dill growing pains

[siduri]

I'm not great at growing stuff, but i do have a little herb garden, with thyme, origano, basils, celery, parsley and chives all thriving very nicely. What i would really like, though, is a nice big clump of dill. I can grow anythign else but not dill. And dill is impossible to find here except as a plant in a pot. (For some reason it;s used in cuisines from scandinavia to greece, why on earth not in Italy?) Anyway, my terrace where i would have to grow it in a pot, is very hot and sunny (but it does grow in greece, which is just as hot and sunny) and i do have a watering system on a timer, so it gets water. I could, if necessary, hide it in the shade of a bigger plant if it needs shade. It will grow a bit and then just dry up (or go to seed) and never turn into a nice bushy plant, even though i always buy a plant already started. Does it need fertilizer? sandy soil? something i haven;t thought of?
any green thumbs out there that can help me?

[Pete]

and never turn into a nice bushy plant

Not sure what your dill looks like, but it never grows into a "bushy plant", it is a long, spindally plant with a few clumps of fern-like leaves and then topped with a large head of flowers that eventually just go to seed.

You can have some of mine. My wife planted a bunch a few years ago and let it all go to seed, and they allowed them to drop all their seeds. Now, every year, we have "volunteer" plants come up all over our flower bed and herb garden.

[mudbug]

siduri,

Dill does best in well drained soil, so sandy soil is not a bad guess. What type of soil do you use currently?

Don't bother buying plants. Get a packet of seeds and start them. They do require full sun, and they have a short life cycle so succession planting every four to six weeks for continued harvest is required.

[Mangilao30]

I am in Torino and had a bumper crop of dill this year. I bought some seeds from the internet and threw them in a long balcony planting container where they sprouted and grew. (I did this in the spring). In 2-3 months, their life cycle was over, just in time for Ferragosto.

Dill is rare in Italy, mostly you see fennel tops in place of dill so I was really missing it. Try again in late fall or next spring.

[siduri]

Thanks to all, I guess the problem was in buying a plant, which i did because i never seem to be able to grow things from seed. But I'll definitely try the seeds next year, since it already has a short life cycle (that was not my fault then - phew) which means that once it goes to seed it's gone. Instead planting seeds every couple of weeks would keep a nice bushy POT if not a nice bushy plant. I'm particularly happy to know that someone else in italy has managed to grow it well. Where are you from, Mangilao? The wild fennel has a lovely smell, but you're right, it's not the same thing as dill. I do get nostalgic for the foods of home.