Dill is a tried and tested herb in the kitchen and even has healing properties. Here you will find out everything you need to know - from cultivation to use.
Dill (Anethum graveolens) belongs to the umbelliferae family (Apiaceae). What is special about the dill genus: Anethum graveolens is its only species. It is therefore referred to as a so-called monotypic genus. The dill is further subdivided into three individual taxa. The best known is the garden dill (Anethum graveolens var. hortorum). This is mainly found in domestic gardens and in commercial cultivation. Dill has a long history of targeted cultivation. Native to North Africa and the Near East, it was already cultivated in ancient Egypt as a spice plant with healing properties. From there it made its way to Europe more than 5000 years ago and has been proven to be used to refine dishes. But dill doesn't just go well with gherkins and fish dishes. Finally, dill is derived from the Icelandic "dilla" which literally means "to soothe". We introduce you to the filigree herb - from "A" for sowing to "V" for use.
Grow your own dill
Location
In your own garden, the dill stands in a sunny spot. There should be no permanent waterlogging. Therefore, clay soils that have some draining percentage of sand or gravel are perfect for growing dill. In commercial cultivation, dill is also grown in the greenhouse. The plants are both in the grown soil and in pots. Even culture without soil in so-called hydroponic systems is possible. If you decide to cultivate the dill in a pot for the terrace or balcony, you should choose a container that is high enough. Dill forms a deep-reaching taproot. In addition, the plant grows up to 60 cm high and has a corresponding water requirement, especially in the pot. So that the cucumber herb does not hang its head too often and quickly on warm summer days, there is a generous volume of substrate in the potadvisable.
You can find detailed step-by-step instructions in our article Growing Dill: The Cucumber herb from our own garden.
Watering and fertilizing
The borage prefers an even water supply. Strongly fluctuating substrate moisture levels increase the probability of infestation with root fungi. Therefore, especially on hot days, when growing in the bed, you should reach for the watering can. When it comes to nutrients, dill is more than easy to care for, mainly because of its relatively short lifespan. When cultivating in a bed, it is absolutely sufficient to mix in some primarily organic fertilizer such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer before sowing. In pot culture, you either choose a high-quality, fertilized substrate such as our Plantura organic universal soil, or fertilize occasionally via the irrigation water. Excessive nutrient supply would only lead to soft shoots and excessive growth. Less is more with dill.
Plant protection
Dill is also afflicted by diseases and pests that are typical for members of the umbelliferae family. Some viruses can lead to stunted growth. Animal pests are nematodes in the root area as well as aphids and the leaf miner. But it is above all the fungal pathogens that cause problems for cucumber herb. Due to the so-called casserole disease, large losses of seedlings are recorded immediately after sowing. A combination of several plant-damaging fungi causes the tender plants to suddenly fall over. There is not much that can be done here other than keeping the seed evenly moist but dry and selecting the affected plants. Representatives of the fungus genus Fusarium can do thisHunt the spice herb at a later point in time in the culture. Since these pests remain in the soil, the location for the dill should always be changed next year, especially if there is an infestation.
Dill Varieties
The type of dill (Anethum graveolens) is still being subdivided. The best-known representative is the variety Anethum graveolens var. hortorum, the garden dill. There is also the so-called field dill (Anethum graveolens var graveolens) and the subspecies of Indian dill (Anethum graveolenssubsp. sowa), which differs from garden dill only in its less pronounced aroma. You can find more information in our variety overview.
Among the ranks of the widely grown garden dill, there are a few varieties on the market. We present the characteristics of the most important representatives:
- Bouquet: Fine-leaved variety that grows compact.
- Dukat: Green-leaved variety with a strong aroma due to its high content of essential oils.
- Ella: compact growing variety; can be sown directly into the pot for terrace and balcony.
- Elephant: Especially leafy and late flowering with a long harvest time.
- Hercules: Particularly productive due to vigorous growth and late flowering.
- Mammut: old variety that grows strongly and has a particularly strong aroma.
- Sperli's Brevi: Leafy variety with exceptionally good properties for growing in pots.
- Quadruplets: Fast-growing; with strikingly beautiful inflorescences and therefore also suitable as an ornamental plant and cut flower.
Harvesting and Storing Dill
Harvest
The main focus when growing dill is on the young, fresh shoots. It should therefore be harvested before flowering, which in our latitudes appears from May to October, depending on the sowing date. In order to be able to harvest freshly in the long term, it is advisable to sow in several time-shifted blocks. It takes six to a maximum of nine weeks to harvest. Dill is a so-called long-day plant. This means that the days must be at least a certain number of hours long for the plant to get the stimulus to produce flowers. In order to avoid flowering too early, the herb is mainly cultivated in the warmer regions of the south in winter and early spring. During the growth phase, you can already harvest freshly as needed. Then shoots up to 15 cm long are simply cut off. awaya size of 30 cm, it makes sense to harvest the whole plant and, if necessary, to process it to preserve it. But you can also let the dill flower off for seed production. Incidentally, the seeds can also be interesting for use.
The classic: Dill is a must for pickling cucumbers