Does Dill Self-Pollinate?

How Pollination Works

• Basic pollination works the same for nearly all plants that flower. Flowers have anthers that carry pollen out from the center of the plant; pollination helpers such as bees and butterflies land on the flower and collect pollen on their bodies. When they fly to the next flower, some of the pollen drops off into the new flower's stigma, which carries it to the flower's reproductive center. When pollinated, a plant is ready to produce offspring in the form of seeds that contain characteristics from both parent plants.

Self-Pollination

• Self-pollination occurs when a plant can pollinate itself; the pollen from one flower on the plant can fertilize another flower on the same plant. Dill is capable of self-pollinating. This means you only need one dill plant to produce seeds you can save to plant next year. The problem with self-pollination is that you don't get any genetic variety. Any issues your dill plant has, such as a susceptibility to a certain disease, will be the same in its offspring.

Cross-Pollination

• Dill is able to cross-pollinate as well, meaning one dill plant can pollinate the flowers of another. This often leads to healthier plants, since the offspring can take on the positive characteristics of both parent plants. It can be a problem, however, when you're growing more than one variety of dill at the same time. If the varieties cross-pollinate, the seeds will produce offspring that are different from either parent plant -- there's no way for you to predict exactly what characteristics the new generation will display.

Pollination with Other Herbs

• In addition to cross-pollinating with other dill varieties, your plant might accept pollen from similar herbs like fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9). It's best to plant these herbs as far apart as possible if you plan to save the seeds, in case this cross-pollination occurs. Use your existing dill plants for recipes as normal, but the plants grown from their seeds may have a different flavor than the original dill plant if it received fennel pollen.