When is it better to plant dill before winter, and is it possible to do so

Can I plant dill before winter and when to do it? Experienced gardeners say that at the same time, dill grows faster, grows better and gives a good harvest. Is it so? If you look at it, the well-known spice belongs to cold-resistant crops of a long day.

With proper sowing, dill seeds will calmly survive the winter, they will endure the March frosts without consequences and will give amicable shoots in early spring, 10-15 days earlier than spring crops.

What varieties of dill can be sown in the fall

There are three types of dill:

1. Usual. The plant has a single stem with numerous leaves. At the top is formed umbrella with seeds.
2. Bush. At the base of the main stem, 5-6 internodes are formed, from which lateral stems develop.
3. Densely leafy. The plant has one stem, but due to the large number of leaves, such a dill resembles a small Christmas tree.

In these three categories, breeders have developed a great variety of varieties and hybrids with different ripening periods and distinctive features. Dill of any varieties is planted before winter, but for best results, you should give preference to varieties with increased frost resistance, early and medium ripening periods:

• Kharkiv 85;
• Atlant;
• Ambrosia:
• Shmaragd;
• Umbrella;
• Gribovsky:
• Vologda lace;
• Grenadier.

In the listed varieties, fresh herbs are harvested 30-45 days after germination.

How to choose the time for autumn planting before winter and when to prepare the beds

The timing of autumn sowing of dill depends on the climate of the region and weather conditions of the current period. If the fall is too warm and the seeds are planted early, the seeds may germinate. The optimal sowing time is considered to be the days when the daytime air temperature is set within 0-3 ° C:

• in the Moscow region: in November;
• in Siberia and the Urals: in the middle - end of October;
• in the south: in the second half of November - early December.

If for spring sowing the beds and the soil on them are prepared in the fall, then for winter dill the planting site is prepared in the summer, in the middle of July - early August.

Advantages and disadvantages of autumn planting

Planting dill in the fall before winter has many advantages:

• seed will sprout 10-15 days earlier than spring crops;
• there is no risk of seeds freezing;
• strong and friendly shoots;
• plants will have strong immunity to diseases and adverse factors;
• saving time for other work in the spring;
• the ability to collect several harvests of greens per season.

There were no significant drawbacks to the method. There are certain risks that many gardeners attribute to disadvantages:

• in case of unstable weather (sudden thaw in autumn), inaccurate forecasts there is a risk of untimely germination of seeds;
• increased seed consumption (more by 20-30%);
• the probability of seedling death in spring with return frosts.

How to properly plant dill in the fall before winter

Winter sowing is somewhat different from the traditional spring sowing. Knowing the secrets and subtleties of autumn planting, many problems can be avoided, because of which summer residents often refuse this. cultivation method.

Seat selection

Dill prefers places well lit by the sun throughout the day (the minimum duration of bright lighting is 12 hours), and rich in organic matter, light and neutral in acidity.... It is difficult to grow lush emerald greens on acidic and poor soil. Such lands are cultivated in advance.

When choosing a place for dill, it is important to observe crop rotation. The best predecessors for him are cucumbers, early potatoes, tomatoes, radishes, white cabbage and cauliflower. You can not sow dill after plants of its own Umbrella family: cilantro, carrots, caraway seeds and fennel.

Important! A bed, brightly lit by the sun for a long time, is a must for winter dill. Snow will melt on it faster than other places, the soil will warm up and seedlings will appear.

Seed preparation

Seeds are sown dry before winter. Pre-treatment, soaking and other pre-sowing procedures are not required. The seeds must be fresh: if they are harvested from their own garden, then they must be this year.

Preparing the garden

Before you start preparing the soil for culture, it is important to know exactly which soil, in terms of nutritional value and texture, prevails in the garden. To determine this in the field, there is such a test. Take a handful of earth and make a fist.

If the soil lump, when pressed on it, easily falls apart into grains, you have sandy loam soil in front of you. Soils with a high clay content are slippery and greasy to the touch. You can easily roll a sausage out of it.

Weeds growing on it speak about the acidity of the soil. Indicators of very acidic soils are:

• field navel (one of the wild types of chamomile);
• blueberries;
• heather;
• sorrel;
• horsetail.

Having determined the type of soil and its acidity, two weeks before sowing, proceed to the following activities:

1. The soil is dug onto the bayonet of a shovel to remove the rhizomes of the weeds.
2. At the same time it is limed (2-3 kg of lime for every 10 sq. M) and a complex of fertilizers (rotted manure, sifted wood ash, superphosphate and potassium chloride) is applied - 20-30 g per 1 sq. M. m.
3. With a rake they level the soil well, breaking all lumps.

Attention! Manure or compost applied to the soil must be completely rotted, otherwise the weed shoots will clog the seedlings.

Sowing pattern and depth

Dry seeds are sown into the soil according to the following scheme:

• embedment depth - 3 cm;
• distance between rows - 10-15 cm;
• the distance between plants is 0.51 cm.

Other rules

Such a large seeding depth is not accidental. It is desirable that 1.5 cm is fertile soil, and the other 1.5 cm is a mulching warm layer. Peat, dry manure crumbs, sawdust of deciduous trees are used as mulch for dill. Mulch not only retains heat and protects from frost, but also prevents the formation of soil crust after the snow melts.

We prepared a bed, but did not have time to sow - did it snow? No problem! You can sow in December, at the first thaw. Spread lightly 2 to 3 cm of snow, sow seeds directly over the snow cover and cover with a layer of snow.

How to care for dill planted in autumn before winter

Unpretentious dill does not require large-scale maintenance. For a bountiful harvest, seeds need to be properly winterized so that they do not rot and freeze. The choice of mulching and covering material depends on the winter temperatures of the region and the level of groundwater at the site.

The best material suitable for sheltering crops in any region is agrofibre, and on top of it is peat mulch.

In the spring, when seedlings appear, caring for the crop includes the following mandatory agricultural practices:

1. Regular watering. It is important not to allow the topsoil to dry out. Watering rate - 1 time per day, on hot days - 2-3 times.
2. Root dressing. Organic matter is used as fertilizer - bird droppings or manure. For lush greenery, 1-2 dressings are enough for the entire growing season of the plant.
3. Weed vegetation weeding. Weeds are the worst enemies of any green culture.Capable of active growth, they take away from cultivated plants the necessary space under the sun and nutrients from the soil.
4. Shelter on hot days from direct sunlight. Young seedlings of dill are very tender. If the weather is abnormally hot in spring, canopies of gauze or thin white lutrasil are erected over the beds.
5. Protection from pests is possible only with the help of folk methods of struggle. To scare away harmful insects, herbs are sprinkled with tobacco dust or dry garlic powder mixed with sand in a 1: 1 ratio.

Harvesting and storage

Depending on the variety chosen, it takes 25 to 50 days to grow fresh winter greens. Cutting dill starts from a height of 7 cm. If greens are grown for sale, they wait for a height of 20-25 cm. The crop is harvested all at once or as needed.

The collected greens are used for food and stored in the refrigerator for a short time. For long-term storage, dill is dried or frozen. For freezing, greens are washed from dirt and finely chopped. It is convenient to freeze the spice in ice containers to add portioned cubes to various dishes.

Conclusion

Winter crops are often used by gardeners who grow greens for sale. Despite the numerous risks and additional costs (for covering material, mulch, seeds of special varieties), you can get an early harvest of greenery, which is in active demand. For summer residents growing dill on the family table, uninterrupted cultivation of this unpretentious greenery in the open field during the off-season is also attractive.