Topic: Comfery Flowering - is this normal?

[wetandcold]

I grew some comfrey last year (from seed) and in the first year it threw up huge leaves and then flowered late in the year. This year it has grown smaller leaves and has already gone to seed - the plants are covered with flower buds. Is this normal? Should I cut the plants down to encourage more leafy growth, even though I love the flowers??? (I grew it primarily for the fertilizing thing  :)

[Deb P]

You can cut comfrey twice a year at least, it is usually really hardy and can take it! I cut mine after flowering, (the bees love it!) and it grows back and flowers again later in the year. The roots will gradually spread as it establishes itself, and then it will also self seed....a pretty thug, but a thug none the less!

[OllieC]

It's normal with mine - which is covered with bumbly bees right now...

[lavenderlux]

What colour flowers does your comfrey have - white or blue/pink shades?  The one which flowers in my garden at this time of the year has white flowers and its not the one you need for 'fertilizer'.  The one you need for fertilizer usually flowers later than this, around the end of May and into June.  You need to cut it before it flowers (as it seeds everywhere) and it will re-grow and you can get five (sometimes more) cuts a year).   The best one for fertilizer is the Bocking 14 strain, but this doesn't set seeds.

[wetandcold]

My Comfrey has lovely purple coloured flowers and the bees absolutely love them (they cut them and do little displays in vases in their hives...  ;))

The variety I grew was sold as Russian Comfrey and is, apparently, one that can be used as fertilizer and doesn't spread too much. Or so they say...!

[STEVEB]

Use your first cuttings in the bottom of your potato trench.

[Uncle Joshua]

Use your first cuttings in the bottom of your potato trench.

I tried that last year at the side of potatos grown in manure and manure won by a mile.

[Eristic]

Comfrey is rubbish as a fertilizer. Who ever thought that one up ought to be shot.

[tonybloke]

Comfrey is rubbish as a fertilizer. Who ever thought that one up ought to be shot.

His name was Henry Doubleday
Further work at the Bocking trial grounds in essex by Lawrence D Hills  ;)

[hopalong]

Comfrey is rubbish as a fertilizer. Who ever thought that one up ought to be shot.

His name was Henry Doubleday
Further work at the Bocking trial grounds in essex by Lawrence D Hills  ;)

Article about Lawrence Hills here, posted earlier.  What a hero! Should be canonised, not shot.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/06/comfrey-gardens

[Eristic]

OK. Given his previous good behavior I'll let him off with a caution.

Dried comfrey leaves compared with horse manure are supposed to be similar and who am I to argue, but where do I get 12 tons of dried comfrey leaves from, free if you collect.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Why 12 tons? A barrel topped up a few times during the season will produce masses of liquid manure.

[Baccy Man]

If you look at comfrey purely from the point of view of the NPK values which are 0.74/0.24/1.19 then it is not that impressive there are loads of materials with considerably higher values but I have always found plants respond well to it. Growing enough for it to be worthwhile is a different problem altogether.

Here is a list of NPK values for various materials.
http://www.primalseeds.org/npk.htm

[Eristic]

Why 12 tons?

That's how much manure I can get through when I have enough time and space to collect.

It doesn't matter how many times comfrey is dunked in the barrel, it still only contains x amount of fertilizer and that amount is considerably less than a handful of horse manure dunked in the same barrel.

The maths do not add up in comfreys favour.

I do keep a few crowns of comfrey but that is for the bees not fertilizer.

[Uncle Joshua]

I always find nettles make a good liquid manure.