Dill

Light and exposure

Dill wants full sun, at least six hours a day. It is in full light that it develops its fine foliage and its aniseed aromas. Too shady a spot gives thread-like, pale plants that soon flop over.

The point not to neglect here is the wind. Dill easily reaches eighty centimetres, sometimes more, on hollow, fragile stems that topple at the first gust of wind. Choose a sunny but sheltered corner, along a low hedge or a wall, and provide light staking for the tallest specimens.

Watering

Dill likes a soil that stays cool. That is even the key to delaying bolting: a plant that is thirsty heads straight for flower and stops producing foliage. Water regularly, especially in hot, dry weather, aiming for the base and not the foliage.

In summer, a light mulch at the base keeps the moisture in and limits watering. Avoid excess standing water, however, which the taproot tolerates poorly. The aim is a soil that stays cool at all times, never waterlogged.

Soil and repotting

A cool, rich and well-drained soil suits it best. An addition of well-rotted compost before sowing supports rapid growth and abundant foliage. It tolerates ordinary soils but gives far more in a loose, deep soil where its taproot can go down.

There is no talk of planting or repotting with dill: it is sown in place, full stop. Transplanting breaks or twists the taproot, and the plant reacts to that stress by bolting prematurely. Sow directly where the dill is to grow, in the open ground or in a large deep pot that you will no longer move.

Temperature and humidity

Dill is sensitive to cold at sowing. Below warmed soil, germination drags or fails: that is why you don’t sow too early in Belgium. Wait until the soil has gained a few degrees, from May onwards, rather than an April still cold where the seeds lie dormant without coming up.

The adult plant, for its part, tolerates the coolness of our summers well. Its real enemy is the opposite: dry heat. A burst of heat combined with a lack of water makes it bolt in a few days. A moderate, damp Belgian summer actually suits it better than a heatwave.

Pruning and upkeep

You don’t prune dill, you harvest it. Take the young foliage as needed, cutting the most tender stems at the top. This delays flowering a little and keeps you fresh sprigs for longer.

Routine care comes down to a few gestures: regular watering, a mulch, a stake for the tall stems, and weeding the young sowings, which are easily smothered. When a plant flowers, let it rise if you want the umbels and the seeds, or pull it up to make room for a younger sowing.

Pests and diseases

In our damp climate, powdery mildew can cover the foliage with a whitish felting in late summer, especially on crowded, poorly aired plants. Excess water at the base also encourages damping-off and crown rot on young plants. Sow thinly, air out, and water at the base in the morning to limit all that.

As for pests, dill shares the enemies of its family. The carrot fly may take an interest in it, and aphids gather on the young shoots and umbels. The good news: those same umbels attract hoverflies, ladybirds and small parasitic wasps that regulate the aphids in the neighbouring vegetable garden.

Propagation

Dill is propagated by direct sowing, never by transplanting. Sow in place at a shallow depth, half a centimetre, in rows or small clusters, then thin out to leave about twenty centimetres between the plants. Emergence takes two to three weeks depending on the warmth of the soil.

For continuous foliage, stagger the sowings every three to four weeks, from May to July. Let one or two plants rise at the end of the season: the yellow umbels give seeds that readily self-sow on the spot and that you can also harvest for the kitchen or for next year’s sowing.

Month-by-month care calendar

Green Hub tips

• Always sow in place, never in modules: the taproot doesn’t like transplanting and bolts if you disturb it.
• Stagger the sowings every three to four weeks from May to July for tender foliage continuously all summer.
• Water regularly: drought and heat spells make dill run to flower and stop leaf production.
• Don’t plant it next to fennel, with which it cross-breeds and loses its flavour, nor near carrots, which share its pests.