Has anyone any experience in making a comfrey liquid feed? We are thinking of making some and I thought I could put aload in a net bag and sink it into my large water butt.I have read about putting a load in a bucket and diluting it at a ratio of 15-1.Can anyong tell me their experience of using it and how effective is it?
Thanks.
Yes, I filled a barrel with the leaves, left it a few weeks and drained off the resulting black and evil brew. I used about half a pint to a watering can but if you're making a tea in a water butt it probably won't need diluting. One thing - it stinks!
Also how often would the bag of comfrey need replacing? Maybe once a month?
i am making feed using any and all evil weeds - stuff that cant go on the compaost heap for fear of multiplying. so bindweed, couch grass and dandelions etc get chucked into a bucket, no water added, weighed down with stones. the resultant pongy liquid is used to feed my squashes - i pour a little undiluted next to the stems and then water it in a bit to dilute - i suppose i could mix it in the watering can too.
am i right in thinking that comfrey and nettle are simply likely to output a stronger nitrogen brew than other, normal, green stuff?
Nettles are very rich in nitrogen and I wouldn't put it on neat anywhere near anything I wanted to grow, Comfrey is rich in Nitrogen and Potash.
I make a brew with either nettle, comfrey or a combination of both depending on what is available. I do not place in a sack and place that into water but just leave the leaves in water. The leaves will soon decompose and break down (helped by a regular stirring with a stick) in a few weeks and the resulting 'tea' is watered down further to an approximate 10:1 ratio in a watering can at feeding time.
"Compfrey soup" is wonderful stuff, I use hardly anything else on my sandy soil. I have a big dustbin (and lid because it REALLY STINKS), and a couple of patches of comfrey, cut it when its young and lush, chop it roughly and fill the dust bin about a third full, then fill to brim with water. Stir every few days, and in a month or so its ready for use. We are in a hose pipe ban area, so I add a litre or so to each watering can and the veggies seem to love it!
Quote from: Sprout on June 28, 2006, 12:50:38
I make a brew with either nettle, comfrey or a combination of both depending on what is available. I do not place in a sack and place that into water but just leave the leaves in water. The leaves will soon decompose and break down (helped by a regular stirring with a stick) in a few weeks and the resulting 'tea' is watered down further to an approximate 10:1 ratio in a watering can at feeding time.
Quote from: clara on June 28, 2006, 22:05:41
"Compfrey soup" is wonderful stuff, I use hardly anything else on my sandy soil. I have a big dustbin (and lid because it REALLY STINKS), and a couple of patches of comfrey, cut it when its young and lush, chop it roughly and fill the dust bin about a third full, then fill to brim with water. Stir every few days, and in a month or so its ready for use. We are in a hose pipe ban area, so I add a litre or so to each watering can and the veggies seem to love it!
Do you use it on potatoes, do you grow maincrops, do you use any other protection against blight and do you ever get blight and how badly? Sorry about the questions but am trying compost teas as a defense.
i've filled a bucket with comfrey leaves (forgot to chop them :o) and water with an upturned bowl covering it and have hidden it behind the shed. i looked in it yesterday and it it was beginning to smell so i quickly put the lid back on.
i'll give it a couple of weeks a few stirs dilute it a bit and see what occurs !
what harm can it do ?
;D