The effects of different level of nitrogen and plant density on the agro morphological characters, yield and essential oils content of improved chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) cultivar

Field experiment was carried out at the Ferdowsi University research field, Mashhad, Iran during 2006-2007, to determine how much effective the N-fertilization is, to find out the most suitable plant density which could be used in chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L. Asteraceae) to increase the yield of anthodium flowers and content of essential oil. The experimental design was as two factor factorial completely randomized block design having four plant densities (D1=20pl/m2, D2=25pl/m2, D3=40pl/m2 and D4=50pl/m2) as first factor and three levels of Urea™ fertilizer (%46) (N0=0g/m2, N1=10g/m2 and N2=20g/m2) as second factor, replicated thrice. During the flowering period, growth indexes such as plant height, anthodia diameter, dry flower yield, essential oil content and chamazolene were measured. The results indicate that plant density and urea do not have a significant effect on morphological characters. Plant density had significant effect on dry flower yield and essential oil yield. So, maximum yield of dry flower and oil were obtained at 50 pl/m2. In the other hand, the increasing of Urea up to 20g/m2 caused dry flower yield, essential oil content and yield and chamazolene content to be increased significantly. The significant interaction between plant density and Urea levels had been recorded in the case of yield of dry flower and essential oil of Bodegold.