Effects of zeolite, bio and organic fertilizers application on the growth, yield and yield components of German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) in organic cultivation

In order to study the effects of zeolite, bio and organic fertilizers on the growth, yield and yield components of German Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) in organic cultivation, an experiment was conducted at the research field of Tarbiat Modares University in 2005. The factors were PGPR inoculums (inoculated and no inoculated), zeolite (0 and 9 ton/ha) and vermicompost (0, 5, 10 ton/ha). The experimental design was factorial in a randomized complete blocks design with twelve treatments and three replications. Mean comparison was carried out using Duncan’s multiple range test (at 5% level). Results showed that the highest value of flower yield (358.13), biological yield (1572.09), number of flower per plant (61.09), flower diameter (21.84) and height (45.51) were obtained with PGPR inoculums. Zeolite also showed significant effects on mentioned traits except flower diameter and harvest index. With increasing of vermicompost levels, all traits were increased as the highest value of flower yield (434.22), biological yield (1814.30), number of flower per plant (72.71), flower diameter (22.35) and height (47.91) were obtained with application of 10 ton/ha vermicompost. In addition, there were positive and synergistic interactions between vermicompost combined with PGPR and vermicompost combined with zeolite on dry flower yield, as the highest flower yield was obtained in v3b2 and v3z2 treatments with 448.73 and 448.7kg/ha, respectively.