How to grow chamomile for tea at home in your own yard can easily be done. However, you need to know what types of chamomiles that can be grown and are edible. Take a look at the steps below to grow your own chamomiles properly and successfully.

How to Grow Chamomile for Tea at Home in Your Own Yard

  1. Choosing the Perennials
    Not all kinds of chamomile plants can be used to make tea and are easy to grow on your own. But if you want to grow some, you should know that only Chamaemelum nobile and Matricaria recutita are the best. Choose the right perennials first and prepare the place to grow the chamomiles before you buy the seeds.
    Chamaemelum nobile is a common chamomile, while Matricaria recutita is basically an annual German chamomile. Both are commonly used to make tea and ideally planted for herb gardens, containers, and veg plots. There are also non-flowering chamomiles, these types can only be grown as a lawn and used to beautify your garden.

  2. Prepare the Location and Soil to Start Planting
    You can take it easy when planting chamomiles because you can grow the seeds in any soil type. Even when you sprinkle the seeds on the poor soil, your chamomile plant will still grow very well. You need to prepare the right location to plant them so your seedlings can be exposed to the direct sunlight.
    How to grow chamomile for tea at home indoors can be done by sowing the seeds and covering it with vermiculite. Use a thin layer only to cover the seeds and make sure you sow them in spring. Grow the seedlings well in a warm place with enough water until they can be moved into individual pots.

  3. No Fertilization
    When you plant chamomiles in well-drained soil and let them get full sun, they don’t need something else. You don’t even need to think about how to fertilize your chamomile plants because this plant doesn’t attract pests. Until the seeds germinate, you only need to maintain the moisture of the soil; basically it’s within 1-2 weeks.

  4. Water the Plant Regularly
    When maintaining the chamomile plant, you shouldn’t overwater or underwater it because the right way is keeping the moisture. Chamomile plants usually show the sign that they need water, like how the plant starts drooping. It’s a big sign that you should water the plant immediately and you need to do it for 2 months.

  5. Harvest the Chamomile
    Tips on how to grow chamomile for tea at home also include how to pick the best-quality ones. When the plants grow more mature and the flower buds open with the petals arching backward, harvest them right away. But, you shouldn’t pick them up when it’s already late, like when the flower dries and it has gone to seed.

  6. Wash and Dry the Flowers
    After harvesting time, you need to cut the remaining stems of the flowers off first before washing them out. Make sure to wash the flowers to get free from all the little bugs and small particles before drying them. Avoid direct sunlight when drying chamomile flowers, because you can dry them indoors in a warm place with good ventilation.

  7. Store the Dried Chamomiles in the Right Container
    After making sure the chamomiles are all dried well, use a small container to store them. However, the dried chamomiles aren’t stored for only weeks before you can use them. You can store them in an airtight or sealed container for at least a year before using them.

  8. Steep the Tea
    It’s important to plant a lot of chamomiles so you can harvest so many flowers to use later. You can have two choices; one of them is to steep the tea from the fresh chamomile flowers. If you want to wait a bit longer (around 1 year), you can store the dried ones in a container.

How to grow chamomile for tea at home isn’t that hard to do because chamomiles are easy to grow. Have a nice try at growing the chamomiles in your own garden and enjoy the soothing cup of tea later. However, don’t over steep or your tea will taste bitter.