Tips - how to grow dill at home. Fragrant harvest on the window

Most people prefer to eat fresh herbs. At any time of the year, dill is popular, which can be grown on the windowsill, the main thing is to know how. And although it is sold year-round in the store, it is much more pleasant to create a mini-garden on the windowsill.

Dill is grown as a spicy herb, but there are people who value it for its medicinal and beneficial properties.

If a novice gardener has an idea for growing fragrant and lush dill at home, you must:

• choose the right variety;
• get acquainted with the cultivation technology;
• prepare the necessary equipment.

Let us consider in more detail the features of growing dill in the house.

Variety selection

Breeders have bred many varieties of dill. They differ in the height of the stems, the presence of splendor of greenery and the timing of flowering and seed ripening. To get fresh greens as long as possible, it is better to plant varieties with different terms maturation.

There are plants in which, after 38 days, you can cut off the green mass. After 5-6 leaves grow on the stem, dill will begin to bloom. Just by this time, a variety that is already mid-ripening in maturation will grow up.

Early ripe varieties

Among the varieties of dill with early term maturation stand out:

1. Further. A month later, dill grows, in which rosettes are 25 cm long. The density of the leaves is considered average. They have rich green color covered with a wax coating. This variety has strong immunity to diseases and pests.
2. Gribovsky. It can be sown in spring, in the middle of summer, with additional illumination in winter period. It grows fragrant leaves for a month.
3. Aurora. It is considered a new variety, giving early greens. Already on the 25th day, you can use its juicy leaves, which are distinguished by a spicy smell and richness. Plants develop well, rarely get sick and are not damaged by pests.

Mid-season varieties

In varieties of dill, which are classified as mid-season, the growing season is extended by a week, so they differ from early ones in larger foliage.

Among the mid-season varieties of dill are known:

1. bushy. Greenery grows a lot, they begin to collect it after 70 days. The first cut is made from below. You can cut leaves from one plant several times. He has a lot of juicy fragrant greens.
2. Lesnogorsky. It is recommended to grow for large and fragrant leaves. Even when umbrellas appear, you can continue cutting the leaves. The variety is resistant to diseases and pests.
3. Abundantly leafy dill. Grow to get a lot of lush greenery. It is not in vain that it got its name: the leaves grow in large numbers, fragrant and juicy. It can be sown several times a year.

Late-ripening varieties

These plants are distinguished by the fact that delicate greens remain on them for a long time. They sometimes do not have time to ripen to the end.

Among the well-known late varieties:

1. Alligator. He is valued for his long lush greenery. Umbrellas with flowers are formed late in him, so greens can be collected almost all summer season. The leaves are bright green, covered with a waxy coating.
2. Kibray. Its leaves are wide, green with a slight yellowness. The raid is almost imperceptible. Rosettes are large, grow to a height of 40 cm.
3. Dill. Popular dutch variety. Differs in unpretentiousness, transferring different conditions. Gives a lot of fragrant greens. Cutting can be done for a long time. Grows in height up to 1.5 meters.

Seed preparation

So that only high-quality seeds are caught for sowing and germinate faster, it is necessary to soak them in warm water. They are placed in a cloth and soaked for about a day, changing the water after 12 hours.

Seeds can be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, holding for 3 hours.

It is advisable to remove those grains that have surfaced, since they are considered unsuitable for sowing, and those sunk to the bottom of the dishes must be dried a little on paper.

Required inventory

For sowing dill, you can purchase containers that are used to grow seedlings. It is desirable to make holes in them to drain excess water, then fill in a drainage layer of about 2 cm. For these purposes, expanded clay is used, which can be purchased at flower shop. Then it is recommended to fill the container with soil.

Sowing

It is good if garden soil is prepared in advance for planting seeds. If it didn’t work out, you can buy soil for growing flowers. The main condition for obtaining friendly seedlings is the looseness of the soil, therefore, before sowing, a little sand and biohumus can be added to the ground.

