Comfrey

[Elderflower]

Good morning,
I have two comfrey questions that I hope you clever folks can answer.
1) My comfrey is now about 18inches tall and bushy. Can I cut it now?
How many times a season can I cut it?
2) I make 'dry tea' from my comfrey, that is, I pack a container tightly with leaves and collect the black liquid that squeezes out. I know, of course, that this should be diluted for feed but I don`t know what dilution to use. Can`t find this in any books etc.
That`s three questions innit?

[alan refail]

Hi EF

Here's your answers -

http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/comfrey/index.php

[Elderflower]

What an interesting page! Thank you. I learned a lot from this link.
But can anybody suggest a dilution ratio for my treacly black comfrey liquid?

[alan refail]

But can anybody suggest a dilution ratio for my treacly black comfrey liquid?

Johnboy suggests 1:10

viewtopic.php?p=2196#p2196

[Victoria]

I am very scientific in my approach and just slosh a bit into my watering can!

[Elderflower]

Thanks again!
Clearer now.

[John]

Hello Elderflower
As far as diluting the comfrey liquid goes, suggestions seem to vary from 1:10 to 1:20. I use 1 pt of the concentrated liquid in my 1 1/2 gal can which conveniently gives 1:12 dilution. Other vague suggestions suggest a dilution that gives a liquid that looks like the colour of weak tea.

It is difficult to give hard and fast rules about cutting the comfrey. I brew my liquid in a water butt and cut the plants when I think that I will get enough leaves to fill the butt but I always cut whenever the plants begin to send up flowering shoots. I get 4 to 5 cuts each year.

How do others make the liquid?
I couldn't see the point of allowing the liquid to drip out into a container below the bin with the leaves in it as is often recommended. As I said I use a water butt (without any added water but with a tight lid) and just turn the tap at the bottom to get the liquid when I need it. I feed the leaves in at the top and drain liquid from the bottom.
It needs stirring very occasionally and a sludge eventually forms on the top of the liquid which is yanked out to make a good mulch for the raspberries.

John

[Elderflower]

Thank you - that sounds like a good idea!
I thought that the leaves had to be under a certain amount of pressure to give forth the good stuff. Wrong again!

[Johnboy]

Hi Elderflower,
You are not wrong at all. The article posted by Alan doesn't mention the most advanced way of producing Liquid Comfrey which by the way is called Comfrey Concentrate. The normal dilution rate is 10 parts water to 1 part Comfrey Concentrate but for seedlings first feed can be somewhat diluted up to 20 parts water to 1 part Comfrey Concentrate.
Comfrey Concentrate virtually does away with the smells associated with Comfrey Tea and can be stored and ready for use in seconds rather than weeks as it is with Comfrey Tea. You can make concentrate and store it ready for use the following year before the growing Comfrey has put it's leaves above ground. This is ideal for early sown crops.
Your Comfrey at 18" is ideal for cutting now and depending how early Comfrey is cut you should get four to five cuts per year but in all about 20lbs per plant irrespective of however many cuts you decide on.
I use Comfrey exclusively on Tomatoes and they are always beautifully thin skinned and really full of flavour. But of course I use it on other things as well.
JB.

[Elderflower]

Gosh thanks, Johnboy!
I shall look forward to a bumper, tasty tomato crop!