How to Grow Chamomile for Tea
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How to grow chamomile for tea depends on choosing the right plant and harvesting the flowers at the right point. Montana State University describes the flowers of German chamomile as the part used in herbal teas, and the UF/IFAS Extension office in Nassau County covers the same plant from a home-garden angle. This guide follows the steps from sowing through drying and steeping. It also separates what the sources support from what they leave open, and it gives the safety information its own section.
Quick answer
- Grow German chamomile, which Montana State describes as “an annual plant that is native to Europe.” Roman chamomile is a different, perennial species.
- Sow shallowly in early spring, or set out transplants. Montana State says “The seed is small and must be planted shallowly.”
- Harvest the flower heads by raking them from the plants at intervals, and dry them carefully.
- Check for allergies before drinking it. The NCCIH page says people allergic to ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds or daisies are more likely to react.
Which chamomile makes tea
Start with the right species. Montana State describes German chamomile, Matricaria recutita, as an annual, and says its flowers are used in herbal teas. The Montana summary adds that German chamomile “has been cultivated in North America for many years as an herb or an essential oil.” An essential oil can also be distilled from the flowers, which is a separate product from tea. The related Roman chamomile is a perennial. The Montana page gives a way to tell the flowers apart: “the flower receptacle of German chamomile is hollow while that of Roman chamomile is solid.”
The UF/IFAS page calls German chamomile “an annual plant of the composite family Asteraceae,” which is the daisy family. It also says the plant “is widely introduced in temperate North America and Australia.” Both species have white, daisy-like flowers, so check the receptacle before you plant or buy seed. The NCCIH allergy warning below also names several daisy-family plants, as the safety section explains.
Sowing: seed or transplants
Montana State says chamomile “may be cultivated from seed by transplants or by direct seeding.” Its research plots used transplants, and the summary also covers direct seeding in the field. In the transplant plots, seed was sown in a greenhouse in April and set out in May. The page also notes that “German chamomile is relatively easy to grow but prefers cooler climates.”
Seed needs to go in shallowly. Montana State says “The seed is small and must be planted shallowly,” and it gives the timing: “Chamomile is seeded in early spring, and seedlings will tolerate a light frost.” Sow in early spring as the page describes, and confirm the local window with your county Extension office. The Northwestern trial shows why shallow sowing matters. Its first direct seeding in May failed to establish, and the plots were reseeded at a shallower depth on May 27.
The UF/IFAS page says that “As the seeds need open soil to survive,” the plant often grows in disturbed places. That point argues for sowing on exposed soil that stays open, rather than burying the seed under a thick layer of mulch. The page does not give a sowing depth in units a home gardener can measure.
Spacing, water and timing
The Montana research plots set transplants about 8.4 inches apart, with 18 inches between rows. The plots were 6 feet by 8 feet with four replications, and that spacing is the only transplant figure in the sources. At 8 inches apart, a 10-foot row holds 15 plants, which is our arithmetic on the research spacing.
Water the bed while the seedlings establish. Montana State says “Irrigation is usually needed, especially during seedling establishment.” For a longer harvest, the page says “Succession plantings may be made to spread out the harvest,” which means sowing a second group rather than a single batch.
Montana State says the crop is “well suited to the irrigated agriculture and climate of western Montana.” That is a regional statement. It tells you the crop has been studied in one cool, irrigated region, not that it performs the same way in every garden. For a broader view of what else goes in a raised bed, see our plants for raised bed planters guide, and for the growing medium, our raised bed soil mix guide.
Keeping the bed open
German chamomile can outgrow its welcome. Montana State says that “German chamomile will reseed and may become weedy.” The UF/IFAS page describes the same tendency, saying the plant “often grows near roads, around landfills and in cultivated fields as a weed.” If you want to limit spread, the sources do not give a deadheading rule, so the choice of when to remove flowers is yours to weigh.
Harvesting the flower heads
Montana State names the method for tea-grade flowers: “Hand harvest for the highest quality (tea grade) product involves raking the flower heads from the plants at intervals.” The research plots raked at regular intervals, and the page notes that “Raking in 1999 was done at 10-day intervals.” That is a research schedule, not a rule for every garden, but it shows the pattern the page describes. In the 1998 trial, the Bona plots were raked three times and the Bodegold plots four times.
Plan the labor before you plant. Montana State warns that “Hand harvesting of chamomile flowers is extremely labor intensive,” and that the labor “must be considered when deciding whether to grow chamomile.” Repeated raking makes the plants grow unevenly, “making it more difficult to reach the flowers lower in the plant.” The page adds that “Mechanization of flower harvest is not yet common in the US.”
Clipping is a different route. The page says clipping the heads “may be an option for oil production, but a lower quality oil results if too much foliage is included.” For tea, the method the page describes is raking the flower heads. The page also reports that the two cultivars it trialed differed in flowering time and in growth habit, with one flowering first each year.
