Harvest Dill: Leave some blossoms, it will self-seed
Created: 07/23/2022, 09:00
By: Ines Alms
Dill can also be harvested and eaten when it is in bloom.
If you let the pretty umbels mature, the plant multiplies by seeds all by itself.
Munich – In the garden, dill can grow into a bush more than a meter high.
It is also easy to care for and therefore promises a bountiful harvest with a little care.
However, since the plant is only one year old, you have to take care of the cultivation every year.
Unless you leave the herb to itself and let the wind do the sowing.
Harvesting Dill: Leave some blossoms, it will self-seed
Dill has very decorative flowers that form large umbels of seeds in autumn.
(Iconic image) © Bernd Friedel/Imago
Even if many hobby gardeners tend to cut off the flowers of herbs in order to direct the power into the spicy leaves, it often makes sense to let them grow naturally.
The flowers of the dill are not only very decorative, but they also attract bees and butterflies such as the swallowtail.
If you let the dill seeds ripen, you can use them in the kitchen like fennel seeds as a spice - for example in salads, for pickling cucumbers, as tea or for herb popcorn.
Or you can use them as seeds for the next season.
If you are not choosy about the future location of the plant, you can let nature take its course: the dill will sow its own seeds and the seeds survive the winter in the ground.
Sow dill: the seeds need cold
This is actually the easiest method, since dill is a cold germ, which means the seeds need cool temperatures before the first green shows up in spring.
However, if you want to do the sowing yourself, the following tips are helpful:
As soon as the seeds turn brown around September, they are ready to be harvested.
To harvest, cut off the umbels with a stalk and hang them up again to dry.
To do this, loosely wrap the umbels in a paper bag that catches the seeds when they fall off.
After about two weeks, the seeds are completely dry and can be stored in a paper bag or in a container protected from light.
To replace the cold winter soil, it makes sense to keep the seeds outside in a seed tray with soil either in the fall.
Or you can store the seeds in the fridge in a freezer bag with potting soil for a few weeks in spring before you put them in the garden.
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If you do the sowing yourself, make sure that the dill gets the right bed partner.
He doesn't like being near basil, celery and other umbellifers such as parsley or fennel.
Beetroot, lettuce and peas, on the other hand, are popular neighbors.
