I shook the dust-fine seed across my sunny raised bed one April morning and set the rake down without touching the soil again. Six days later a faint green haze spread over the top of the bed where I had scattered it. The whole point of growing German chamomile from seed is one rule: do not bury the seed. Press it onto the surface and leave it exposed to the light, and the rest mostly takes care of itself.
You surface sow chamomile because the seed needs light to wake up and start growing. Tuck it under even a quarter inch of soil and most of it will sit there in the dark and never sprout. So you scatter it on top of moist soil, then tap it down with your palm so it makes good contact. That gentle press is all the covering it gets. The seed still sees daylight, which is exactly what it wants.
Warmth does the rest of the work for you. Once the soil holds around 68°F (20°C) the seed reads the light and warmth together as a signal to go. Typical chamomile germination time runs about 7 to 10 days in those conditions, which is why my bed greened up so fast. Cool soil slows it down, so warm weather or a sunny windowsill speeds the whole thing along. If your spring is still chilly, wait a week or two and you will get faster, more even sprouting.
You have two clean ways to start. The first is to begin indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, which gives you sturdy plants ready to set out as soon as the ground warms. Use shallow trays of fine seed-starting mix and set them somewhere bright. The second way is to direct sow outdoors once frost danger passes and the soil feels warm to the touch. Both work well, so pick the one that fits your season and how soon you want flowers.
The hard part is the seed itself. It is tiny, around 12,700 seeds per gram, so a single pinch holds hundreds of seeds. Sow it far thinner than feels right or you end up with a dense mat of seedlings fighting each other for room and light. A trick I use is mixing the seed with a spoon of dry sand first, which spreads that fine dust much more evenly across the bed.
- Scatter: Sprinkle the fine seed across damp, raked soil and resist the urge to cover it.
- Press: Tap the seed down with your hand so it touches the soil but stays exposed to light.
- Mist: Wet the surface with a fine spray, never a pour, so you do not float the seed off the bed.
- Thin: Once seedlings have a few true leaves, thin or space them to about 8 inches (20 centimeters) apart.
Watering is where most people lose their seed. A watering can pours too hard and washes the seed into clumps or off the bed entirely. Mist the surface with a spray bottle or a hose on the gentle setting instead. Keep the top of the soil damp but not soaked until you see those first green threads come up. Since the seed sits right on top, that thin surface layer dries out fast, so check it once or twice a day in warm weather.
If you started your plants indoors, do not march them straight into full sun. Harden them off first by setting the trays outside for a couple of hours a day, then a bit longer each day for a week. This slow build lets the soft indoor leaves toughen up so the sun does not scorch them. After that, move your 8 inch (20 centimeter) spaced seedlings into a sunny spot and let them settle in for a long season of flowers.
Read the full article: Chamomile Plant Growing and Care Guide
