The peculiarities of chamomile productivity formation and its dependence on sowing time and positional application were studied. The inter-row spacing enlargement and plant density reduction improve chamomile productivity rate (plant mass, inflorescence number). The efficiency of the plant productivity formation sown in mid-April was established, and the highest plant emergence and survival rates were observed. Later sowing times contributed to more numerous formation of chamomile shoots and inflorescences, which are used for the therapeutic purposes.

The results of the study demonstrate  that the definite sowing time and method influence the germination ability of chamomile seeds. The highest seed germination capacity (93.5 %) was observed when the seeds were sown on 15 April using the wide-row sowing method (45 cm).

These techniques contributed to a better plant survival, and at the end of the vegetation period (fruit formation phase), the survival index was 96.2 %.

During the chamomile vegetation the phenological observation of plant growth and development was carried out.

The study demonstrated that up to the phase of stalk-forming period the plant growth rate is rather high, but later before the budding period chamomile plants grow slowly (2-3 cm per decade). In the period between budding and flowering, the plant growth increased significantly and comprised from 8 to 10 cm.

The chamomile linear growth decelerated after the flowering period thus ensuring equal distribution of the nutrients from the vegetative section to the genital part. The largest plant height was marked at the sowing time on 5 April with inter-row spacing from 15 cm to 32.9 cm.

In the chamomile growth and development process, the trend to plant mass enlargement and the enlargement of its individual parts (stems, leaves, inflorescences), as well as change in the ratio of its elevated parts were marked.

It has been stated that in the budding phase the leaf ratio to the overall mass was 2.0 – 3.1 %, and in the fruit formation phase it was 4.7 – 6.9 %. The similar tendency was observed in the change of stem weight gain stems that carry genital organs.

The inter-row spacing increase (45 cm) influenced the chamomile biomass growth. In the  fruit formation phase, the overall plant weight grew in comparison with the close sowing method (15 cm) from 18.6 to 2.7 g respectively.

According to our observations one chamomile plant is capable of forming from 40 to 60 inflorescences during the vegetation period.

The application of the technological methods in cultivation allows getting the maximal number of chamomile inflorescences.

The later sowing time led to the shoot and inflorescence number increase.

The overall inflorescence number and productive inflorescence number are bigger in case of close sowing (with 15 cm inter-row spacing) compared to the wide-row sowing (45 cm), which corresponds to the number of first-order shoots. As the use of close sowing method led to less number of shoots, the inflorescences grew well due to absence of inter-shading and were proportionally located. In case of wide-row sowing shoots were more numerous, but the seeds in the second- and third-order inflorescences were not frequently matured.

The chamomile individual productivity markers, i.e. plant weight and inflorescence number predetermine the optimal application of the cultivation technology to realize its potential.

The most favourable conditions for high chamomile productivity formation (with plant weight – 13.14 g, and inflorescence number – 60) were observed at the sowing time of 15 April.

Also it has been got the maximum individual measure of chamomile productivity in the wide-rows of sowing (mass of plant – 14.82 g and the number of  inflorescence during the vegetation – 51).

The same dependence is observed in the plant density of plants. Density reduction leads to the increase in inflorescence number and plant weight. In case of the density of 40 plants/m² the inflorescence number was 46 units, and the plant weight was 7.98 g,  while on the trial plots with the density of 20 plants/m², these markers increased to 55 units and 14.76 g respectively.

Key words: Matricaria chamomilla L., sowing time, inter-row spacing, productivity, inflorescence number, plant weight.