How often do you feed with a liquid feed made of comfrey and what veg do you use it on?
we use it on everything, like a vitamin tonic..rather like a seaweed liquid feed..we use it watered down on everything, every week, when things are really going..as per Bob flowerdew, with his seaweed liquid :)
Manic, do you spray it on the leaves or put into the soil?
we spray it on the leaves, bob says, spray it all over the soil and everything
We've got twelve bocking 14 comfrey plants in our patch, but some of them will need splitting in the winter, so the patch will be growing. We have been a bit cautious with it in previous years but plan to use it a lot more this year.
I enjoy reading Bob Flowerdew's articles but have an uncontrollable urge to pull his pigtail. :-\
or cut it off !! ;D ;D
It is REALLY SMELLY (The comfrey feed that is, not the pigtail ;D)
yes, it does stink, we put nettles, dock leaves and roots in so ours is a real mixture..it seems to work though ;D
I'd wait 'til he was asleep, then get the scissors ;D
It does absolutely stink but he peppers and tomatoes love it (usually feed weekly diluted in a watering can)
I have 4 pots ready for comfry, i have been given one plant from another allotment holder and i have some seed and i plan on filling all 4 pots so that i have loads.
never used comfrey but the smell is something i have been warned about.
My wife's the expert on feeding (but she let's me be expert on digging & other heavy stuff!) and she reckons to water it (diluted) onto things like tomatoes & courgettes once a week. (Sort of organic Tomorite.) She also uses it on loganberries & asparagus. Anything where the plant makes top growth, rather than roots. Last year, I used the spent debris as a mulch around the globe artichokes: not sure if this actually did any good or not.
And it does smell revolting!!!!
I put a comfrey tea bag in my barrel (has 1/2 comfrey and 1/2 horse muck in there) and the secret bit is ..........
well use yours too lol
seems to work a treat a green up the plants an sgrow like mad soo...
carloso
So can you mix comfrey and grass cuttings etc. to make feed?
And how much do you put in each gallon watering can to mix with water?
I put grass cutting feed (made last year in water butts) onto my onions last week and they've gone 'BOING'!
Stinks to high heaven ... YUMMY :D
And another question!
My comfrey plants are coming up lovely. If I cut the leaves now to add to the water butt feeds will they grow again, or should I leave them until they've flowered?
Thanks in advance
Trixie X
cut off the outside leave now, the inside leaves will continue to grow!
Thanks Tilts :)
Can you buy comfrey liquid?
Carried out a search but not having much luck.
I put comfrey leaves in a net bag in my water butt, and use that to fill up the watering can.
Only started to do it this year though, so we will see how it goes. My Dad told me to do that, before he mentioned it, I thought I had a giant weed!
We've just made 40 litres from 1/2 a waterbutt filled with nettles. We are planning to get some comfrey plants too. Thanks for the idea of putting the leaves in a net sack - this didn't occur to us, so I was in charge of filtering the stuff as we poured it into the containers. We had to use face masks soaked in aftershave, the smell was so disgusting. The waterbutt still stinks, and the neighbours are not too happy.
Quote from: asbean on May 10, 2007, 12:46:52
We are planning to get some comfrey plants too.
I'm not sure you need as many as "some". Once you've got it, you won't ever get rid of it. It has a long brittle tap-root which breaks off when you try to pull it up, plus flowers which spread seed. It comes up everywhere on my plots: grape bed, potatoes, paths, compost heap (and no, I didn't compost the roots!). At least it's very useful, but we still treat it like a weed.
I did the water but thing like Asbean. I stuffed a netting bag that I got with my seed potatoes in with comfry leaves and nettles. The bag has a draw string which helped close the bag. The string is quite long so a tied that to the handle of an empty 2litre milk container. Dropped the sack in the water butt and filled it up to the top with water, put the lid on and stood back. I couple of weeks later it was still brewing and the stench was unbelievable however the lid keep the smell in. After a few months and smell subsided which I took to means it was "safe". I draw off the brew and add it to my watering can before serving to the plants. It does make a difference.
I am stuck now between comfrey in the potato trench or in the [comfrey] tea pot!
Comfrey is the ideal cut and come again plant. I take two or three cuts a year and it is still a strong grower.
Why the milk carton? It floats so I don't have to go fishing in the tea for the smeggy sack.
have just been reading about Joy Larkcom's first job as a student gardener which was to make Black Jack. This is a sack of well rotted horse manure + some grass clippings and sometimes soot (quantities not specified) suspended in a water butt and left fot ten days. Resulting liquid to be diluted to the colour of weak tea.
I've made it in the past; it's smelly and nasty to handle (not as bad as the contents of the pee barrel though!), but very effective as a liquid manure. The only reason I stopped was that the barrel I was using grew legs and walked the moment I emptied it out. I'm planning to try it again this year.
I did the same as Berty but I didn't know you had to wait for the smell to subside I never did last year and it worked fine.
And it smells beautiful :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\
I am currently FEEDING the water butt with rotting comfrey leaves in it ;D I visit it every morning and give it a good old STIR.
I call it my 'secret weapon' for tomatoes and courgettes and the big water butt next to it with rotted down grass clippings is my 'secret weapon' for onions.
I'm not REALLY competitive :)
Hi, comfrey is also a great compost activator just add a layer to the heap and leave it. You can also cut it several times a season to place around tomato plants, it rots down quickly and adds to the potash in the soil.
Thanks Trevor, by "some" I meant "a few", like 2-3; I agree, "some" makes it sound like an intended plantation; I know they're invasive, but so useful, and for the compost too.