the effect of planting date and plant density on growth traits, yield quality and quantity of matricaria (matricaria chamomilla)

abstract in order to study the effect of planting season (autumn and spring) and plant density on growth traits and flower yield (dry weight of flower) of matricaria (matricaria chamomilla), an experiment was carried out at the research field of agricultural faculty of shirvan, affiliated to ferdowsi university of mashhad. a split plot design with two factors, including planting time and plant spacing within row with four replications was used. planting time was arranged in main plots and plant spacing within row was allocated as subplot. the results showed that planting time significantly affect growth traits of matricaria plants. plant height, the number of branches, flowering period, number of flower per plant and consequently flower yield were significantly increased in autumn rather than spring planting date. the best space between two plants within rows was 20 cm in both spring and autumn planting dates.