After the container is filled with soil, it needs to be moistened a little more. It is better to do this with a spray gun. Then make small grooves, the depth of which should correspond to 1.5 cm. It is also recommended to sprinkle them with water. Plant the seeds, lightly cover with earth. Cover the container with foil and put in a warm place.

For planting seeds, the temperature must be at least 18 ° C. Pre-soaked specimens germinate in about 7-10 days.

Care

Growing dill on the windowsill in an apartment, especially in winter, is not an easy task. If you do not follow the rules, then the greens will turn out frail and weak.

Comfort temperature

After dill will sprout, the first week it is recommended to lower the temperature at night. To do this, you can slightly open the window or transfer the seedlings to the glazed loggia. For plants, a temperature of 8-9 ° C is sufficient. This is necessary so that the dill does not stretch, and the stems become stronger.

During the day, the temperature is raised to 18 ° C, but if the temperature in the apartment is above 20 ° C, it is necessary to place the container on a brightly lit window sill.

If these rules are not followed, dill leaves will be undeveloped and have a pale green color.

Air humidity

In winter, due to heating radiators in the apartment, the air dries up, so it is recommended to moisten it. Spray periodically with a spray bottle. You can put jars filled with water nearby.

It is important to monitor soil moisture. Plants are recommended to be watered daily, but make sure that all excess moisture flows out through special holes at the bottom of the container.

Additional lighting

Dill belongs to light-loving plants. For him, light is one of important conditions to get a harvest. Even heat is not significant in dill growing conditions. It is advisable to place a container with it near the window on an illuminated window sill.

Everyone knows that in winter the daylight hours are much shorter, so the plants will have to be illuminated with white fluorescent or LED lamps. They are suspended above the container to a height of half a meter.

Lighting should last about 12 hours in winter: plants receive 6 hours of additional lamp lighting when the container is placed on a south-facing windowsill. If indoors, then illuminate with a lamp for 15 hours, you can extend the time even longer.

So that the dill does not lean in one direction, because the plants are drawn to the light, it is recommended to rotate the container 180 degrees. This procedure must be carried out every day.

Fertilization

It is necessary to feed after about 2 weeks. It can be complex mineral fertilizers with trace elements and organic fertilizers now sold in bottles. It is recommended to use mineral - "Juno", "Kemira" and organic - "Bioactive", "Organic-balance" and others.

Harvesting

To attain good results, cut more correctly produce dill greens when the plants grow to 20-25 cm. It is best to first remove the lower leaves by cutting them with scissors. After that, it is advisable to water the dill and sprinkle it from a spray bottle. In the future, the leaves will begin to grow again on the stem.

Growing dill is an exciting activity, although you will have to work hard creating for him the necessary conditions. But it's worth it, because there will be an opportunity to admire beautiful plant and add it to dishes, collecting from a mini-garden.

It is very convenient to have a "green" bed on the windowsill or balcony. Practical housewives do just that, because dill is good both as a component of any salad and as a seasoning for hot dishes. In winter fragrant greens will remind you of a warm summer and replenish your vitamin supply.

Such a seemingly simple matter as planting dill on a windowsill also has its own nuances, without which the first experience can be unsuccessful. In this article, we will reveal all the subtleties and secrets of growing bright, lush and beloved by many greens.

Many people think that growing dill at home on the windowsill is very simple. All in all, I threw the seeds into the ground and you're done, water from time to time and wait for the harvest. With this approach, instead of fragrant thickets of green dill, in the planting box, miserable, yellow-green blades of grass stick out on a thin long stem with rare Christmas tree leaves. But if you apply basic knowledge of agricultural technology and responsibly approach the purchase of planting material, choose the right soil for planting and devote some of your time to caring for plants, then the result will not be long in coming.

To choose the right dill seeds for home garden, you need to know the characteristics of the varieties.

• Early ripening varieties: Gribovsky, Richelieu and Grenadier. Quite unpretentious, able to give a good harvest and have immunity to certain diseases. A maximum of 45 days can be cut into greens. But they also have a significant minus, they quickly stretch out and form color rosettes, and there are much fewer leaves on early varieties than on the rest.

