How to harvest dill without killing the plant? Dill is a fairly common annual herb that is actively used in cooking. However, the question often arises, how to harvest dill without killing the plant. More details about the growing dill will be discussed in this article.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? On average, a bush after cutting grows in 15-25 days, depending on the variety. If, however, the dill is not cut at the root but is limited to the removal of extreme branches and leaves, then harvesting can be carried out almost continuously after ripening.
Contents
- 1 How to harvest dill without killing the plant
- 2 When is it usually to harvest dill, so that later harvest fresh dill is also possible?
- 3 How to understand that the planting dill is ready for harvest?
- 4 What happens if the deadline is missed?
- 5 Does the spice keep growing back after cutting it?
- 6 Varieties of the dill plant
- 7 Trim, cut off or pull out with roots – what to choose?
- 8 Can it be harvested multiple times?
- 9 What time of day and what weather is best?
- 10 How and when to cut off so that new greens ripen further?
- 11 How and when to collect seeds?
- 12 FAQ
- 13 Results
How to harvest dill without killing the plant
When is it usually to harvest dill, so that later harvest fresh dill is also possible?
Harvesting dill takes place in 2 stages:
- Harvest dill fresh for current needs. You can use it after the fresh dill reaches 6-7,9 in height. From that moment on, you can start harvesting dill for potato salad, soups, and other dill recipes that are cooked immediately. At this stage, the fresh dill is not stored.
- Harvest dill leaves for storage. This phase lasts until flower heads have formed.
- Harvest dill leaves for blanks (thriving dill plants used, among other things, for salting and preserving vegetables, making dill pickles) – from the formation of flower heads to the milky ripeness of dill seeds.
- Dill seed – after reaching the full maturity of the plant.
In time, it looks like this:
- Fresh dill for greens – 35-50 days from the moment of sowing (subject to degreasing and soaking the seeds).
- Growing dill for blanks – 60-10 days.
- Growing dill seeds – 90-120 days.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? All dates are, of course, indicative. Real harvesting dill should begin when biological maturity is reached.
How to understand that the planting dill is ready for harvest?
According to biological signs, it is necessary to focus on the following:
- Young dill for greens can be cut from the moment 5-7 pairs of true leaves appear. However, at this stage, it is better to cut one or two leaves per plant dill.
- Mass collection for greens – after the planting, dill reaches a height of at least 6 in (for late-ripening varieties – at a height of 7.9-9.8 in). Here you can cut the whole plant.
- Plant dill for seeds – with yellowing of at least 2/3 of the flower heads.
You can store dill obtained at the stage of tearing the beds for personal use when excess plants are removed. This is not a commercial green, but it is a fantastic herb with delicate flavor in a salad or soup.
What happens if the deadline is missed?
If the harvesting deadlines are missed, the following consequences are possible:
- the greenery will “outgrow” and begin to fade;
- dill will lose its presentation;
- greens will wither completely.
You can also store dry dill stalks. However, the benefits from them are many times less than from living greens. Overgrown greens will be more difficult to prepare for the winter.
However, in general, the consequences of “overgrowing” dill are less than those of immaturity. Therefore, if you are in doubt about whether it is time to harvest dill plant, then let it stand for another 5-7 days.
Does the spice keep growing back after cutting it?
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? One of the main advantages of herbaceous plants as a spice is their ability to regrow from the root. This also applies to dill: being cut at the root, it can start growing again before the end of the growing season and, if the weather permits, reach full maturity again.
In the south, where the warm season lasts for a long time, it is even possible to harvest dill seeds that have already been cut.
Varieties of the dill plant
You also need to consider varieties of dill plants:
- It is better not to cut early grow dill, but to pull them off entirely on greens. They will recover after cutting but will go into the arrow. If you do not need to harvest dill seeds of these varieties, remove them entirely and sow them again. If you’re lucky, you can get 2-3 crops of these varieties during the warm season.
- Mid-season dill seeds, on the contrary, it is better to leave them in the garden. They shoot late, and fresh and fragrant greens will come from the hemp again.
- Late-ripening dill seeds – and it’s better not to touch it at all and just cut off the greens from them. In most regions, dill plant simply does not have time to ripen, but they provide the gardener with greenery until the very autumn cold.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? On average, a bush after cutting grows in 15-25 days, depending on the variety. If, however, the dill is not cut at the root but is limited to the removal of extreme branches and leaves, then harvesting can be carried out almost continuously after ripening.
Trim, cut off or pull out with roots – what to choose?
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? For personal purposes, bushes, and twigs can also be plucked, but for mass harvesting or sale, dill must be cut, minimally injuring the root. Uprooting makes sense only when the greens are planted in the wrong place.
