Where's the comfrey??

[JimmerG]

I've been getting very over excited about making comfrey tea to feed my fruit and veg plants. I've bought 5 chunks of Bocking 14 that is growing nicely - but I understand you have to leave it a year before harvesting it. So I've been trying to find it in the wild...... can't find it anywhere!!

Surely by now established comfrey plants should be ready for picking, or is it too early? Where does it grow? full sun, shade, damp, dry....??

Are there any other plants I can use to make high potassium liquid feed??

Got some nettles brewing to make nettle fertiliser - and made my first pot of nettle soup.... bilmmin' lovely!!

J

[Flummery]

There's some growing down the lane near us. I often find it on the outskirts of villages - which is an indication that it's a useful but spreading plant! It's like butterbur - one of the first plants that bees can make use of in spring, and horseradish. They're an indication of old settlements too - sometimes you'll find one or another of these out in the open country by a roadside where there once was a small settlement.

Good luck with the search. Get yourself out into the country lanes!

[StephenH]

I've been getting very over excited about making comfrey tea to feed my fruit and veg plants. I've bought 5 chunks of Bocking 14 that is growing nicely - but I understand you have to leave it a year before harvesting it. So I've been trying to find it in the wild...... can't find it anywhere!!

Surely by now established comfrey plants should be ready for picking, or is it too early? Where does it grow? full sun, shade, damp, dry....??

Are there any other plants I can use to make high potassium liquid feed??

Got some nettles brewing to make nettle fertiliser - and made my first pot of nettle soup.... bilmmin' lovely!!

J

Near me, there's loads of it beside parts of the Grand Union Canal, so in Bristol, I suggest you look along the Kennet and Avon.

[Nicos]

Our wild stuff has been out for 3 weeks now- by the side of the road as Flum said.It's about 12" high now.

...interestingly they have either purple or white flowers...just about to open.

..Urrmmm..I did sprinkle some wild flower mix on that embankment ( North facing)and a few cowslips have appeared...I'm just wondering if I've introduced a different variety of comfrey??

.....are both flower colours natural in the wild???

Out of interest Flum- you say near old settlements- is that because of it's healing/growing properties?????

[Flummery]

Mainly because it was a useful plant - it's common name is knitbone because the sticky mucus it produces dries hard and you can smear it over bandage and make a sort of not-plaster cast! It's also, in its wild form, quite invasive, so if you had your little cottage plot and wanted comfrey you could plant it on the lane outside and not lose any growing space.

[smallblueplanet]

Edit - didn't read that properly - not seen any wild stuff growing round here either...

[Alison]

Not noticed any yet this year (but not looked either) but usually see it by the river bank, remember there was loads of it there last year.

[gojiberry]

GimmerG can you give me a bit of info on your 5 chunks of wood, I purchased the same but as yet no sign of life. How deep did you plant them and which way up. Any help appreciated.

Ian

[Alison]

I too bought some Boking 14 and as I wasn't sure where I wanted it on the plot, I planted it up in 5" pots and kept it nice and damp and protected in an unheated greenhouse. It sprouted after about 3 weeks but made pretty slow progress to start with but has now sped up a bit. Will be planting it out in the next couple of weeks with any luck.

[JimmerG]

GimmerG can you give me a bit of info on your 5 chunks of wood, I purchased the same but as yet no sign of life. How deep did you plant them and which way up. Any help appreciated.

Ian

Goji - as per Alison, I really didn't do anything very technical. You are sure you've got bits of root.....? Mine arived in a plastic box wrapped up in damp cloth - I was rather impressed.

I bought 5 root sections, some had tiny green shoots so it was obvious which way up they should go. The instructions said bury them about an inch deep and wait, I didn't read this and buried them so the top of the root was at/just under surface level. I started mine in pots a month or two ago, and one of the plants is almost a foot tall!

I'm pretty sure you can get any old section of root - bury it and it'll soon get going. As previous posters have noted - comfrey grows near water so I guess you need to make sure you get the watering right - not too much that the root rots, but don't let it dry out...



J

[Florence Fennel]

I know this will be of no use to you as far as collecting comfrey is concerned, but it is interesting that there is an abundance of it growing strongly in very poor soil and rubble down the side of a Tesco store in Sheffield!

[JimmerG]

I know this will be of no use to you as far as collecting comfrey is concerned, but it is interesting that there is an abundance of it growing strongly in very poor soil and rubble down the side of a Tesco store in Sheffield!

Well its nice to know...... Has anyone seen any anywhere near Bristol!?!?

[taff]

I bought the same stuff, there was a little bit of shoot on most of them, one without, but i didn't pot it up till a few days later, and one went a bit slimy.
You may see some tiny white shoots coming out, as long as it's under soil/compost/whaever, just cover it up and it should be ok. [can you tell i'm a chuck it and see type gardener? ]

[silverfork]

I used to live in house that was an old Stableman's cottage, and it was over-run with Comfrey. Apparently it was used as a poultice for horses. You might find some near old stables.

[JimmerG]

I used to live in house that was an old Stableman's cottage, and it was over-run with Comfrey. Apparently it was used as a poultice for horses. You might find some near old stables.

An excellent point - next time I load the car up with horse poo - I'll keep an eye out for it!