• Varieties of long maturation: Alligator, Salute, Amazon. Significant disadvantage that the first cuts can be made only after 65-70 days. But if you have patience and wait, the reward will be strong bushes with fluffy foliage and amazing aroma. Due to the fact that they grow long enough, new shoots are formed on the stem all the time.

• Some lovers are experimenting with southern varieties of dill. They have a bright taste, very fragrant, but extremely picky. AT winter time growing them is almost impossible.

By their nature, dill seeds germinate for a very long time, because they contain a large number of essential oils. Therefore, before planting, they must be soaked in warm water for 5-8 hours. High-quality seeds will sink to the bottom, and empty and unsimilar ones will float on the surface. After the specified time, drain the water and place the seed in a slightly pink solution of manganese room temperature for 2-3 hours. This will help disinfect the seeds and prevent possible diseases.

What is needed for boarding

The soil for planting must be fertile. You can buy it in the store, or you can cook it yourself in autumn period. To do this, take a soft garden soil and mix with purchased soil for seedlings, if possible, it is good to add a little wood ash. If only a purchased substrate is used, then biohumus must be included in its composition, and the addition of coconut fiber will also be useful.

As a "bed" ideal balcony flower boxes, in the absence of such, pots will do. But in a small container, the dill will be cramped and it will grow worse. Do not forget about drainage and holes at the bottom landing capacity. Shards of brick or small pebbles are placed on the bottom of the pot so that excess moisture during watering has an outlet.

Seeds pre-dried on a paper napkin can be sown without recesses, powdered on top thin layer dry land. It is also possible to land in grooves with a depth of about 1-2 centimeters. After moistening the soil, put the seeds on the bottom and sprinkle with peat or loose substrate on top.

Dill can be planted in any order, but the plants should not "crowd" on a small patch. To prevent this from happening, the seeds should not be sown with a pinch, but laid out one at a time, hooked with a pre-moistened toothpick or match. Separately growing bushes are stronger and more branched. After sowing upper layer sprinkle the earth with a spray bottle and cover with cling film on top, making a room mini-greenhouse.

Boxes with crops are placed on sunny side. As the soil dries out, seedlings need careful watering. Favorable temperature for seed germination is 17-18 degrees. Until the dill appears from the ground, a decrease in the temperature background is not desirable.

The first shoots will appear in a week. More friendly shoots will be in about 10-12 days.

Sowing and waiting for the first greenery is half the battle. The most difficult task is to save and grow a decent crop, because small blades of grass are rather capricious and require constant attention.

After the appearance of green shoots, the film should be removed from the box. If dill is grown during a long daylight hours, then care consists in timely watering, weed removal, spraying and periodically turning the “bed” 180 degrees so that the sprouts do not lean towards the sun and grow evenly.

After cutting, dill does not grow back and so that there is always a fragrant seasoning on the table, it must be periodically sown.

Winter dill cultivation is not much different from spring. Preparatory work and care for young sprouts remain unchanged. But in cold weather, there is very little sun, and without ultraviolet light, the plants will be weak, stunted and completely unappetizing. Therefore, they will need additional lighting. If the seedlings are standing on the window, then you can highlight only in the morning, turning on a special lamp for 5-6 hours. If the containers with seedlings are away from natural light, then the illumination should be throughout the day, about 15 hours.

It is recommended occasionally, about 2 times a month, to feed complex fertilizers, it will be good to pour urea by preparing the solution according to the attached instructions. Suitable temperature for good growth greenery 17-19 degrees. But a non-critical downgrade won't do any harm either.

Dill at home grows at any time of the year. Between March and September, this may not cause any particular problems. And in winter and late autumn, such a case will be quite troublesome and entail additional cash costs. Periodic illumination with fluorescent lamps will increase energy consumption.

How to grow dill at home in winter (video)

Greens on the table should be all year round This is what doctors advise, and they are right. No pharmacy vitamins can replace natural products in terms of quality or effectiveness. Prudent housewives grow this greenery at home, in addition to always having the freshest vitamins at hand, green plants improve the indoor climate. In comparison with others indoor plants dill is not considered capricious. But even here you need to know a few secrets. The right approach to the cultivation of this crop will avoid many troubles. How to start growing dill at home?

