Kitchen Garden Forum

my comfrey plants are now about 3 foot high and in flower so i would like to cut them, do i cut the whole plants down to the soil level or do i have to just pick the leaves off (hope not as there are loads). Then i assume i just fill my water butt up with it and leave a few weeks, till the stench is ripe then i know its ready?

Mandy

Dear Mandy, no you don't have to pick off the leaves
But i would cut them off about six inches above ground level, so as to leave the growing crown, and not at ground level.

I just Spread mine in between my tomato plants, they soon break down, and helps keep the toms clean from any splashing.

thanks OH, I could mulch my potatoes with it too then i suppose, that would be better than the smelly liquid feed method ( I nearly put 'smelly butt', but i know what you lot are like on here!)

Mandy

Hi Mandy,
I would go for the feed rather than the mulch. I feel that to use it as a mulch that will dry out and do very little for your potato crop would be to waste it. It could be used as a mulch on your tomatoes because you are going to water them whereas with the potatoes you are unlikely to do so often enough for the nutrient to reach the place where it is needed.
JB.

I have got a nice stew in my spare waterbutt of nettle and comfrey, it stinks but boy is it good!!

Compo

Just to echo JB, I found that when I spread comfrey leaves as mulch, they dried out then got blown away.

I now add mine into the compost heap throughout the season.


Colin

Hi Compo,
I think one of the first things I will do when I win the lottery is to employ and Industrial Chemist to find a way of taking the smell out of these home brews.
I feel that both Comfrey and Nettles are vastly under used because of the pong and if we could find a way to reduce this we would be on to a good thing for the gardening fraternity.
My Tomatoes are always fed on Comfrey Concentrate which actually doesn't smell as bad as the soups/teas
but takes considerably longer to make so that which I shall use this year was made last year.
I always have about 25L in stock.
JB.

I wonder if we could add lavender or rosemary to it would it take away the smell, but it might interfere with the fertilisation properties ?

Compo

Hi Compo,
Sadly I fear not because any plant material that is in the process of biodegrading smells and fear that Lavender and Rosemary would be no different to any other plant material. I appreciate that both plants are used to make oils but I fear that not even the oils would mask the smell of degradation.
JB.

Once you have made some comfrey liquid, how much of it do you put in a 2-gall watering can? I presume you don't use it neat?
Alison.

Oops, too late I chopped it down and put it between my potato rows, however, i dont think it is going to dry out, the weather we have been having! Perhaps i will put grass clipping over the top, if the grass ever gets dry enough to cut.

mandy

This is my first ever posting so forgive me if I get it wrong. I started off with a small patch of comfrey 4' x 1' and I used a redundent worm bin which has worked a treat. We chop the plants off at ground level and stuff them firmly into the bin, flowers and all, and we do this three or four times a year. The resulting liquid goes into a two gallon watering can from a half pint mug and then filled with water as I read somewhere that you're supposed to dilute the pure liguid 16 - 1. It doesn't smell all that bad unless you spill it on your trousers! The only slight drawback with it seems to be that it seeds everywhere, probably birds, but all we do is add the volunteers, <plus a few nettles> to the bin. I'm not sure how good it is so I'm going to experiment with it by feeding one half of a row with it and not the other. Has anyone tried that? Cheers all. Don't eat blackberries growing low down on the golf course.[/u][/quote]

Dear FatB, a very warm welcome to the forum.
And may i say a very good first posting.

With regards to your Comfrey, you could try cutting it a little earlier to stop it seeding. You won't lose out as you will get an extra harvest in.

thanks FatB, I shall try that next time, i put the last cut under my potatoes and with the rain we have had it has rotted away very quickly. i do have an old bin with a tap, so I dont need to add any water to it? Do you feed the comfrey patch with anything after you have cut it back so many times?

mandy

Thanks OH. Hello Mandylew. Your redundent bin sounds ideal, but I wouldn't add water, that's the method that produces the smell. Cut them offat the ground and put everything in the bin, and make3 sure you've got a lid on. It will take several weeks before juice starts coming out of the tap but just keep on adding the plants, flowers, even seeds, it won't matter, and it's amazing how much it reduces down. Then in the winter when it's all stopped working just tip the stuff away, but there won't be too much of it. Good luck. FatB.