Content
You can plant dill on the balcony at any time of the year if the room is insulated and it is possible to maintain a temperature of at least +15 degrees. The plants themselves are unpretentious - they need regular watering and lighting. Fertilizing is applied only once per season, and the first greenery is cut a month after germination. Basic growing rules and useful tips are described in the article.
Is it possible to grow dill on the balcony?
It is quite possible to grow dill on the balcony for greenery. To do this, you need to prepare special containers, stock up on fertile soil, install lighting, and install electrical wiring. The seeds are carefully prepared so that they germinate. To do this, they are soaked in water or a special solution.
Planting dates are chosen depending on the characteristics of the room. You can plant dill on the balcony in the summer, if it is not insulated, and grow it until the end of September - beginning of October. If the room is insulated, planting and harvesting can be done all year round.
When planning, it is worth considering the timing.Thus, early-ripening varieties produce greens within a month, mid-ripening varieties - after 40 days, and late - after 50-60 days. By this time you need to add another week, which will take you to prepare the dill seeds for planting, as well as for germination.
The area of even a small balcony makes it possible to get a good enough harvest for personal needs. You can get at least 2.5 kg of dill per square meter per season. To increase volumes, planting can also be done on multi-tiered racks. If you want to grow dill for sale, a greenhouse with an area of 100 m2 or more is suitable for planting.2. In this case, production will be profitable.
Conditions for growing dill
It is quite possible to grow dill at home on the balcony if you follow the basic conditions:
- Stable positive temperatures not lower than 15 degrees. If planting in winter, autumn or early spring, the balcony must first be insulated.
- For planting, use only fertile soil containing compost or humus. The soil must be loose and have a neutral or slightly acidic reaction.
- It is imperative to take care of lighting. You can grow dill on the balcony in winter if you install phytolamps, LEDs or other lighting devices. Under these conditions, planting and growing are possible even with a lack of sunlight.
- After the procedure, it is important to organize care for the dill on the balcony. The soil should be regularly watered and loosened, and weeded if necessary. Fertilizers are added periodically. If the soil is fertile, doing this twice a season is enough.
Dill can be grown all year round if the temperature is consistently above +15 °C
Dill varieties for balconies
On the balcony you can plan to plant almost all varieties that are grown in an open house or in a greenhouse. You should pay attention only to the yield, as well as the timing of ripening. If you need to get greens literally in a month, you can consider early varieties:
- Grenadier;
- Umbrella;
- Richelieu;
- Gribovsky;
- Kibray;
- Further.
Among the mid-season varieties that ripen in 40-50 days, the following can be distinguished:
- Lesnogorodsky;
- Patterns;
- Amazon;
- Brawler.
Late varieties for planting on the balcony give a harvest in 50-60 days:
- Gourmet;
- Alligator;
- Russian size;
- Firework.
Growing dill on the balcony from seeds
Dill seeds are planted on the balcony in ordinary containers for seedlings. First you need to think about the place where they will stand. This could be a window sill, special shelves or multi-tiered racks. The latter option is more preferable, since it allows you to grow not only dill, but also other greens - parsley, onions, cilantro.
Selection and preparation of containers
For planting, choose a fairly spacious container with a depth of 10-15 cm. It can be wooden, but for practicality it is better to purchase plastic boxes. They do not rot and do not heat up in the sun. You need to make several drainage holes at the bottom. After this, the containers are thoroughly washed with soap and disinfected. To do this, it is enough to hold them for an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate (1 g per 1 l). The liquid should be bright pink.
Soil preparation
Before planting dill on the balcony, it is very important to prepare the soil. If there is no soil, you can purchase universal soil for seedlings at a gardening store. But it’s cheaper to make the mixture yourself. To do this, use standard components (ratio 2:1:1:1):
- turf soil;
- black peat;
- humus or compost;
- coarse sand.
Seedlings are grown in fertile, loose soil
A few days before planting, the soil is disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate (1 g per 1 l) or placed in the freezer for several days. To restore the microflora, it is recommended to add Nitragin or other bacterial fertilizers.