From right choice seeds depends not only on the time of appearance of plants, but also on their biological development. So, you need to pay attention not only to the growing season, but also to the size of the dill. Experienced growers are advised to use mid-season varieties Gribovsky, Richelieu or Grenadier for growing at home. If you want to increase the ripening time of ripe dill, then you can sow late-ripening varieties along with mid-season. The proportions are approximately 50x50.

Practical advice. Dill seeds quickly lose their germination. Do not purchase them with a statute of limitations of more than two years.

But we must remember that this variety requires strict adherence to all recommended growing rules. Early ripe varieties give green mass in as soon as possible, but then quickly stretch out and throw out flower stalks. It is not considered appropriate to sit them down. We will have to wait about a month for the appearance of the crop, so that in a week or two it would no longer be possible to use it.

Seed preparation

The better the seeds are prepared, the faster the seedlings will appear and the stronger the plants will be. It is better to soak overnight in warm water. It is advisable to do disinfection at the same time.

For this, a weak solution of potassium permanganate was previously used. Today it is problematic to buy it. Firstly, not every pharmacy sells potassium permanganate. Secondly, it is sold only by prescription. Is it possible to do disinfection at home without potassium permanganate? You can, for this, use one of the proposed methods.

Take seeds with a margin, better later thin out seedlings than to have an insufficient number of plants.

There are options for sowing dill seeds without pre-soaking and dressing. We do not recommend doing this for several reasons. Firstly, the germination time increases by 5–6 days. Secondly, they become more uneven. If the soaked seeds will give all seedlings with an interval of several days, then for dry seeds it can take up to two weeks between the appearance of the first and last shoots.

With regard to dressing, diseases in the early stages of development have not yet benefited any plant. It is not worth risking the harvest, especially since everything preparatory operations it doesn't take much time.

Sowing seeds

You can plant large containers immediately or grow seedlings first, and then transplant them. We recommend using the first method, it's faster, easier and easier. For dill, cylindrical pots with a volume of about 1 liter or long rectangular pots with a wall height of about 10 centimeters are suitable.

At the bottom, drainage is necessarily made of ordinary pebbles or expanded clay.

It is better to use purchased land. No, do it yourself. Take one piece sod land and mix in one part river washed sand. It is advisable to add biohumus or mute humus to the soil. For lovers of mineral fertilizers, we recommend using complex sets. Instructions for use are indicated on the packaging, follow the recommendations of the manufacturers and everything will be fine.

AT recent times soil is very popular coconut flakes. What to say about such a substrate? Advertising does amazing things. In all respects, the soil from coconut flakes is in no way superior to the mixtures familiar to our compatriots.

Of course, except for the price. There is a desire - buy expensive "coconut" mixtures, there is no desire - use ordinary substrates. In both cases, the yield will be the same. It depends not only and not so much on the soil, but on the correct observance of all recommendations for growing dill.

Step 1. With a stick, make grooves in the ground at a distance of about five centimeters, the depth of the grooves is up to 2 centimeters.

Step 2 Carefully sow the pre-soaked and pickled seeds into the grooves. If you wish, use a match or a toothpick to slightly trim them and evenly distribute them along the entire length of the groove. It is recommended not to sow very densely; it is enough to make two parallel rows on a standard oblong pot. If the ground is not very wet, then moisten it with a sprinkler. On wet ground it is much easier to sow, the grooves keep their shape and depth, the walls do not crumble.

Step 3 Cover the grooves with the seeds sown with earth; no need to tamp. Put the pot on the windowsill and wait for the shoots. Make sure that a hard crust does not form on the surface of the earth, it prevents the emergence of seedlings.

It is recommended to cover the container with cling film or polyethylene, the optimum temperature is not more than +20°C. If everything is done correctly, then the first shoots will appear already 5-6 days after sowing. As soon as sprouts appear, the film is removed, the backlight is used, and the temperature regime is controlled.

