Trouble growing dill?

We have tried it for a number of years. We buy what looks like a hearty starter pot of dill at the local nursery and put it out on the patio. It never lasts long, shrivels up quickly. Most of our other herbs and small vegetables do well. What are we doing wrong? Thanks in advance for you help…

How big/deep are your containers? How many plants per container? They can’t stay in the pot you buy them in.

Dill needs a deep container. Absolute minimum 12" for their long roots, up to two feet is better.

1-2 plants per container is best. Good drainage, moist but not soggy soil. Full sun.

For healthy roots it’s better to set up the containers and plant several seeds in Spring, then when they are 6" tall, cut back to just a few per container. They should grow back every year when set up well. Or else save the seeds and restart each year.

Dill is one of those herbs that really only grows reliably from seed as it doesn’t like to be transplanted. I find the same is true for both Coriander and Basil. So try sowing seeds directly into the ground and see how it fares.

I still remember growing it one summer from seeds outside my kitchen window. My pot wasn’t very deep, but wide. The plant grow into a monster with the morning and early afternoon sun (until 2pm).

This time we are trying to grow it from seed.

Interesting. We usually do buy basil plants to transplant into the garden.

The last time we grew dill it was from seed. There was no room in the garden so we planted it in a small bed in the corner of the gravel driveway & it grew very nicely there. Dill re-seeds itself easily and this plant reseeded. However, it re-seeded in the driveway not in the bed. & that’s where it always grew - in the corner of the gravel driveway.

I have bought plants, raised seedlings and transplanted, and planted seeds directly into the beds. Nothing failed totally but the direct planting of seeds seemed to be most reliable.

Our dill is finally sprouting from seed. Took over a week. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Hopefully this pot of dill will be a keeper.
All our other herbs and small veggies are doing fine so far…

2 Likes