Chamomile , German Chamomile Seeds - How to grow Chamomlie ?

German chamomile is an annual, and it grows in a bushy shrub up to 3 feet tall.

Starting from Seed

You can start your chamomile seeds indoors for later transplant, about 6 weeks before you are expecting the last frost of the winter. Start them in seed pots but don’t bury the seeds under the soil. They need light to sprout, so just sprinkle a few seeds in each pot right on the surface of your potting soil.

Keep them moist, and thin down to one per pot after they start to grow. Your seedlings should be kept in a sunny spot until it’s time to plant them. For container growing, you can sprout your seeds directly into their final pot if kept indoors until after the frosts are past.

Transplanting

You’ll want to keep your little seedlings about 12 to 18 inches apart when you plant them. Sunny locations are best for chamomile, but they will do just fine with a little bit of shade as well. Plant them into the garden after the last frost is over.

Though an annual that will only survive for one year, chamomile will readily seed itself. That means you can have an ongoing patch of chamomile if you let some of the blossoms go to seed rather than picking them all. If you take this route, plan your location with the intention of having a permanent chamomile bed.

You can also plant your chamomile seeds directly into the garden, rather than starting transplants if you prefer. In that case, you can either sow your seeds in the early spring or even put the seeds out in the fall to overwinter.

Growing Instructions

Chamomile isn’t a very heavy feeder, and you should only need to add a bit of standard fertilizer right at planting. Unless you have very poor soil, you don’t need to fertilize through the season.

Your plants will likely thrive without additional watering though they can use more water once they start to bloom, or during any prolonged bout of hot dry weather.

Containers

Chamomile grows very well in containers, though is a little large for most window-sill herb gardens. Each plant should have a 12-inch pot to itself, and the soil should be well-drained with some added sand. Water the plants occasionally, maybe once a week.

Since chamomile does seed very well, and has a tendency to spread around the garden, many gardeners keep their chamomile in pots. You can keep your plant a bit more under control, and grow your chamomile in a location that it can’t spread (such as a patio or deck).

In the garden, it will self-seed and keep your patch growing. In a container, this isn’t likely to happen.

Harvest and Storage

Your plants can bloom all through the summer, so there isn’t any one specific harvest time. Most plants will start to put out flowers about a month after planting.

Harvesting your chamomile flowers is a tedious task, but worth the effort. You only want the blossoms, not their stems which means you have to pick them quite carefully. Of course, you can always go through your chamomile after picking to remove any extra bits of stem later. You can use fresh flowers for tea, but it’s more typical to dry them before use.

Spread them out somewhere warm and well-ventilated to thoroughly dry. Direct sunlight can harm the chamomile oils, so don’t just leave them out in the sun to dry. Indoors is usually best. Once dry, you can store chamomile flowers in a sealed container for a year.

When making tea, you’ll need approximately 1 teaspoon of dried flowers per up. For brewing with fresh chamomile blossoms, use almost twice that. Add a little honey for sweetness.

Days to germination: 7 to 14 days
Days to harvest: 30 days
Light requirements: Full sun or light shade
Water requirements: Occasional watering
Soil: Light sandy soil with good drainage
Container: Suitable