Seedling Care

Dill - photophilous plant, in winter it is necessary to use additional illumination. To do this, it is recommended to use economical LED lamps, the height of their location should be adjustable. With a lack of light, the plants are very elongated, the stems become thin, and the number of suitable leaves decreases.

Practical advice. Stretching of plants can also be observed when too high temperature. If it is very warm on the windowsill, then you can put the plants on the floor at night.

The soil is regularly watered, but does not overflow. Dill reacts equally negatively to both the lack of moisture and its excess. Plants should be fed once every two weeks, use complex mineral fertilizers for this purpose. Optimum temperature no more than + 18 ° С, with an increase, the stems are very elongated. Greenery on the window can be grown all year round.

After the appearance of all shoots, thinning should be done. Too dense crops oppress each other, their growth slows down. Keep plants at least two centimeters apart.

In addition to the leaves, dill roots are also used for cooking. After the plants have used all the branches or they have thrown out the peduncle, it is recommended to keep them on the windowsill for about a week. Then dig out the roots, wash them thoroughly in running water and dry. Dried roots can be stored for up to a year, during cooking they are used both as a whole and in crushed form.

How to make a backlight for dill

As we mentioned above, dill reacts negatively to an increase in temperature. This means that in addition to the standard requirements for lighting, there is one more thing - it should not radiate heat. During manufacture, only "cold" lamps should be used. Completely cold light is given by fluorescent lighting. But their use is not recommended due to the presence of mercury vapor inside and the resulting problems during disposal.

The second way to minimize the heating of dill during lighting is to increase the distance between the lamp and the plant. The disadvantage of this method is that you will have to use more powerful light bulbs, and these are additional energy costs.

Any illumination should be universal use. You should not make a separate backlight for each plant grown at home. How more quantity swivel joints and the possibility of adjusting the position of lighting devices, the wider the range of their application. During manufacture, the rules of the PUE should be unquestioningly followed, cable connections should be made taking into account existing regulatory requirements. It must be remembered that during irrigation, water can enter the power lines, and this significantly increases the risk of injury. electric shock. In addition, the backlight is installed on the windowsill, for children it will not be a problem to get to it. Children's curiosity can have extremely sad consequences if safety regulations were not followed during the manufacture of the backlight.

1. Lighting should be uniform from all sides. Use aluminum foil to create such a light, currently it can be easily purchased in specialized stores. There are even portable screens - very convenient devices to use. They not only make the lighting uniform, but can also be folded / unfolded and thereby increase / decrease the area.

   

2. As soon as the plants begin to lean in one direction or another, turn the pots 180 ° daily. The slopes of the plants indicate irregularity and uneven lighting. Simultaneously with turning the pots, try to adjust the lighting fixtures in height and angle of inclination to the plants. With the correct adjustment of the position of the lighting fixtures and optimal choice plant capacity develops without deviations.

   

3. In winter, it is enough to illuminate the plants on the windowsill for 5-6 hours a day. If the plants are located far from natural light, then artificial lighting should be kept for about 15 hours. It is strongly recommended to periodically lower the temperature to +8°C. You can do this by any means, up to taking the dill to the glazed balcony. Of course, if the weather permits.

   

4. It is better to water with rain or melt water. If it is not possible, tap water must be defended for at least a day to remove chlorine. Dill has a negative attitude towards bleach, in addition, it inhibits the reproduction of beneficial bacteria in the ground, and without them absorption by plants is impossible. nutrients. There are recommendations to use the so-called "magnetic" water for irrigation. To obtain it, ordinary water is passed through a special magnetic funnel. Agronomic science has not yet proven the positive effect of magnetic water on the development of plants, but many vegetable growers have noticed a very positive effect.

   

   Dill on the windowsill fell off due to improper watering - photo

5. After 3-4 weeks after the appearance of the first shoots, the plants can be sprinkled with earth. This technique increases yield, makes plants more powerful, increases the number of leaves. In addition, the process of throwing out flower stalks slows down.
6. Sometimes there are cases when, after the appearance of the first two leaves, dill sharply slows down growth. Neither the backlight nor the temperature change helps. Do not be afraid, this is a feature of the development of dill. The inhibition period lasts no more than a week, then the vegetation of plants normalizes, growth continues at a normal pace.

