Kitchen Garden Forum

Yes - and other plants too. These are leeks freshly mulched with old tree leaves (front), shredded herbaceous border (middle) and fresh comfrey leaves (back). Only thing to watch out for with fresh leaves is not to layer too thick as they may form an impermeable layer, I tend to layer with other mulches.

bigpepperplant wrote:does anyone advocate laying comfrey leaves on the soil surface around tomato plants rather than making a liquid feed out of them?

At the risk of disagreeing with Sprout, I had limited success mulching with Comfrey leaves. I only tried it with fresh leaves, laid in layers around the base of various plants. For me, they'd dried up after a few days, then the wind blew them away! Maybe shredded and mixed into the surface soil would have been better?

I also put them round the base of toms in growbags in the greenhouse. Trouble is, in this form it's hard to measure what dose you're adding, how much is actually going into the soil, what rate it's going in at etc.

Can you let us know how you approached it Sprout?

Hi Colin and BPP,
I do mulch with Comfrey leaves but only on the Tomatoes growing in the Greenhouse soil and not outside. Outside I do not mulch to the same extent as Sprout but I mulch individual plants not mulch per se and it is restricted to confines of the plant area of about 12" diameter, eg, 6" all round the plant, with composted Comfrey and other composted material. This ultimately gets hoed into the surface soil. I suppose it's same meat different gravy!
I have never ever had Comfrey go mildew on me and my bed is 50'x50 and now jam packed. I started to experiment with Comfrey years ago with the view of producing a saleable commodity but that was until the local authority poked their nose in and told me I needed a licence to do so and that I would not be allowed to do it here but would have to move it all to a factory unit in town. At that time I had an acre bed of it. I very easily got rid of it all and this was Bocking 4 the predecessor to the more modern Bocking 14. It is amazing how nosey LA snoops are! Because of the possible smells the whole operation was situated nearly half a mile off the main road only accessed by a Private Green Lane yet Big Brother got to know about it!!

Hey garlicguy feel free to disagree, I only garden the way I do because it's the best way I've found SO FAR ... there's always more to learn and modify, that's one of the great things about chatting here. Mwah

I did end up shredding the comfrey leaves by hand - twisting off lumps about 2 inches long, like wringing a dishcloth - to get them tucked between the leeklings. In a couple of weeks when the leeks are bigger, they'll be mulched again with straw and look like this:



The theory is that the rain drips slowly through the straw and will take the nutrients from the comfrey leaves (garden waste, leaves, spent hops etc.) into the soil. I fondly imagine that the plants will take what they need so long as I keep making nutrients available, and that rotation will ensure that the nutrients get taken up in different ways by different plants. I'm also lazy and don't like to weed, and mulching this thickly eliminates hoeing

Dear Sprout, i think every one is a little jealous of your mulching.
I do a lot of mulching, but it is not done with such loving care as yours.
If there was an award for mulching, i am sure it would have your name on it.
Although i bet my big heap of leaf mould was better than yours.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

Why thank you oldherbaceous, you're very kind
c'mon then, let's see your leaf mould heap

Sorry my dear Sprout, the evidence has gone for this year, spread over many parts of my allotment.
Will have to wait until next year now.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

I do exactly what you are asking and get good results.
Bal

sprout wrote:I did end up shredding the comfrey leaves by hand - twisting off lumps about 2 inches long, like wringing a dishcloth

That's what I was wondering. Then, I'd either hoe it it in or mix with compost/hay like you've done, on the surface. I think you've given us some great examples to follow (at the moment, most of mine goes straight into the compost heap, but I'd like to target it better, like you do).

Is there any difference in the plants abilities as fertiliser between the various different comfrey varieties? I know Bocking 14 is recommended because it does not set seed (I think!), but I have a small patch of cream flowered comfrey at home that I originally purchsed for its decorative value; it does spread by its roots, but I wondered if I grew it in a small raised bed I could contain it ok; or am I asking for trouble taking it to the allotment!

Hi Deb,
White Comfrey is rather a waste of time because not only does Bocking 14 not set seed but gives you at least 10 times or more the amount of the product for the same given growing area. The predecessor to Bocking 14 was Bocking 4 which gives about the same amount of product but is more invasive.
I am not 100% sure but I believe White Comfrey is invasive even more so than Bocking 4.