Can it be harvested multiple times?
If the variety is suitable, greens can be removed from it within one and a half months to at least eight weeks after germination.
A bush is pulled out with roots only in the following cases:
- this is an early variety, not suitable for many months of vegetation.
- roots are sometimes used in cooking.
What time of day and what weather is best?
Dill is best to harvest:
- Early in the morning, before the dew was asleep and dried up.
- In dry weather – until noon, until drying begins.
It is best to harvest dill plant in dry, clear weather (if the greens will be used right now) or in cloudy, damp, but not rainy weather – if you plan to dry the dill for storage.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? Dill is cut on a dry morning for sale after the dew has evaporated, but before the sun has begun to “roast” the stems. At this time, dill has the maximum commercial quality. How to harvest dill without killing the plant?
How and when to cut off so that new greens ripen further?
It all depends on the place of cultivation. More on this will be discussed later.
On a garden bed in open ground
To collect dill plants in the garden, you will need scissors, a harvesting container, and dry wood ash to disinfect the wound.
Harvesting is done like this:
- The fresh dill is cut off, leaving a stem stump and a couple of leaves.
- The cut is powdered with a pinch of ash.
- Cut dill plants are put into a container and carried away for sorting and harvesting (drying, freezing, salting, etc.).
On very large areas, measured in acres and hectares, you can use a trimmer or lawn mower for harvesting.
However, in general, this is undesirable, since it severely injures plants.
In the greenhouse
In the greenhouse, greenery is harvested in the same way as outdoors.
However, due to the smaller area, one should pay more attention to the condition of dill bushes, cutting off only those that are completely healthy and do not have yellowed and reddened branches.
At home
If dill is grown on a windowsill, harvesting can be done in the same way as outdoors or in a greenhouse, that is, by cutting.
However, due to the smaller volume, you cannot cut the greens but pluck them.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? This option is even better for the development of dill because it does not leave strange sticks, but a stump jammed inward with minimal oozing.
How and when to collect seeds?
First of all, you need to focus on the maturity of the umbrellas. There are two possible errors here.
The first is that the seeds are collected immaturely, and then they will not sprout, and during the treatment, they will not have the desired effect.
The second is that the umbrellas are overripe, and most of the seeds have already crumbled.
Considering that the dill seed is very light, it will not work to collect the seeds from the soil later, but they will sprout in the most unexpected places.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? Sometimes this is useful, but more often the dill that has crawled out in the garden will only interfere with growing other crops.
With the proper collection, you need to focus on the following:
- Timing. Usually, the seeds ripen in the first half of September. Depending on the variety and planting time, maturity may deviate by 1-2 weeks in both directions.
- The degree of yellowing. It’s too early to touch a completely green umbrella – it will only come in handy as a seasoning for preserving vegetables, but you can get by with dill leaves or stems.
Entirely yellow – already overripe, and most of the seeds have already crumbled from it.
Attention! It is necessary to collect the dill seeds when the dill umbrella has turned yellow by about more than one-third part.
This is the best option: the umbrella has not yet crumbled, but most of the seeds are already ready for harvesting.
You must harvest the grow dill on a calm day (the seeds are very light, easily break out and fly off in the wind anywhere), preferably before 11 a.m.
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? Seed harvesting is carried out as follows:
- At each dill plant, an umbrella and about 0.78-1.18 in of the stem are carefully cut with scissors.
- Each umbrella is put into a paper bag or plastic bag. Packages with umbrellas are sent for final drying within 5-7 days.
- It is necessary to dry them in a dry, ventilated area without removing them from the paper or plastic bag.
After drying, the bags are opened, the umbrellas are taken out, and the seeds are poured into the prepared airtight container.
If seeds remain on the umbrellas, they are threshed.
Threshing can be done in several ways:
- A newspaper or a large sheet of paper is placed on the table, then with light blows on it, the seeds are knocked off the umbrella.
- The umbrella is placed on the newspaper, and the second is covered – and gently rolled with a rolling pin with light pressure.
- After threshing, the seeds must be sifted on a sieve, preferably in two: fragments of an umbrella will remain on a large-holed one, dust and dust will come off on a small one, and the dill seeds will remain.
- Ready seeds can be stored.
FAQ
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? When it comes to harvesting dill, you may encounter different questions.
How do you cut dill so it keeps growing?
Can you trim dill without killing the plant?
How do you pick dill off plants?
Results
How to harvest dill without killing the plant? As you can see, harvesting dill without killing the plant is quite simple. The main thing is not to rush and stick to the basic rules.
