Dill

[falkon]

Can Dill be treated as cut and grow ?

[sarraceniac]

We have loads of dill in the flower garden as an ornamental but it has never grown back after cutting Falkon. It does self seed like mad though. The only thing we cut it for is to make gravlax but there is always plenty left to flower (we love the yellow delicate flower heads on top of the wispy green) and to seed itself for the next year.

[falkon]

thanks for explaining.. i m currently growing it in a container so self seeding is not needed unless i replant the some of them in my garden. Dill leaves are good in Salads, potatoes and especially fish... Flowers heads are good in pickles..

[acasia]

dill...the only thing that grows in my herb window garden all the time and i haven't the foggiest wha to do with it!!
wish me parsley n basil would grow more

[terrier]

I'm just the opposite, acasia, the parsley is running rampant in my patch and competing with the mint but as soon as I plant out the Dill it just flops and doesn't recover.
Sarra, are you growing under clotches??

[LostGoddess]

I have found that if you cut dill stalks down to the lowest leaf node, it will re-sprout. If you're looking for leaf production this can work, although it does weaken the plant over time.

[falkon]

I have found that if you cut dill stalks down to the lowest leaf node, it will re-sprout. If you're looking for leaf production this can work, although it does weaken the plant over time.

good idea, it can be tried

[Marsy]

Dill novice

I've got a few herbs in my windowsill and mini greenhouse, but I've just started out with dill from seed. They've grown quickly, and I've just put them into individual pots but have no idea what happens next. Any tips?

[sarraceniac]

That is fine Marsy. You can grow it in pots as 'kitchen herbs' or you can plant them in a bed of herbs, or you can do what we do and plant them in a flower border as an ornamental and also pick it as a herb. The latter two will self-seed next (and every) year but if you keep them in pots then you must start new every year. (Not that that is any real problem). Dill is very easy. Or if you want a simple answer to your question - use it as a flavouring as Falkon suggests. Or buy some fresh salmon and mustard and make gravlax as I suggest.

[chengjing]

Have you guys tried fennel? Fennel has very similar taste as dill but it is perennial so you only need to sow once, you can get bronze fennel which is rusty red colour as well. I stop grewing dill after I grow funnels.

[gardendancer]

could I plant dill now and grow it inside over the winter?

[sarraceniac]

@Chengjing. I used to have Fennel (grown as a herb, not the Florence Fennel grown for it's bulb and eaten as a vegetable) but we both found it very aniseedy in taste. Not really fond of it, I am not even fond of Basil for the same reason. I agree though it is very similar but I find Dill is more 'subdued'.

@Gardendancer. Never tried it but I would assume that if you have a bright window ledge then you may succeed. Don't forget though that it can grow big and that it has a fairly short life span so probably won't survive until Spring in a warm house. Don't know if anyone reading this thread has tried it but would be interested to know. Not that I'd want it myself except for Christmas gravlax maybe.

[basketcase]

I'm working on a hunch here, Sarraceniac...

Are you fond of gravadlax?

[gardendancer]

Well I will try and I'll report back on how it is going.

[sarraceniac]

I'm working on a hunch here, Sarraceniac...

Are you fond of gravadlax?

Can't stand it. But raw oily fish is supposed to help the little grey cells, and I need all the help I can get.