How to properly plant parsley and dill before winter, and when is the best time to do it

Spicy parsley and dill are traditionally added to many dishes. Planting crops from September to November allows you to obtain vitamin-rich and aromatic greens in early spring. When and how to plant parsley and dill in the fall before winter, we will look at this article.

Features of planting in the cold season

Is it possible to sow parsley and dill for winter? Sowing these crops in the fall is possible due to their cold resistance: the seeds undergo natural hardening in the soil and delight with vigorous shoots in the spring.

As a result, healthy, disease- and frost-resistant spices are obtained a month earlier than with traditional planting in the spring.

Selecting a location

Plants are planted in open sunny areas. Although dill and parsley tolerate shade well, when there is a lack of sunlight they grow slightly elongated and a less rich green color. The taste and benefits are preserved.

Ideal precursors for crops: potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, zucchini and cucumbers.

Herbs prefer neutral or slightly acidic soil with a light structure.

Preparing the beds

At the end of October, humus is added to the beds at the rate of 5 kg per 1 m², and 20–30 g of superphosphate and potassium are added. Nitrogen fertilizers are not applied before winter.

They make grooves and cover them with protective material so that the soil is not washed away by rain.

Before sowing, the covering material is removed and the furrows are sprinkled with sand. After planting, the bed is sprinkled with peat, humus or compost.The main thing is that the soil is light and in the spring the seeds germinate without difficulty.

Important! Optimal weather conditions for planting dill and parsley: night temperature - -2...-3°C, daytime temperature - 0...+5°C, dry, windless days.

If prolonged rains are expected, the seeded bed is covered again and left so until dry or not very wet cold weather sets in.

Seed preparation

Experienced gardeners prefer their own seed material to store-bought ones. To obtain it, several strong and healthy bushes are kept in beds with greenery throughout the season. Parsley is covered with mulch for the winter (a biennial crop), and dill is harvested in the fall.

After umbrella flowering, small seeds appear on the plants, which ripen in 120 days. Before cutting, paper or gauze is spread under the bushes to collect crumbled material. Umbrellas are carefully cut off. They sort through the seeds, removing diseased or unripe ones. Dry and store them until planting at a temperature of +5°C in a well-ventilated place.

Reference. The seeds are not soaked before autumn sowing, otherwise they will germinate prematurely and die.

To increase germination, planting material is pre-plated:

1. A nutrient mixture is prepared from non-acidic peat, humus and dry mullein (6:3:1).
2. Add 15 g of superphosphate per 1 kg of mixture.
3. Before planting, seeds are poured into a jar and a nutritional composition is added. Shake everything well.
4. If the material is panned in advance, it is dried for 2-3 hours.

Such encrusted seeds withstand cold weather and sprout vigorously in the spring.

Planting scheme

30–40% of seeds are added to the usual crop sowing rate, since not all of them will survive the frost.

To ensure that the planting material warms up evenly throughout the day, grooves 3–5 cm deep are drawn from north to south.

Distance between them:

• for leaf parsley - 10–12 cm;
• for curly hair - 8–10 cm;
• for dill - 10 cm.

Root parsley is planted at a distance of 2–4 cm, 1 seed at a time.

Dill grains are planted in a bed without grooves, in a fan. To do this, they are mixed with sand and scattered on the prepared site. Sprinkle peat or humus on top.

Use this method before snow falls so that it covers the bed. In spring, melt water draws seeds into the ground, they quickly swell and germinate. Dill takes root well and turns out fluffy. With this method of planting, fewer seeds are required, and the yield is higher.

Varieties of parsley and dill for winter planting

Crops with early and medium ripening periods are best suited for sowing before winter.

Dill

When dill throws out its umbrella, it loses its juicy, fragrant greenery, and its stem becomes stiff. Therefore, the main criterion for choosing a variety is the late formation of the umbrella.

Dill can be used as a bush or for greens.

