Harvesting dill seeds is a critical part of herb gardening. The plants must be soaked frequently with warm water to prevent drying. With more prolonged growth of the roots, the watering system has to be slightly modified as per the changing conditions to allow the water to reach the deeper levels of the roots. Dill plants do very well in sunny weather, so you don’t need to change the plant’s position very often. This makes herb gardening rather simple.
Harvesting dill seeds should begin as soon as the growing season starts – usually late summer or early fall. The last few days of the growing season are not optimal for growing dill plants as the sun stops shining at that time as well. However, early spring is an excellent time to harvest dill plants. The earlier the seed is sown, the faster the growth of the plant.
Harvesting dill seeds requires very little work; therefore, you might want to save some of the seeds for sowing next year. You should remove all the flowering stems, if any, from the plant. Cut off all the fronds, except for the one nearest the base. Collect the entire frond, including the feathery fronds, in a mesh basket or a sock. You can collect the leaves and the tiny feathery fronds separately in a separate basket or sock.
Now wash all the leaves thoroughly with water. Rinse them well and dry them completely. Cut the plant into two halves, starting with the upper half and going toward the lower half. This will form the seeds for sowing next year. Place the two halves of the herb plant on top of each other, securing them with pins or strips of kitchen strainer.
Now place the plant into a plastic bag, tightly sealing it. Seal the bag until the growing dill seeds are nearly dry. Allow them to sit in a dark place for about a month, or until the weather is freezing. Once the seeds are almost dry, remove them from their bags and place them into a sealed container.
Now place your herb plant into a large pot. Fill it with moist soil and place it in a sunny location. The soil should be slightly loamy but not completely wet. Allow the herb to slowly grow until it reaches a height of three to four feet. This may take several months. If the herb starts to flower before all the dill seeds are fully developed, you’ll know that the plant isn’t getting all the sunlight it needs to flower and result in new, larger seeds.
After the third month, remove the fernleaf plants from the pots and place them into separate pots. You can continue to do this every few months to ensure that each of the plants get plenty of light and exposure to enough water. Each fernleaf plant will start to develop tiny mushrooms as it grows.
Harvest the herb as the mushrooms develop. Discard the mushrooms. Place the fern leaf plants directly into the herb garden. They will grow quickly and you’ll soon have a lush, thick plant full of herbs. When harvesting dill, make sure to only pinch the fragile leaves from the plant.
Once the plant flower buds appear, harvest them. However, don’t just pick the plant up. Pinch the flower buds between the base of the plant and the stalk on the stem. Remove any little leaves on the flower buds so that the plant remains upright. Then place the plant into a pot, cover with dirt, and water well.
After the herb has had a chance to establish itself, plant it in a well-drained soil and fill it about one inch deep with good quality potting soil mix. Fill the pot about two-thirds full. Plant the plant in a spot that receives direct sunlight for the best growing conditions. Dill is a fairly tough plant to kill.
After the plant has established itself, you’ll want to keep it from freezing as much as possible. To do this, set the trellis or frame up after the planting period has been completed. The next step in growing Dill will be to ensure that the plant doesn’t go into a deep freeze. You can do this by placing a water pipe down through the middle of the grow bed. You can also make use of an alarm clock, a fan, or a heating devise placed at the bottom of the trellis.