Allotments 4 All

Hi All,

This is my first post on this website. I took over an allotment back in July of this year and have been removing the weeds ever since :)

I bought a few Comfrey cuttings around April and potted them up. They took to the soil well and established to be quite healthy looking plants.

I planted them in my allotment August time and in September/October they started to turn black. The leaves became discoloured on a few of the plants and eventually they were all black and generally rotten. I thought they might have had some disease or something? Then other people have said that this is normal and they will grow again in the spring?

Can anyone offer any advice? I do have some pictures and will post them when I have worked out how to do it :)

Thanks

hi and welcome. the advice given was correct. its perennial and will die back each autumn to reemerge every spring.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your allotment.  

Your comfrey is fine.  The leaves die down with the cold weather.  They'll come back in the spring.  It's a great plant, the insects love it and you can use it as a fertilser/mulch/in the compost etc.

  Hello and welcome,

  Don't it just look awful when it dies back !    :P

  I would watch out how many you plant in your plot - as the roots go deeeeeeep,
  and if you want to move them  --  you could find it difficult once they are established.

  A mistake I made was to compost too much of Comfrey leaves at one time and nearly
  turned my compost into soup !   [  should this go to ' recipes ? ]     ::)

  floss

Thanks for all the information, I am glad they aren't dying. I have only planted four or five plants along the side of the small shed I have erected so hopefully it wont spread to much. Even if it does it should be easy to keep on top of!

Welcome to A4A, ManicC, there's plenty of good advice and tips to share  :) :) :)

Comfrey is fantastic, we have 20 plants on 2 plots, and use it for everything. 

a couple of leaves under spuds...

Why delboy?, I've heard of Rhubard leaves  to keep the slugs off but never comfrey, is it a general feed?

I allway dig in comfrey leaves where my tom's are to go.

when the late season comes I pull the leaves and put it all round my fruit, mid season to keep in under control I throw leaves onto the spud beds and I always make a liquid feed with it (stinky but great) - you might live to regret having so much of it though  ;D but bees loves the flowers so always leave some for them

A kind person on here offered to send me a bit of comfrey a while back, I've forgotten who it was- and so have they, apparently! ;D If anyone else could spare a shoot or too in the spring, I'd be grateful.

be glad to - can it wait until the new year if so let me know your address

Thanks, calendula- have already received a pm from frogslegs, so come the spring I'll try to remember to contact you both again!

PM me in spring and you can have some of mine.  My plot is infested with it and it is murder to get rid of.

Quote from: ManicComposter on December 01, 2008, 18:41:07
Thanks for all the information, I am glad they aren't dying. I have only planted four or five plants along the side of the small shed I have erected so hopefully it wont spread to much. Even if it does it should be easy to keep on top of!

Hi Manic composter welcome .Once established it will certainly spread very well  :)
I let mine grow a while then using hedge shears I cut the tops off  to just above ground level and compost them. I usually get 2 or 3 harvests off the plants before I leave them to flower... 

Interesting and useful article about Comfrey and its uses in today's Guardian colour supplement. Focuses on Lawrence Hills (the father of organic gardening) and how he developed and promoted Bocking 14 at his home in Essex. Well worth a read.

That's right - the Bocking 14 is the one to go for. The others self seed all over the place and are far more invaasive.  >:( >:( >:(

Here's the link to the article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/06/comfrey-gardens

Quote from: asbean on December 06, 2008, 10:37:23
That's right - the Bocking 14 is the one to go for. The others self seed all over the place and are far more invasive.  >:( >:( >:(

Here's the link to the article:
http://www.guardian.co.UK/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/06/comfrey-gardens

Hi asbean, that link was brilliant I have been looking into Comfry and that was very interesting thank you  :)

Yes, read the magazine yesterday. Interesting that it's "richer in nitrogen and potash then farmyard manure and garden compost" although I wonder how that is worked out? If it's weight for weight, you'd need an awful lot of comfrey to be the equivalent of a ton of manure!

Is it better to grow it in a large pot/s?