Choose dill by the harvest you want. Dukat is a useful foliage-focused choice; Mammoth Long Island is a tall, aromatic choice for a pickling patch. Both can supply leaves and seed. Neither variety lets you harvest fresh foliage, green flower heads and ripe seed from the same stem at the same moment.
Choose your harvest goal
- Fresh dill leaves: consider Dukat, described by the RHS for its bushy, aromatic foliage. Sow another small patch rather than relying on one plant indefinitely.
- Pickling heads: consider Mammoth Long Island. Its packet describes a tall, aromatic dill for pickles. Allow selected stems to flower.
- Dry dill seed: either can work. Leave designated heads to mature and use seed color and dryness, rather than a leaf-harvest date, to judge readiness.
In this guide
Dukat and Mammoth Long Island compared
The names identify different varieties of Anethum graveolens. They do not make one variety exclusively a leaf dill and the other exclusively a seed dill. Your harvest choices also determine what the plant has left to produce.
Dukat: start with the foliage
The RHS describes Dukat as an upright plant with finely divided, aromatic blue-green leaves and a bushy habit. The Gardeners Basics packet also recommends the leaves fresh or dried and notes its use for pickles. Choose it when regular kitchen leaf harvest is your first goal, while reserving a few stems if you also want heads or seed.
Mammoth Long Island: leave space for a tall plant
The Gardeners Basics packet describes Mammoth Long Island as tall and aromatic, with pickling as a main use. It also gives a leaf-harvest direction, so it is not a seed-only option. Plan space and support as needed; do not buy a tall dill expecting a permanently compact kitchen-pot plant.
There is no side-by-side Gardeners Basics growing trial behind this comparison. It does not rank yield, flavor intensity or bolting speed. The packet images show our seed packaging, not a demonstration of how either variety will grow in your garden.
Why the days on a packet need context
The packet artwork checked for this guide lists 60 days till maturity for both varieties and 10–21 days to germination. It does not label that maturity figure as first leaf harvest, green pickling heads or fully ripe seed. Current product descriptions use other timing ranges. Those figures are not a sound basis for promising that one variety finishes a particular harvest sooner.
Follow the directions on the packet you receive and watch the plants. The pictured packets allow leaf harvest once a plant is about 6 inches tall. A few usable leaves at that stage are different from a large harvest, and flower heads and ripe seed require later development. Weather, sowing conditions and the harvest you choose affect the calendar.
Leaves, green heads and dry seed are three different harvests
1. Leaves for the kitchen
Pick the foliage you need while plants are actively leafy. If you want a continuing leaf supply, keep some plants for that purpose instead of taking every stem through seed ripening. A new sowing can provide another leafy group as the older group flowers.
2. Green heads for pickling
For pickling, green, flexible heads are a different stage from dry seed. University of Minnesota Extension describes using heads after flowers have given way to seed, while the seed is still immature. Match the harvest to your recipe. For home canning, follow a tested preservation recipe and its instructions rather than changing ingredient amounts from a gardening guide.
3. Ripe seed for the pantry
Let designated heads mature. The packets say to cut heads as seed starts to brown and hang them upside down so dried seed can fall into a container. Maryland Extension also uses brown seed as a harvest cue. Keep collected seed dry before storage.
Taking a head for pickling removes that head from your later dry-seed harvest. Taking many stems for leaves reduces the stems left to flower. Planting a little extra space for separate purposes is often more useful than choosing a variety by its name alone.
Plan the patch before sowing
- Sow where it will grow. Both pictured packets specify direct sowing, full sun and a depth of ¼ inch. Minnesota and Maryland Extension also advise direct sowing because dill transplants poorly.
- Use your local season. In climates with cold winters, plan outdoor sowing after spring frost danger. An October article does not mean outdoor sowing is appropriate everywhere now.
- Read the spacing on your packet. The pictured Dukat packet gives 6–18 inches; Mammoth gives 9–18 inches. Allow room for the mature plant and access to harvest, rather than keeping every seedling in a crowded clump.
- Separate the purposes. Label a leaf group and a head/seed group. If your remaining season permits, sow another small group later; do not assume repeated sowing can extend past suitable local weather.
- Check the container fit. A container needs drainage and enough root space. A sunny position alone does not make a shallow pot suitable for a tall dill plant.
For a fuller sowing and care walkthrough, read our Bouquet dill growing guide. The general dill care is useful, but its variety-specific details do not replace Dukat or Mammoth packet directions.
Choose seeds for the harvest you will use
If most of your dill goes straight into dinner, start with Dukat and reserve some plants for later harvests. If you are planning pickling heads and a taller patch, Mammoth Long Island is a useful option. If you want all three harvests, plan separate stems or groups with either variety.
What are you growing dill for?
Are you planning fresh leaves, pickling heads or dry seed? Tell us your harvest goal and growing region in the comments. Avoid posting private contact or order details.
Sources and how this guide was prepared
- University of Minnesota Extension: Growing dill in home gardens, reviewed 2026. General sowing and harvest-stage guidance.
- University of Maryland Extension: Dill, updated February 20, 2023. General growing and seed-harvest guidance.
- RHS plant profile: Dukat dill. Used for foliage and habit descriptions; UK hardiness and maturity metadata are not US harvest dates.
- Gardeners Basics product listings and packet artwork for UPC 848137044272 and 848137044289, checked October 13, 2026.
Prepared by Gardeners Basics with AI-assisted research and drafting, checked against the cited horticultural sources and current product and packet evidence. No personal growing trial or independent expert review is claimed. Product artwork belongs to Gardeners Basics and is shown unchanged within the comparison design.
