disinfection of seeds before planting. To do this, they are warmed in hot enough water (temperature 50 degrees) for half an hour.

Reviews about the grade "alligator"

Experienced gardener highly recommend such a culture for cultivation as dill "alligator". Reviews about it are the best recommendations for beginners summer residents. Especially culture is good for southern regions. Unlike the early varieties of "alligator" gives a lot of juicy and fragrant greens. Planting such a plant on the site, you can prepare spices for future use, in order to use summer gifts in the cold season.

What good is the dill "Alligator"? Cultivation from the seeds of culture is no different from other varieties. But as a result you get powerful green bushes, the greenery of which will always come in handy for the preparation of fragrant dishes and preparations for the winter.

Dill on the windowsill: cultivation

It is convenient when fresh greens are always available. Cooked with her dishes will be delicious and fragrant. Very often mistresses try to grow dill on the windowsill. Cultivation of culture as a whole is not complicated, but it does have its own peculiarities.

First you need to choose the right grade. It should be understood that there is no special fennel for domestic farming. Choose from the existing species. Early varieties will allow you to quickly get greens, but it is not very lush and juicy, and the plant quickly goes into the growth of the peduncle. But late varieties can please the lush green branches.

To grow the culture in the home, you should pick a good primer. To do this, you can take the garden soil and mix it with a neutral soil for indoor plants. Also, you should choose a suitable box, the size of which will allow the dill to develop normally. Put a drainage layer on the bottom of the pot.

Seeds can be sown directly on the top layer of the soil, without making depressions and furrows, sprinkled on top of the soil. Then lightly moisten the earth and send the box to a dark warm place. In a couple of weeks it can be moved to the window sill.

Conditions for growing on the windowsill

It is worth knowing about the fact that it is very important for home growing dill to provide plants with good lighting. Dill is an incredibly light-loving culture, grown on a window sill which can be at any time of the year. But care for her will depend on the pores of the year. In winter, plants need artificial lighting because of the small amount of sunlight. For lighting, you can use fluorescent lights, placing them on the windowsill. Five hours of their work a day is enough for normal plant growth.

Dill should be watered regularly. Once a few weeks the plant needs fertilizing with a complex fertilizer. For the plant, the optimum temperature will be +18 degrees. At higher temperatures, it is worthwhile to increase the time of illumination, otherwise the bushes can simply stretch upward and be dull and sluggish.

Before planting, it is recommended to hold the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate. The first greens will be available in 4-5 weeks. Cut only the side branches, which will first grow actively. It must be remembered that dill belongs to moisture-loving plants, and therefore it must be watered regularly, especially in the spring-summer period. But it is not recommended to transfuse the plant. This can be detrimental to its development and the earlier death of bushes.

If planted in a good soil, the plants do not need additional fertilizing. They are quite sufficient microelements, which are available initially in the ground. The time for the vegetative development of dill is small, so you should not count on a long harvest. It makes sense to make new crops to get a fresh harvest.

Instead of an afterword

What summer resident did not try his hand at growing dill? This oldest curative culture is one of the most accessible condiments widely used by us in cooking. Knowing the basics of care and planting a crop, you can get a crop of fragrant greens, even on the kitchen window.