How to grow dill on a windowsill in an apartment: necessary equipment and step-by-step guide

Experienced gardeners know how to grow dill on a windowsill in an apartment, and they do it successfully. This allows them to enjoy fresh greens at any time of the year. This process is labor-intensive, but fascinating, so some housewives have turned it into their hobby.

From the article you will learn which varieties of dill are suitable for growing at home, how to properly prepare the seeds and how to care for the plants.

Choosing the right variety of dill

It is preferable to grow early dill at home. To quickly obtain seedlings, it is recommended to choose varieties: Gribovsky, Grenadier, Aurora, Dalniy. But we must not forget that they are demanding regarding the conditions in which they will be kept during growth.

Attention! There is no special variety of dill for growing on a windowsill, so the seeds are selected experimentally.

If you do not control the temperature or provide insufficient lighting, the seedlings will begin to stretch upward, and the bright green color will change to a light green hue. This negatively affects the quality of the spice.

Beginner gardeners are advised to opt for mid-season varieties (Richelieu, Lesnogorodsky, Kusty) or later varieties (Kibray, Salyut, Alligator).

What is needed to grow dill on a windowsill in an apartment

Dill is an annual plant. The average growth rate is 5 to 8 weeks.The ideal time for planting is March-August. During the winter months it is more difficult to grow due to lack of light.

Containers and equipment

Initially, you need to prepare tools and containers. To grow greens in an apartment on a windowsill, you will need the following:

• a pot or other container for soil with a depth of no more than 20 cm;
• special soil for indoor plants;
• water spray (spray);
• additional lighting lamps (preferably fluorescent);
• Dill seeds.

The window in the house is chosen on the side where there is the most sunlight. If a battery passes under it, you will have to monitor the humidity level and prevent the soil from drying out. It is recommended to sow dill in wooden or plastic boxes 15-20 cm deep. There should be holes at the bottom of the container through which excess liquid is drained.

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Conditions

Plant dill seed possible at any time of the year. The ideal temperature for seedlings is considered to be between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius during the day. It’s good if at night the room temperature does not exceed 10 degrees Celsius. This will help harden and stretch the seedlings. This effect can be achieved if you place the container on a glassed-in loggia or in the corridor.

Advice. To compensate for uneven lighting, the container with seedlings is rotated 180 degrees 2-3 times a day.

Additional lamps above the containers are turned on for 12 hours. They are placed at a distance of about 50 cm from the tops of the seedlings. If the temperature in the house is maintained at more than 20 degrees Celsius, additional lighting will have to be provided for 14-15 hours; otherwise the stems will begin to stretch.

Step-by-step instructions for growing

It is possible to grow dill at home even in winter. To do this, you need to prepare a place for seedlings, pots for seeds, and special soil. Step-by-step instructions will help novice gardeners avoid mistakes that will lead to the death of greenery.

Preparing seeds and soil

Before planting herbs at home, you need to prepare the seeds. They should be properly processed, which will protect future seedlings from possible diseases (perenospora, powdery mildew, fungus, fomoz).

Seed preparation consists of the following steps:

1. Soak the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate (1 mg of the product is diluted in 100 ml of water) for 20 minutes, after placing it in a gauze bag. Those grains that float to the surface are thrown away, since they are considered dead and will not sprout. After time has passed, the seeds are washed with running water and allowed to dry.
2. To activate growth, the seeds are additionally soaked in a special solution (Epin, Zircon, Energen).
3. The grains should germinate spread out on a plate previously lined with cotton cloth. Glass or a bag is placed on top of the container to create a greenhouse effect and left at room temperature.
4. The film is periodically removed (1-2 times a day) and wait until the seeds hatch. The fabric is additionally moistened.

Dill seeds take a long time to germinate. This is due to the increased content of essential oils in them. You can remove the dense shell if you rinse the seeds before planting for 15-20 minutes with warm water (about 50 degrees). You can also place them in a gauze bag in a container of water, after installing an aquarium compressor in it.

It is best to plant dill seeds in loose soil with a neutral pH level. To do this, it is recommended to purchase universal soil for seedlings, which contains all the necessary nutrients. The substrate can be prepared independently from garden soil, coconut fiber, peat and river sand in a ratio of 2:1:1:1, respectively.

Attention! Fitosporin or Gamair are suitable disinfectants for soil. Another option is to bake it in the oven before planting.

A mixture of vermicompost and coconut fiber in a 1:2 ratio is also used. It is important to add 2 g of superphosphate and wood ash here (per 1 liter of substrate). Be sure to additionally prepare drainage (expanded clay).

Sowing

The process of planting dill seeds is as follows:

• drainage (expanded clay) 2-3 cm thick is poured into the selected container;
• pour earth on top of it, leaving about 3 cm to the edge of the container;
• the ground is slightly leveled with your hands, crushed a little and watered;
• carefully sprinkle with earth about 0.5 cm;
• then the soil is moistened using a sprayer;
• The pot is covered with polyethylene or glass, and then placed in a dark place with a temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius.

It remains to wait until all the water is absorbed into the ground. After this, they begin to sow the seeds. If the boxes are long, make them bright and plant the seedlings in rows. In a flower pot, it is better to make holes 0.5 cm deep and put 3-5 seeds in them or scatter the seeds evenly over the surface.

Further care

Until the first bushes begin to grow, caring for future dill is simple: moisten the soil as it dries and ventilate the greenhouse twice a day. If condensation stops collecting on the lid of the mini-greenhouse, it means the earth needs moisture. The first shoots can be expected 10-12 days after planting.

When shoots appear, the seedlings should be moved to a bright place and thinned. This process is especially important if a bush dill variety has been chosen for planting. Weak and densely sprouted shoots must be removed. On average, the distance between them should be 3-4 cm.

When dill grows two true leaves, the plants are taught to live without a greenhouse. If the variety is whimsical, this is done gradually, increasing the ventilation time by 30 minutes daily. After 7 days, the greenhouse is completely cleaned. If the variety is resistant to cold, the film can be removed immediately (it is better to do this in the morning) so that the plant can adapt to new conditions during the daylight hours.

Features of growing in winter and summer

The main condition for good growth, especially if planting occurred in winter, is sufficient lighting. When you plan to grow spices from September to February, it is necessary to add additional light, otherwise the plants will develop poorly, turn yellow or even die.

When planting dill seeds for growing on a windowsill in spring and summer, containers with seedlings are placed on the window on the south side, in the southwest or southeast direction. It is recommended to highlight seedlings only on cloudy days.

Useful tips

Water the dill on the windowsill regularly as the soil dries, using water at room temperature; In winter, melted snow will do. In autumn, the soil is moistened on average 1-2 times a week, and in summer - daily. If the air in the room is dry, the greens are sprayed once a day, then they will be juicy.

In order for the root system to grow well and quickly strengthen, it is necessary to periodically loosen the soil.This is done carefully with your fingers or a special small garden rake for indoor flowers. Once every 14 days, the plant should be fed with complex organic (“Biohumus”, “Organic-Balance”) or mineral (“Yunona”, “Kemira Lux”) fertilizer.

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Conclusion

To successfully grow dill on a windowsill, it is important to choose the right variety, prepare planting material and soil, and take care to create a favorable climate in the room where the seedlings will be located.

If all conditions are met, you can enjoy the taste of juicy, fresh herbs grown with your own hands all year round.