I am a donut!

[NSB]

I have already sent a thread requesting information on where to buy comfrey. (I didnt actually know what it looked like).

I saw a picture on ebay and I think I have comfrey in my garden!!! does anyone have a photo? Do the leaves have white spots on them? I am going to try and get a picture tomorrow.

Please help

[smallblueplanet]

Beans and Herbs

[bubblewrap]

This help?
Image:Russian comfrey 800.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[bluemoon]

Comfrey shouldn't have white spots, also it should be completely dormant at this time of year. - it dies back in autumn and returns around March/April. The organic seed catalogue sell it and also one or two other places, but make sure you get Bocking 14 roots, if someone is selling comfrey seeds as suitable for garden use then do not consider it as it is very invasive and will spread everywhere. Also the root system is very deep so, once established, it's almost impossible to eradicate. Bocking 14 is sterile (or at least it rarely sets seed) so at least stays where it's put. Sorry I can't post a photo, but it has largish leaves with hairy stems which, to me at least, always look a lot like foxgloves in the early stages

[smallblueplanet]

The beans and herbs link I posted is for bocking14 - the only one to get unless you want comfrey everywhere!

Leaves like comfrey with white spots, this time of year might be lungwort?

[Seahorse]

You're not alone NSB. Last year I bought some Bocking 14 'blind', only to think ... hey! that looks remarkably like what I have growing wild already...

[Two_Sheds]

You're not alone NSB. Last year I bought some Bocking 14 'blind', only to think ... hey! that looks remarkably like what I have growing wild already...

yes, they look virtually the same, except the Bocking will stay where you plant it, and the wild version will gleefully replicate itself all over your plot

I got mine off eBay, they were the real thing, and come up strong every spring.

[pigletwillie]

A good tip is to plant it by your compost bins, you can then just cut if back and put the leaves directly into the bin if you aren't making comfrey tea.

[NSB]

Finally I have some comfrey bocking 14 type that I bought on ebay from an organic farm in Wales in root pieces. Hopefully now it will grow.

I am amazed at the amount of places I have looked online and the amount of places that do not stock it, or the amount of garden nurseries that dont even know what comfrey is!!

I am going to use it as a slug repellant as previous threards advised and as a fertiliser cant wait. Do many of you guys use it?

[wellie]

NSB, if you use it as a fertiliser in the form of comfrey tea (steeped in water) it absolutely HONKS, and you'd be advised to position it somewhere on the outskirts of your plot!!!!

[NSB]

Thanks Wellie, I'm gonna laying in the bottom of a trench for some beans etc. Not sure if it will do any good but I like to experiment

[multiveg]

Somewhere, I read that it was good to place a comfrey leaf in a hole and a bit of soil on top before planting spuds - scab prevention?
My comfrey in the garden is starting to spring into life again.

[Shortie]

Thanks Wellie, I'm gonna laying in the bottom of a trench for some beans etc. Not sure if it will do any good but I like to experiment

Wow.. you might got some odd looks laying in the bottom of a trench, but if it works, I'll give it a go

[NSB]

HaHa Shortie well read! I'll try it and let you know if I sprout lol

[bluemoon]

Comfrey is just brilliant, not only can you use the fresh leaves for lining a trench and make comfrey tea with it, last year we laid piles of it at strategic places around the plot and the slugs and snails were drawn to it like a magnet. Once it had finished its life as slug bait the chewed and wilted leaves then went into the compost bins. My only problem with it is that I just haven't room to grow enough - well that and the fact that, along with many others, I have an allergy to it. I'd suggest that everyone always wore gloves when handling it as I believe the sap can make your skin photosensitive too.