   

7. After plant nutrition liquid fertilizers it is recommended to spray the leaves clean water. Thus, the burn of the leaves will be excluded, chemical compounds will not get into the food.

Subject to agricultural technology, the first green crop can be harvested a month and a half after sowing.

Video - How to grow dill at home

You can grow dill on a balcony or windowsill all year round, although it is usually planted in room conditions planning for autumn and winter. To receive good harvest fragrant greens, it is necessary not only to choose and plant a crop variety correctly, but also to provide seedlings with competent care.

What you need to grow dill at home

Greens on the windowsill - a source of vitamins and fresh seasoning for different dishes reminiscent of summer with its aroma. To grow a good, powerful, juicy dill, you will have to try and stock up not only with patience, but also with the necessary props:

• containers;
• fertile soil;
• drainage;
• seeds;
• lighting lamps;
• complex supplements.

Varieties for growing green crops on the window can be early or mid-ripening:

• Grenadier;
• Richelieu;
• Gribovsky and others.

For landing in the apartment, choose early varieties dill

They will give a quick harvest, however, they will be deprived of lush foliage. Therefore, some gardeners prefer late-ripening, usually bushy varieties. They ripen longer, but they give the harvest for a longer time, and also delight the eye with abundant greenery and beautiful decorative look. Popular ones include:

• Kibray;
• Buyan;
• Firework;
• Alligator;
• Amazon;
• Asparagus bouquet;
• Puchkovy and others.

Approach responsibly and to the choice of soil for growing dill at home. The soil should be loose, fertile and non-acidic. It is important that it retains moisture well. Buy a ready-made substrate or cook it yourself. To do this, mix garden soil with peat, compost and humus, sand.

Advice. The container can serve as an old flower pot, up to 2 liters, or a small wide box with holes at the bottom. Sprouts in it should not be crowded. If the seedlings will stand on the window, make sure that the container looks aesthetically pleasing.

Preparation and sowing of seeds

Due to the high content of essential oils, dill seeds germinate for a very long time, regardless of where they are planted: in open ground or pot. Therefore, pre-soak them in warm water, potassium permanganate or growth stimulant solution. Place the seed in a small container with any of these liquids, and cover with a piece of gauze on top. Soaking time in water - up to 20 hours, in manganese - 2-3 hours, in a stimulator - according to the instructions. During this period, you need to change the fluid 2-3 times.

Attention! For planting, take only those seeds that have sunk to the bottom of the vessel.

Having selected suitable specimens, dry them well, and then proceed to sowing:

1. Lay drainage at the bottom of the container with a layer of 1.5-2.5 cm. Use expanded clay or broken brick for this purpose.
2. Fill the container with soil. Moisturize it.
3. Sow dill. To do this, you can make grooves or simply mix the seeds with the soil. The distance between the seeds is 2-3 cm. It is not necessary to deepen them, it is enough to sprinkle them with earth on top (layer thickness - up to 1 cm).
4. Cover the container with foil and place it in a warm place. The optimum temperature for seed germination is +18…+20C. Sprouts will begin to hatch 7-10 days after sowing.

Dill seeds

Dill care on the windowsill

Until the seeds sprout, water the soil regularly and remove condensation. When they sprout en masse, release the container from the film and place it on a sunny windowsill, remembering that dill is a photophilous plant. For the first week thereafter, lower the nighttime temperature by 1-2C to prevent seedlings from pulling out. For example, open a window or take out a pot with seedlings on a glazed balcony.

In the warm season, you can do without lighting. When growing greens in the autumn-winter period, without it - nowhere. Place the lamp at a distance of 0.5 m from the seedlings and turn on:

• for 5 hours in the morning, if the container is in a well-lit place;
• for 15 hours a day if the containers are in the back of the room.