Seed preparation
Dill seeds have an important feature - their shell is covered with essential oils. These substances prevent germination, which is why germination is noticeably reduced. To obtain a sufficiently large number of seedlings, the seeds must be treated before planting. Preparation is carried out in several stages:
- You should start by checking the seeds for suitability. Dissolve a heaping tablespoon of salt in 1 liter of warm water, stir thoroughly and put the seeds in for a few minutes. Those that float are rejected.
- Place the seeds in warm water or herbal infusion of chamomile for several hours. A few drops of a growth stimulator are also added there - this can be “Heteroauxin”, “Zircon” or other means. If there is nothing, you can get juice from aloe leaves, dilute it with water twice and leave for 3-4 hours.
- To successfully plant and grow dill on the balcony, the seeds should be pickled in a bright pink solution of potassium permanganate (1 g per 1 l). The grains are placed in cheesecloth and kept for three hours. Instead of this liquid, you can use 3% hydrogen peroxide, but you can keep the seeds for no more than six minutes.
- Place on a damp cloth in a saucer, cover with another layer on top and germinate in a warm, dark place for a week.
- After the sprouts appear, they are transferred to seedling boxes.
Growing space
To grow dill on the balcony, you should choose the right place.Landing is carried out on the side that faces south, east or southeast. In the west, cultivation is also possible, but the yield will not be as high. As for the north windows, they should not be considered at all. If there is very little sunlight, then even in summer it is necessary to use lamps. They are installed at a height of 50 cm from the tops of the bushes.
There is often not enough space on the balcony to plant dill. To save space, use racks with several tiers. They should be high enough so that even the bottom shelf gets enough light. It is also necessary to provide space for installing lamps.
It is easier to grow seedlings on multi-tiered racks
How to plant dill on the balcony
To properly plant dill on the balcony, you must proceed as follows:
- Pour soil into containers and level the surface.
- Make several grooves 1-2 cm deep at a distance of 15 cm.
- Distribute the sprouted seeds at intervals of 5 cm.
- Sprinkle soil on top and spray with water from a spray bottle.
- Cover with film with holes and place on the balcony or in a greenhouse.
Features of care
Caring for dill when planting on the balcony is easy. Water the plants often enough so that the soil does not have time to dry out. At the same time, it should not be too wet, as this will damage the roots and the plants may die. Before emergence and in the first week after this, water is given from a spray bottle. It must be warm, so the liquid must first be left to settle for at least 12 hours.
After watering, loosen the soil, trying not to damage the roots. If necessary, do weeding.Two weeks after the emergence of seedlings, thinning begins, leaving only the strongest shoots. The bushes can grow close to each other, but too dense planting (“green carpet”) should be avoided. Otherwise, the dill on the balcony will not have enough light or space to develop. In addition, the soil will not dry out, and fungal diseases may appear.
Another important point is that the plants need to be fed. If the soil is fertile, you can apply fertilizer 10-15 days after germination. For this purpose, complex preparations are used, for example, “Fertika” or “Kemira Lux”. You can also use organic matter - liquid potassium humate, mullein infusion 1:10 or bird droppings 1:20.
It is no longer necessary to fertilize a second time, since the dill on the balcony grows quickly. But if the greenery begins to turn yellow, the bushes are clearly lagging behind in development, another application is carried out. Sometimes the leaves begin to turn red, which indicates a lack of potassium. Then you should add potassium salt or potassium sulfate.
To obtain a harvest, dill must be watered regularly.
If any bushes suffer from diseases or pests, it is better to remove them immediately. The rest of the greens are treated with folk remedies, for example, an infusion of wood ash, laundry soap, tobacco dust, a decoction of wormwood, dandelion or celandine. The use of chemicals is not recommended, since toxic substances accumulate in greenery and can cause damage to health.
Conclusion
You can plant dill on the balcony in spring or summer if it is not insulated. But if there is lighting and the ability to maintain a stable positive temperature, harvesting can be done all year round. Even under minimal growing conditions, 2.5-3 kg of fresh herbs are obtained per square meter.If you save space by using shelving, you can plant not only dill, but also other garden herbs on the balcony.
