How to Tell if You Dried Dill Seeds Too Long

Harvest dill seeds after the small yellow flowers on flower heads form seeds and the seeds become brown and flat. If you can insert a fingernail into the seed, it is not ready to harvest: seeds should be hard before you pick them.

Snip off seed heads with garden snips or scissors when the majority of seeds are hard and brown. Include the entire stem to keep your plant looking tidy. Snip off the stem before you dry the seed head.

Set up a drying station in a warm, dark, dry, well-ventilated area, such as a garage. Do not expose your drying seeds to high heat. Prop up an old window screen or other screen on several boards or bricks, and then lay your dill seed heads on top.

Train a small room fan on your drying seeds if the air circulation in the area is poor.

Shake seeds from the seed heads onto a newspaper to loosen them from the plant material. Package seeds in plastic zipper bags, and store them in a cool, dark, dry place until the following spring when you want to start more dill plants.

Test your dried dill seeds if you want to determine their viability. Moisten a paper towel and scatter 12 or more seeds on top. Fold the paper towel into a small square, and place it inside a plastic zipper bag in a cool, dark area. After five to seven days, open the paper towel to check for germination: if most of the seeds have sprouted, your seed crop will successfully produce new dill plants. If few seeds sprout, your seeds might be immature.