The Montana trials also measured the flower weight from raked plots. The table gives the dry weight of tea-grade flowers from the transplant plots, in pounds per acre.
| Cultivar (raked, tea grade) | 1998 (lb per acre, dry) | 1999 (lb per acre, dry) |
|---|---|---|
| Bona | 1,375 | 1,493 |
| Bodegold | 1,875 | 1,259 |
These are plot figures from Table 1 of the research summary. The page itself warns that “Small plot yields such as reported here are often higher than those achieved under actual commercial conditions.” A home bed will not match the per-acre numbers, and the sources give no per-square-foot figure to scale them down.
Drying the flowers
Dry the flowers carefully. Montana State says “The flowers must be dried carefully to avoid discoloration or heating.” The page does not give a drying temperature or a drying time, so the sources we opened leave the method open. They also do not describe a storage period for dried flowers, which is a gap any home grower should keep in mind.
Making tea: amounts and steeping
The UF/IFAS page gives the basic brewing measure: “two teaspoons of dried flower per cup of tea,” steeped “for ten to fifteen minutes while covered.” The page explains that covering the cup avoids evaporation of the volatile oils. Those are the only brewing figures in the sources we opened.
The UF/IFAS page also lists medicinal uses for chamomile. This guide does not repeat them. The page itself notes that more human clinical trials are needed, saying “more human clinical trials are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.” Treat any health claim about chamomile as something to check with a clinician, not as a garden-guide promise.
Safety and allergies
The NCCIH page gives the core safety statement: “Chamomile is likely safe when used orally in amounts commonly found in teas and other foods.” It adds that “Side effects are uncommon and may include nausea, dizziness, and allergic reactions,” including “severe hypersensitivity reactions and anaphylaxis” in some people.
The warning that matters most for a garden grower concerns related plants. NCCIH says people “are more likely to experience allergic reactions to chamomile” if they are “allergic to related plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, or daisies.” Anyone with a known allergy to those plants should talk with a health professional before drinking homegrown chamomile tea.
NCCIH says little is known about chamomile use during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. The page does not give a safe-use figure for those groups, so the sensible step is to ask a clinician first.
Mistakes to avoid
- Confusing German and Roman chamomile. Montana State says the flower receptacles differ, and that Roman chamomile is perennial.
- Burying the seed. Montana State says the seed “must be planted shallowly.”
- Letting the plant spread without a plan. Montana State says German chamomile “will reseed and may become weedy.”
- Waiting for one big harvest. The Montana method rakes the flower heads at intervals.
- Drying the flowers too hot. Montana State warns against discoloration and heating.
- Skipping the allergy check. NCCIH links allergic reactions to related plants.
How we chose
We limited this guide to growing and preparing German chamomile for tea, and we drew on pages from a university research center, a university extension program and a federal health agency. The Montana State page is a research summary of trials from 1998 and 1999. The UF/IFAS page is a 2017 extension blog post, last updated in 2022. The NCCIH page is the current federal safety summary, and we drew on it only for safety. Each page was opened with curl on 2026-10-23, and each quoted sentence appears in the text we retrieved. Retail seed listings and commercial growing pages were not used, and neither was any page that returned an error. Two fact sheets, from Brock University and UC Riverside, could not be opened, so they are not cited.
What we could not verify
The sources do not all carry the same weight. The Montana data are plot results from one region, and the UF/IFAS page is a short blog post. The NCCIH page covers safety and does not describe how to grow the plant, so it sits alongside the growing sources rather than replacing them.
What the sources do not say
The sources we opened do not give a harvest stage in terms of bloom, only a method of raking at intervals. They do not give a drying temperature, a drying time, or a storage period for dried flowers. They do not say whether homegrown flowers differ in safety from purchased tea. They do not give a sowing depth in units for a home bed, a days-to-flower figure, or a yield for a backyard plot. On pregnancy and breastfeeding, the NCCIH page says little is known, and it gives no safe-use figure.
Frequently asked questions
Is German chamomile the same plant as Roman chamomile?
No. Montana State describes German chamomile as an annual and Roman chamomile as a related perennial species. The Montana page also says the flower receptacle of German chamomile is hollow, while Roman chamomile has a solid one.
Should chamomile be sown as seed or started as transplants?
Montana State says chamomile “may be cultivated from seed by transplants or by direct seeding.” Its research plots used transplants set out in May after greenhouse sowing in April, and the summary also covers direct seeding. The seed is small, so it needs to go in shallowly either way.
How much dried chamomile goes into a cup?
The UF/IFAS page says “two teaspoons of dried flower per cup of tea,” steeped “for ten to fifteen minutes while covered.” Those are the only brewing measures in the sources we opened.
Is chamomile tea safe to drink?
The NCCIH page says chamomile “is likely safe when used orally in amounts commonly found in teas and other foods.” It also warns that people allergic to ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds or daisies are more likely to react, so an allergy check comes first.
When should the flowers be picked?
Montana State describes raking the flower heads from the plants at intervals as the method for tea-grade flowers. The sources we opened do not name a bloom stage, so the timing should come from your own observation of the plants and your local calendar.
Sources
- https://agresearch.montana.edu/warc/research_current/research_past/herbsandoils/chamomile.html (opened 2026-10-23)
- https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/nassauco/2017/05/28/fact-sheet-chamomile/ (opened 2026-10-23)
- https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/chamomile (opened 2026-10-23)
