Russian Comfrey Fert

[ShLUbY]

Not quite as cold as MI, but it overwinters nicely here (zone 7A).

What I do is, make the last harvest before the first frost and then let the first killing freeze knock down whatever growth to benefit the plant. When it's killed to ground level, I'll apply alfalfa, or manure, or, whatever's handy and then mulch on top of that. Sometimes pine bark mulch, sometimes leaves. Again, whatever's handy, comfrey is not very particular.

It does love plenty of water while growing, if you have a low or damp spot in the yard. It's nearly impossible to over water during the warmer months. Just be very sure of the location, because it's there to stay.

HTH

Wet

nice thanks for the tips. is it as invasive as say a mint?? should i put some sort of barrier in the ground to prevent it from taking over too large of an area?

 

[Wetdog]

If you got the Bocking 14 sterile variety, it's not invasive, just never run it over with a rototiller. It only spreads from root chunks. The invasive stuff spreads by seeds.

But, every time I've moved a Bocking, no matter how carefully I dug it up, it eventually popped up again in that spot. The xplanted plant never seemed to notice it was xplanted and just kept going. A root chunk the size of the end of your thumb is plenty big.

An easy way to propagate is, when it flowers, simply root sections of the flower stalk. I've had them root in the worm bins when not dried enough in the sun to make sure they were dead dead.

Wet

 

[ShLUbY]

If you got the Bocking 14 sterile variety, it's not invasive, just never run it over with a rototiller. It only spreads from root chunks. The invasive stuff spreads by seeds.

But, every time I've moved a Bocking, no matter how carefully I dug it up, it eventually popped up again in that spot. The xplanted plant never seemed to notice it was xplanted and just kept going. A root chunk the size of the end of your thumb is plenty big.

An easy way to propagate is, when it flowers, simply root sections of the flower stalk. I've had them root in the worm bins when not dried enough in the sun to make sure they were dead dead.

Wet

yeah i remember reading that about the flower stalks. i'll def be doing that!

 

[Fastslappy]

I got 6 #4 & 5 #14 blocking in the grd , 30 crowns of #14 going off in the greenhouse, they be a foot tall multiple big leaves after a month in 2 gallon pots , gonna plant out in march
Got the Crowns from S.C. in Early DEC
My 5 #14 in grd are not visible ATM in a sea of mud back yard

 

[DonBrennon]

just ordered me one of them comfrey bocking 14 roots today! I'm ready to grow some of this stuff. I have been wanting a source of potassium for my mix and this seems to be a good one, plus all the other beneficials that it contains, and hell i might even make some of the tea too!

best of all... its free after one purchase of a root!!

Can any of you tell me if the roots can survive a frozen ground in these cold ass MI winters, or will I have to mulch the hell out of the patch to ensure survival....???

If you're after a 'K' source, look into Borage, very closely related to Comfrey, not quite as good for the rest of the minerals, but loaded with potassium, around 30x more than in comfrey. Very vigorous, easy to grow and can be used in exactly the same way as comfrey.

Some great info here http://www.gardenmyths.com/comfrey-dynamic-accumulator/ , Especially the downloadable dynamic acc spreadsheet.

 

[ShLUbY]

If you're after a 'K' source, look into Borage, very closely related to Comfrey, not quite as good for the rest of the minerals, but loaded with potassium, around 30x more than in comfrey. Very vigorous, easy to grow and can be used in exactly the same way as comfrey.

Some great info here http://www.gardenmyths.com/comfrey-dynamic-accumulator/ , Especially the downloadable dynamic acc spreadsheet.

Cool cause my borage is starting to reproduce on its own outside as of last year. I was actually gonna try and find my seed and get it going indoors for head start. 30x more???? Comfrey is like 6% by weight.... so that seems kinda hard to do..... ill read the link in a few. Thanks mang!

 

[Chronikool]

I got 6 #4 & 5 #14 blocking in the grd , 30 crowns of #14 going off in the greenhouse, they be a foot tall multiple big leaves after a month in 2 gallon pots , gonna plant out in march
Got the Crowns from S.C. in Early DEC
My 5 #14 in grd are not visible ATM in a sea of mud back yard

30+ plantz! Thatz a shit load of leaf yo...why so many..?

 

[Fastslappy]

30+ plantz! Thatz a shit load of leaf yo...why so many..?

Worms & greenhouse summer grow

The guy had the best price @ 20 he threw in 10 more ,mere chips of the crowns was pissed at 1st,
Not pissed now starting in the GH was best way as soon as the in the grd ones come back I'll plant out these.

 

[Chronikool]

Worms & greenhouse summer grow

The guy had the best price @ 20 he threw in 10 more ,mere chips of the crowns was pissed at 1st,
Not pissed now starting in the GH was best way as soon as the in the grd ones come back I'll plant out these.

You are gonna be swimming in it! Hahaha...

Ive alwayz liked (and had a limited play) with putting a shit load of blitzed comfrey in a bucket...letting it dry out completely (takes some time)...blitzing it again...and having powdered comfrey for the off season...

With the amount you will get...maybe you could play.. ?

 

[Fastslappy]

Freezing works well for feeding worms