Annual
How to grow dill
Anethum graveolens
Sow dill direct from April to July in full sun and free-draining soil, 1 cm deep, thinning to 15 to 25 cm apart. It is an annual with a taproot, so it is best sown where it is to grow, and it runs to seed quickly if the soil dries out. Sow a short row every three or four weeks for leaf from June to October, and let the last plants flower for seed.
- Hardiness
- Half-hardy
- Position
- Full sun, sheltered
- Soil
- Free-draining, fertile
- Ideal pH
- 5.5 to 6.5
- Water
- Moderate, dry soil makes it bolt
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting dill
WhenSow Apr to Jul direct in succession; harvest Jun to Oct
Starting off
Sow direct Apr to Jul every three or four weeks, 1 cm deep; germination takes 10 to 21 days at 15 to 20°C. Do not transplant, as the taproot resents it and the plant bolts. Stake tall plants in windy spots with a cane at 60 cm. It self-seeds freely if a few heads are left to drop.
Spacing and planting
Thin to 15 to 25 cm apart in rows 30 cm apart, sowing 1 cm deep; plants reach 60 to 90 cm. Fine in a 25 to 30 cm deep pot for the taproot, with the dwarf 'Fernleaf' the best choice for containers.
Varieties worth growing
- 'Bouquet'
- The traditional pickling dill: quick to flower with large seed heads, and still gives a useful cut of leaf first.
- 'Dukat'
- Bred for leaf. Dense, blue-green foliage with a sweeter flavour, and slower to flower than 'Bouquet'.
- 'Fernleaf'
- Dwarf at around 45 cm, bushy and slow to bolt. Needs no staking and is the one to grow in a pot.
- 'Mammoth'
- Tall, to well over a metre, with very large heads. Grow it for seed and for flower heads to go in the pickle jar.
- 'Tetra'
- A vigorous, bushy leaf type that is late to flower, so one sowing can be cut for longer.
Dill month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do. Order seed.
- February
Nothing to do.
- March
Nothing to sow yet. Put a cloche over the bed late in the month to warm the soil.
- April
First direct sowing from the middle of the month, under a cloche if the soil is cold.
- May
Sow again. Thin the first row to 15 to 25 cm.
- June
Sow again. Start snipping fronds from the April sowing. Water in dry spells.
- July
Last sowing early in the month. Stake tall plants. Cut flower heads for pickling.
- August
Cut seed heads as they turn brown and hang them over paper. Keep picking leaf from later sowings.
- September
Finish harvesting seed. Freeze surplus leaf.
- October
Last leaf from the July sowing before the first frost kills it. Clear the plants.
- November
Nothing to do. Self-sown seedlings may appear in spring where heads were left.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding dill
Dill needs no fertiliser on reasonable soil. Too much nitrogen gives lush, floppy plants with weak scent, so the plan below is for poor sand and for pots only.
Low, lean soil keeps it leafy and aromatic.
Feeding plan
Open ground, reasonable soil
No feed
Nothing. Dill follows a fed crop well and finds what it needs with its taproot.
Before sowing, poor sandy soil only
50 g/m², the low end of the label, raked in once: about 15 g per metre of row 30 cm wide.
Pots, from six weeks after sowing
1 g per litre of water as a drench every 3 weeks. Stop if the growth turns soft and floppy.
Signs to watch
Yellowing lower fronds on a dry, lean bed
Water stress rather than hunger
Steady moisture, which also stops bolting
Pale, thin growth on poor sand
Nitrogen short
One seaweed or dilute balanced feed only
Floppy, lush, poorly scented growth
Too much nitrogen
Stop feeding
Pests, diseases and problems
Plants flower at 20 to 30 cm with very little leaf
Bolting from dry soil, crowding, transplanting or a check to growth
Sow direct, thin early, water in dry spells and choose a leaf variety such as 'Dukat' or 'Tetra'. Keep sowing every three or four weeks; a plant that has bolted will not go back to leaf.
Green insects clustered on young fronds and flower heads, growth sticky and stunted
Aphids
Wash off with a jet of water or squash by hand. Dill flowers attract hoverflies and ladybirds, which usually bring numbers down within a couple of weeks.
Seedlings disappear soon after emerging
Slugs and snails
Sow a little thicker than needed, pick off after dark, and use nematodes on moist soil from April.
Tall plants fall over or snap at the base
Wind and heavy rain on hollow stems
Grow in a sheltered spot, support with a cane and string at 60 cm, or grow the dwarf 'Fernleaf'.
White powdery coating on stems and fronds in late summer
Powdery mildew on plants under drought stress
Water the soil thoroughly once a week in dry weather, thin to the full spacing, and remove the worst plants.
Seed sown in early April does not appear
Cold, wet soil; dill needs about 15 °C to germinate well
Wait until mid or late April in a cold spring, or warm the soil under a cloche for two weeks first.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Snip fronds from 6 to 8 weeks after sowing, before flowering, when plants are 20 to 30 cm tall; expect 30 to 50 g of leaf per plant. Cut seed heads when brown in Aug to Sep, hang over paper for two weeks and rub out 10 to 20 g of seed per plant. Freeze leaf chopped in ice-cube trays; dried leaf is weak, but seed keeps for years.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: umbellifer group with carrots, parsley and celery, 3-year gap.
Good to knowSow direct and don't transplant; keep it well away from fennel (they cross). Bolts in drought.
Growing dill in pots
Dill will grow in a pot as long as it is deep. Choose one 25 to 30 cm deep and wide, fill it with multipurpose compost mixed with a little grit, and sow 'Fernleaf' or another compact variety directly, thinning to three or four plants. Stand it in full sun out of the wind and water regularly, because a pot that dries out bolts within days. Tall varieties are top-heavy in containers and blow over. Fresh compost feeds the plants for the first six weeks.
Dill: common questions
When should I sow dill in the UK?
Sow dill outdoors from mid April to early July, straight into the soil where it will grow. It needs warm soil to germinate, about 15 °C, so there is nothing gained by starting earlier. Repeat every three or four weeks for a continuous supply of leaf.
Can I grow dill next to fennel?
Yes, if you only want leaf. The traditional advice is to keep them well apart when saving seed, because the two are said to cross-pollinate and give seedlings with a muddled flavour, though the evidence for this is thin.
Does dill come back every year?
No, dill is an annual that dies once it has set seed or with the autumn frosts, but it self-seeds readily. Leave one or two seed heads to shed and seedlings appear the following spring. They can be thinned where they stand but should not be moved.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- How to grow dillRHS
- How to grow dillBBC Gardeners' World Magazine