The main care for dill on the window comes down to timely watering settled water (as the soil dries up) and spraying, especially if the temperature in the room exceeds + 25C. Once a day, the seedling pot must be rotated 180. This procedure will allow the seedlings to rise evenly, but not stretch.

To grow dill in the apartment you need additional lighting

Feed dill every 2-3 weeks using complex mineral fertilizers. Thin out seedlings as they grow. Follow temperature regime in room. If the room is cold, the plant roots may rot. In a too heated room, seedlings will wither and require frequent watering, as well as more intense lighting.

Growing dill on a window from March to September is considered less troublesome. It is also possible to get a harvest in winter, although this requires significant effort. Remember that cut stems do not grow back. Sow dill regularly to pamper yourself and your loved ones with delicious fresh herbs for longer.

How to grow dill at home: video

Growing dill on the windowsill: photo

Parsley and dill are the most popular herbs on our tables. These fragrant herbs add to the first, second courses and salads. In summer there is no shortage of greenery, but in winter it is not always possible to find it in stores. Luckily, you can grow dill and parsley on your windowsill yourself. To do this, you just need a desire and a little theoretical knowledge.

Temperature, light and humidity requirements

Dill and parsley are cold-resistant light-loving crops. These are the inhabitants northern latitudes that are not afraid of temperature drops. Young plants tolerate frosts down to 0 °C. Seeds begin to germinate already at 3 °C, shoots appear most quickly at 18-20 °C. At +8 ° C and below, plants will stop developing.

When cultivating greens on the windowsill, one should follow the rule: the worse the lighting, the lower the air temperature should be, since in this case the stems are less stretched.

Any greenery is moisture-loving. Optimal Humidity soil during its cultivation is 70-80% HB.

To determine the sufficient degree of moisture in the earth, you need to try to make a lump out of it. If the operation was successful, but there were no wet marks left on the hand, then the degree of dampness is optimal for growing parsley and dill.

Water the plants with separated tap water room temperature. Dill and parsley turn yellow from water with chlorine. In winter, you can use water obtained from melting snow for irrigation.

Plants need more high humidity air than the one that is usually installed in the winter in the apartment. Parsley and dill leaves grow juicy and appetizing, the tips do not dry on them if the air humidity is 60-70%. In a heated room, air humidity can be only 30-40%. Therefore, plants should be sprayed with clean water from a spray bottle at least twice a day.

day length

Dill and parsley are long day plants. With a duration of illumination of 10-12 hours, their leaf mass grows. Reducing daylight hours to 8-10 hours or less stimulates the appearance rosette leaves and increases the foliage of the bushes, but the plants develop more slowly and reduce overall productivity.

Growing dill in winter on a windowsill is impractical without the use of additional lighting. For illumination, LED or fluorescent lamps are used, placing them at a distance of 30-50 cm above the containers. As the stems grow, the lighting fixtures are raised.

Parsley is less demanding on the length of daylight hours than dill. It can grow without illumination, except for the darkest months: December, January, February.

Priming

Usually the townspeople are engaged in growing greenery on the windowsill. It should be noted that the city does not suitable soil, because even in gardens and parks the soil is contaminated with substances harmful to health. Much safer to buy generic soil mixture for seedlings with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction (5.5-7.0), additionally filling it with bigumus or worm compost purchased at the store.

When growing greens on the windowsill, you need to keep in mind that the looser and more nutritious the soil, the better the result.

Summer residents can stock up on their own soil in the fall, taking it from the garden where cucumbers or cabbage were grown this year, and to make it loose, mix it with purchased peat soil in a 1: 1 ratio.

The technology of growing dill on the windowsill

For growing dill at home, you can take any early and mid-season varieties.

Table 1: varieties of greens suitable for a window sill

Varieties Grenadier and Gribovsky give a quick but small harvest. Mid-season varieties(Richelieu, Kibray) grow greens a week later than the early ones, but there will be almost twice as many leaves - 7-11. Bush varieties(Alligator, Buyan) will give the latest, but also the most abundant harvest.

Seed preparation

Instead of potassium permanganate for etching, you can use preparations from the table.

