Dill - Dukat

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CA$3.50
3.5 9 CA$3.50 - CA$9.00
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Approximately 450-550 seeds per gram.
Lot# DL03001
Anthenum graveolens
Dukat Dill is a delicious culinary herb that tends to produce much more foliage than most dills.   It has a particularly fine bouquet and flavour which makes it an excellent variety to grow for homemade dill pickles. The darker-than-usual leaves are excellent fresh or dried. It grows 45-60cm (18-24″) tall and supports large 25 cm 10”umbrels.  It is the sweetest of the various dill varieties with a pleasing taste and high yield. ​
Planting Instructions: 
  • Direct sow dill seeds from May to August, or sow in June, when cucumbers are transplanted, to coincide maturity for pickling. Dill has a tendency to bolt if transplanted, so it is best to direct sow. Optimal soil temperature for germination is around 15-21°C (60-70°F). Dill seeds require some light to germinate. Sow seeds no more than 5mm (¼”) deep in rows 45cm (18″) apart. Thin the plants to stand at least 15cm (6”) apart.
  • Soil Conditions:  Well worked loose soil. Sow the seeds on the surface of dampened, sterilized seed starting mix under bright light with bottom heat. Keep watering to a minimum.  Herbs grow best in well-drained fertile soils, so a garden bed that is well prepared with plenty of organic matter will increase your chances of success. Maintain a soil pH of 6.5.  After seeding or transplanting, keep the soil moist and well weeded. When seedlings are large enough, harden them off and transplant to the garden or to containers spacing them at 10-20 cm (4-8”) apart. 
  • Planting Depth: Surface seed and moisten soil.  Lightly press into the planting medium.
  • Germination: 10-21 days.  Temperature: 15-21°C (60-70°F).
  • Height at Maturity: 45-60cm (18-24″)
  • Days to Maturity:  Pick dill when plants reach 15cm (6”) tall.
  • Sun/Shade:  Full Sun
  • Spacing after Thinning: 10-20 cm (4-8”) apart.
Additional Information
Seed heads (umbrels) will begin forming around 12 weeks.  When the first seeds have turned brown, cut the whole head and hang it upside down for the drying seeds to fall out into trays or paper bags. Dill leaf loses most of its flavour when dried, so it is best to freeze it in ice cube trays filled with water for use all winter.  The structure of dills’ flowers is known as an umbel. Thus dill is considered an umbelliferous plant. Other umbellifers include carrots, cilantro, fennel, parsnips, and ammi. All of these plants are attractive to predatory insects such as lady beetles, syrphid flies (hover-flies), lacewings, and tiny parasitoid wasps, all of which are beneficial insects that will help control harmful pests like aphids, thrips, whitefly, and the caterpillar of the small white butterfly (cabbage moth).