chamomile

When to sow chamomile?

Botanical name
Matricaria chamomilla
Family
Asteraceae

Chamomile is sown outdoors from April to June, with the seed going on the surface and staying uncovered. It germinates in 7 days. It is harvested from June to August.

Chamomile is an annual plant. The edible parts are the flowers.

chamomile
Photo: Alvesgaspar · CC BY-SA 3.0

Chamomile through the year

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Indoor sowing
Transplanting
Outdoor sowing
Harvest
15913172125293337414549
  • indoor sowing
  • transplanting
  • outdoor sowing
  • harvest

In short

Outdoor sowing
from April to June
weeks 14 to 26
the window opens six weeks before the last frost
Indoor sowing
from February to April
weeks 9 to 17
the window opens eleven weeks before the last frost
Transplanting
from May to June
weeks 21 to 26
the window opens a week after the last frost
Sowing depth
on the surface, not covered
Spacing in the row
15 to 30 cm
30 to 35 cm between rows
Germination
7 days
Days to maturity
70 days
Harvest
from June to August
weeks 23 to 35

The last frost is not on the same day everywhere, so the recorded weeks are a guide and not a date.

Growing conditions

🪨
Soil
light and loamy
🧪
pH
6 to 7
☀️
Sun
full sun
💧
Water
moderate water
❄️
Frost
overwinters outdoors
🌱
Nutrients
a light feeder
🔁
Crop rotation
no sooner than the second year
📏
Height
33 to 75 cm

Companions in the bed

Companion planting is tradition and not an agronomic claim. What is recorded is which pairs sources recommend and which they advise against.

cabbage cited
kale cited
  • “Cited” means the pair is named by one source or two.

Pests and diseases

Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.

Aphids

pest
Signs
Colonies of small aphids sit on the shoot tips and the underside of the leaves. The leaf curls and puckers, and sticky honeydew is left on everything below. The viruses they carry are more dangerous than the feeding itself.
Prevention
Go easy on nitrogen, because soft sappy growth is what aphids are looking for. Encourage the predators (ladybirds, lacewings, parasitic wasps). Use a reflective mulch, which puts them off settling, and a strong jet of water to knock the colony off the tips.

Slugs and snails

pest
Signs
Holes appear in the middle of the leaf rather than along the edge, young plants are eaten down to the ground, and there are slimy trails in the morning. On low-growing fruit there are gnawed pits.
Prevention
Remove the hiding places beside the bed: boards, stones, dense weeds. Water in the morning and not in the evening, so that the night is dry. Spread a band of coarse sand or gravel around the bed. Cover young plants with fleece. Pick them off at night, which is still the most effective measure.

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Related plants

The plants below are in the same botanical family (Asteraceae).

Sources about the plant: Clemson Cooperative Extension, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, KGZS, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Royal Horticultural Society, Semenarna Ljubljana, Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie (vormals Sächsische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft), University of Georgia Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: University of Maryland Extension, Utah State University Extension.