Table 2: Treatment of parsley and dill seeds

Sowing

Containers of any shape and size are suitable for growing greens. You need to pay attention only to the depth - it should be at least 10 and not more than 20 cm.

Expanded clay drainage is poured into the bottom of the tank with a layer of 2-3 cm, then filled with soil, without filling up to the edge of the tank 1 cm. The soil is sprayed with water from a spray bottle, grooves are made and seeds are sown to a depth of 1 cm. Seeds are covered with earth and once again sprayed the soil surface. The container is covered with glass or transparent film on top and placed in a bright place.

Dill seeds do not germinate well in the dark, so do not cover the container with opaque materials.

At a temperature of 18-20 ° C, seedlings will appear in a week. Old 2-3 year old seeds germinate longer. After the appearance of cotyledon leaves on the surface, the plants are thinned out, leaving 2-3 cm between them.

Good light for dill and parsley more important than warmth. From March to August, plants on the windowsill will have enough natural sun. In the remaining months, the greens will have to be illuminated artificially.

The technology of growing parsley on the windowsill

For cultivation leaf parsley fit in the apartment early ripe varieties. They grow leaves almost 2 weeks earlier than mid- and late-ripening ones. When choosing a variety, you need to consider that parsley can be leaf and root. Root parsley is not suitable for growing on a windowsill from seeds, since a powerful root crop must first grow in it, and only then can a fairly plentiful leaf mass be obtained.

For growing in rooms, leafy varieties are suitable:

• Laika;
• Kharkiv woman;
• Harvest;
• Irinka;
• Russian Feast;
• Aster;
• Moscaruse.

Parsley seeds contain a lot of essential oils that prevent water from penetrating inside the seed and waking up the embryo. To remove some of the esters, the seeds are soaked in water for a day. The water needs to be changed at least twice, draining the darkened. Without this method, parsley can germinate for up to 30 days. After soaking, the seeds germinate in 7-10 days.

Seeds are planted in containers 15-30 cm deep and covered to a depth of 5-10 mm, sprinkled with earth and moistened the surface. The container is covered with glass to slow down the evaporation of water, and transferred to a bright place with a temperature of 19-20 ° C. After 2-3 weeks, the first shoots will appear. Then the glass is removed and the plants are thinned out, leaving 4-5 cm between them.

In summer, parsley is watered often, preventing the soil from drying out. In winter, the soil should be allowed to dry out.

As soon as shoots appear, the temperature is reduced to 15-18 ° C. Lowering the temperature stimulates the development of the root system and prevents the aerial part from stretching. In summer, the container can be taken out to the balcony. In summer, spring and autumn, the plant will have enough natural sunlight. Lighting required in winter fluorescent lamps. The first leaves can be cut 2 months after germination. The branches are not cut at the root, leaving the longest petiole. A parsley bush is constantly pushing out new leaves. Once you sow the seeds, you can provide yourself with greens for several months.

Distillation of root parsley

In autumn and winter you can drive out root parsley, taking a root crop grown in the country or bought in a store. Illumination during distillation is not required.

Distillation can begin at the end of October. Root crops up to 5 cm long and 2-4 cm thick are suitable. They are planted in an ordinary flower pot, so that the upper parts protrude slightly above the soil surface. The pot is watered as the earth dries up. From the upper part of the root, in a week or two, young leaves will begin to appear, which can be cut off and eaten. Greens from one root crop are cut four times.

Hydroponics

Parsley and dill seeds germinate for a long time, and then you still have to wait until the leaves reach the desired size. Now you can grow greens on the windowsill much faster. To do this, you need to purchase already grown greens in the supermarket, which are sold in small containers. These plants are grown in hydroponic greenhouses, but they are quite capable of taking root in the soil.

The bushes are freed from containers and planted in 0.5 liter pots. After the plants take root, dormant buds wake up on them and additional leaves appear.

Cute pots of fresh herbs on the kitchen window sill decorate the interior and serve as a source of fresh produce in the cold season. You can grow greens with your children. You will have a joint interesting activity, and the children will get acquainted with plants and learn more about nature.