Fertiliser advice please

[boptrotme4u]

I am interested in fertilisers and have tried manure, 6x pellets and leaf mould. But recently I have been reading of the benefits of comfrey. What are your experiences with this plant and how best should I go about making a comfrey bed on my allotment.

Thankyou for your help

Neil

[boptrotme4u]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Just plant the stuff, it'll be with you forever. That's if you're sure you want it!

[Kleftiwallah]

Try for variety Bocking 14 slightly less invasive.  Use the diluted juice of rotting leaves as a foliar feed.      Cheers,     Tony.

[Digeroo]

I use quite a lot of it and nettle tea as well.  Both smell awful while fermenting but the plants seem to like it.  

I use the leaves to mulch my strawberries, supposed to help keep the slugs at bay and the moisture in the soil.

There is a preference for Bocking 14 because it is is supposed to be infertile and you do not end up with thousands of seedlings.  

It causes problems locally by blocking drainage ditches.  

[Ellen K]

Comfrey, seaweed, nettles, leaves - all great additions to the compost bin.  And you can't make too much good compost.

For plant food use Phostrogen or Miracle Gro - great stuff and often on special offer in Tesco and Morrisons. 

Works for me!

[Digeroo]

I am trying to be as organic as possible so tend to use Blood Fish and Bone rather than miracle grow which reserve that for the flower garden.

[tomatoada]

I use an old plastic dustbin to brew my comfrey.  No taphole to block. 

[Ellen K]

OK Miracle Gro is artificial but so what?  You can read the label and it shows exactly which chemicals have gone in and it is just a mixture of salts.

As a vegetarian, I am a bit uncomfortable about using blood fish and bone.  Same with chicken pellets, they have to be a product of the battery hen industry, which I loath, to be produced on that scale.  Poor hens, every bit of them is turned in to a product for sale even their poo.  I know that the Organic philosopy has a big following on A4A but what about ethics?

Leaves are best put on the compost heap IMO.  Toby demo'ed a method to extract the juice from comfrey at GW Live: you use a waste pipe fixed vertically - leaves in at the top - weight in to crush them - juice collected at the bottom.  This might be worth a go if you are still keep and esp if you are short of space.

[lincsyokel2]

Comfrey is where its at if you cant get seaweed.  Seweed is the bee knees because its full of sodium, pottasium and phosphorus salts. Comfrey is neraly as good, but its stil lthe wonder additive. I half fil la blue water barrel in late summer with comfrey leaves and fill it with water, it stinks to high heaven, but by next spring you have rocket fuel for plants.

[green lily]

I use a lot of seaweed meal just raked in when a new crop goes in . Seems to suit most things and cheaper than buying seaweed soln. 2-3 kilo lasts a long time.

[lincsyokel2]

I use a lot of seaweed meal just raked in when a new crop goes in . Seems to suit most things and cheaper than buying seaweed soln. 2-3 kilo lasts a long time.

You can take washed up seaweed from the foreshore, ive established this as a fact over the last summer. I guess just digging it in woud lsuffice, and its free.