The best bush varieties:

1. Patterns. Leaves up to 1 m high grow slowly, from the very root. Productivity - 50 g of greens from 1 bush. Greens are cut 2 months after the appearance of young shoots. The plant is rich in vitamin C and is resistant to fungal diseases.
2. Gourmet. The variety has low, lush bushes up to 20 cm high. The greens are cut after 1.5 months. The dark green leaves are fragrant. Dill is not susceptible to disease.
3. Mammoth. After 40–42 days it produces strong bushes with late shoots. The yield when harvested for greens is 1.7 kg/m², for spices – 3 kg/m². The variety is resistant to adverse weather conditions, diseases and pests.
4. Bushy. Spreading bushes up to 1.5 m high take up a lot of space, but ripen in 40 days (79 days for spices). The leaves are soft with a persistent aroma.

For greens:

1. Further - a high-yielding industrial variety that produces up to 2.5 kg of greenery per 1 m². Resistant to diseases and pests.
2. Max. Compact, 15 cm high leaves resemble a diamond. The first harvest is harvested 1.5 months after sowing. During the season they get 30–40 greens from 1 bush.
3. Kutuzovsky. Greens are cut 40–45 days after sowing. The leaves are large, up to 20 cm, with a delicate taste and spicy aroma. From 1 m², 1.6 kg is collected for greens, and 1.8 kg for spices.

Parsley

There are leaf and root parsley.

Among the leafy ones varieties popular:

1. Italian giant. The abundant leaf mass (30–60 cm high) quickly recovers after cutting. From 1 bush you get up to 25 leaves.
2. Ordinary leaf. The leaves are flat, carved, the stem grows up to 90 cm. Parsley ripens 2-3 months after sowing.
3. Esmeralda - mid-season variety with a fancy curly foliage. The average yield is 0.8–1.2 kg/m².

Parsley has a prized cone-shaped root that is used in cooking and medicine. The leaves of these varieties are tough and less aromatic. They are not cut often, otherwise the plant will not have enough strength to develop a full-fledged root crop.

The best varieties:

1. Russian size. Cold-resistant parsley produces sweet-tasting root vegetables up to 30 cm in length.
2. Eagle It reaches technical ripeness 110–125 days after emergence. The root vegetables are smooth, sweet, and weigh up to 140 g.
3. Bordovikskaya. When digging the beds deeply, the root crops reach 35 cm in length. The harvest is harvested after 90–100 days.

When to sow parsley and dill before winter

In any region, when landing, they are guided by the current weather: daytime temperature should tend to 0°C, night temperature - to +2...+3°C.

If prolonged rains begin, it is better to reschedule the planting.If timing does not allow this, the beds are covered with polyethylene to prevent excess moisture.

Average winter time planting parsley and dill by region of Russia:

• in the middle zone - 3rd ten days of October - 1st ten days of November;
• in the Urals - all October;
• in Siberia - end of September;
• in the southern regions - November, December.

According to the lunar calendar

Knowing the phases of the Moon and the constellation in which it is located helps to choose the optimal time for planting.

General rules for determining the optimal lunar date in any year:

• on the growing moon they sow and replant everything that grows above the ground;
• Root crops and legumes are planted in decreasing order.

Depending on the effect on plants, the constellations in which the satellite is located are divided into:

1. Fertile: Cancer (the most fertile), Libra, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces, Taurus. When the Moon is in one of these signs, the sowing will give a rich harvest, but it will not be stored well.
2. Infertile: Sagittarius, Virgo, Gemini. Low yields are compensated by long storage of fruits.
3. Infertile: Aquarius, Leo, Aries. Sowing under these signs will not bear fruit; the harvested crop is carefully stored.

It is better to plant leaf parsley and dill on the waxing Moon when it passes one of the fertile signs of the zodiac. Parsley for root crops is sown on the waning Moon in a fertile sign.

Plants should not be planted during the new or full moon. You can dig up the ground, destroy pests, and remove dry branches.

Attention! Knowledge of the lunar calendar is not a substitute for following the rules growing culture.

Conclusion

Agrotechnical measures for winter sowing of herbs do not require special knowledge and equipment.It is enough to choose a suitable place on the site, properly prepare it and the seeds, planting them according to a certain pattern. If you follow the basic recommendations, vitamin-rich and tasty greens are harvested in early spring.