Planting Roman Chamomile
Roman Chamomile is a cool season herb in the Asteraceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
Roman Chamomile is started indoors 6–8 weeks before your last spring frost date, giving seedlings a head start before they move outside.
Transplant young plants outdoors 0–2 weeks before your last frost — Roman Chamomile tolerates cool conditions and benefits from an early start.
Roman Chamomile can be grown by starting indoors and transplanting. Starting indoors gives the longest, most controlled season, while direct sowing is simplest where the season is long enough.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Roman Chamomile room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 8 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 12 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 1.5 |
| Planting depth | 0 inches |
| Sun requirement | Full sun |
Days to Maturity
Roman Chamomile reaches maturity in 70–90 days from transplant.
Roman Chamomile is ready to harvest after about 80 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season herb, Roman Chamomile does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Roman Chamomile needs full sun — give it at least six hours of direct light a day for the best growth and flavor. Sow seed about 0 inches deep — small seed is sown shallow and barely covered, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Roman Chamomile belongs to the Asteraceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Roman Chamomile is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
Companion Plants
Pairing Roman Chamomile with the right neighbors can improve growth and deter pests; a few combinations are best avoided.
Grows well with: Cabbage, Onion
Growing Notes
Perennial groundcover chamomile; surface-sow.