Comfrey growers..

[greasemonkeymann]

Nothing profound fellas, just don't give up on your comfrey cuttings.
Sometimes they dry up and shrivel like a skinny-dipping man in the artic

This has happened twice, and the first time I just threw it in my compost pile, but the second?
check this lil guy out.
It rooted, so I was happy, I planted it and it dried up like mad..
got pissed, stuck it outside, didn't water it, and a week later?
well, lets just say, don't give up on your comfrey cuttings fellas. Even if they look like shit.

 

[DonBrennon]

Old thread, I know, but great topic................

I found a wild comfrey plant last year, growing through the tarmac of an old car park, which was now being used to store empty shipping containers. Anyway this plant was very robust and as you can see from the photo, it's broke a hole a foot across in the tarmac, with the base of the plant filling it. I harvested the leaves a few times and then let it go into flower mid summer hoping to collect seed from it, but the car park got cleared with some kind of industrial machine and a container dropped on top of where the plant was.
I walk past the place regularly with my dog and this was the plant this morning


In the first photo you can see round brown things with holes in the centre, which are last years main stems.

Talk about robust, lol. I have read that if you 'really' want to get rid of a comfrey plant, because the infertile variety is invasive, doing a hot compost (Berkeley method) on top of it does the trick.

 

[bizfactory]

I just put 4 true comfrey seeds into some 3 gallon smart pots. I was afraid of them spreading so I was hoping keeping them in seperate containers would work on my back patio but after reading more, this was probably a bad idea. I guess comfrey roots super deep pulling nutrients from deep in the soil. If they ever pop I could transplant them into my xeriscaped back yard I guess.

 

[MjMama]

Old thread, I know, but great topic................

I found a wild comfrey plant last year, growing through the tarmac of an old car park, which was now being used to store empty shipping containers. Anyway this plant was very robust and as you can see from the photo, it's broke a hole a foot across in the tarmac, with the base of the plant filling it. I harvested the leaves a few times and then let it go into flower mid summer hoping to collect seed from it, but the car park got cleared with some kind of industrial machine and a container dropped on top of where the plant was.
I walk past the place regularly with my dog and this was the plant this morning
View attachment 3659470 View attachment 3659471 View attachment 3659472

In the first photo you can see round brown things with holes in the centre, which are last years main stems.

Talk about robust, lol. I have read that if you 'really' want to get rid of a comfrey plant, because the infertile variety is invasive, doing a hot compost (Berkeley method) on top of it does the trick.

I don't think wild comfrey is good to use anyway. You want Russian Comfrey. The two aren't even related. They just look the same.

 

[DonBrennon]

I don't think wild comfrey is good to use anyway. You want Russian Comfrey. The two aren't even related. They just look the same.

Not related?.....................russian comfrey is a man made cross, bred in the 50's using...........guess what.........common comfrey.

 

[MjMama]

Not related?.....................russian comfrey is a man made cross, bred in the 50's using...........guess what.........common comfrey.

Perhaps you are correct, although I find wild comfrey and common comfrey under different scientific names. Wild comfrey is as Cynoglossum virginianum and is native to North America as a weed. Common Comfrey is Symphytum oficinale and native to Europe. Info obtained from the USDA website. Their constant naming and renaming of plants can make things a bit blurred.

 

[DonBrennon]

Perhaps you are correct, although I find wild comfrey and common comfrey under different scientific names. Wild comfrey is as Cynoglossum virginianum and is native to North America as a weed. Common Comfrey is Symphytum oficinale and native to Europe. Info obtained from the USDA website. Their constant naming and renaming of plants can make things a bit blurred.

That explains the confusion, I'm in euro so I'm only familiar common/wild comfrey being symphytum officinale

 

[Kind Sir]

I cant find ANY comfrey, yarrow, horsetail locally. I wanted to grow comfrey for sure, I am annoyed buying everything online and tacking on shipping prices. I dont even look at BuildaSoil anymore (My favorite place ever!!) as their shipping costs as much if not more then their product.

Where do you guys get your cuttings? I live in Wisconsin, just because cannabis is illegal shouldnt mean no organic grow stores. Very annoyed not finding anything local.

 

[Wetdog]

Horizon Herbs for all those, all organic.

Wet

 

[greasemonkeymann]

I cant find ANY comfrey, yarrow, horsetail locally. I wanted to grow comfrey for sure, I am annoyed buying everything online and tacking on shipping prices. I dont even look at BuildaSoil anymore (My favorite place ever!!) as their shipping costs as much if not more then their product.

Where do you guys get your cuttings? I live in Wisconsin, just because cannabis is illegal shouldnt mean no organic grow stores. Very annoyed not finding anything local.

nettles are a good alternative, but doesn't work like the awesome organic "cal/mag" that comfrey is
but the macros are similar, in fact I think when it comes to macro value I think the nettles are the best in that regard, just doesn't have as much of th emicros that comfrey does.
that is..
if my stoner memory serves...

 

[MjMama]

That explains the confusion, I'm in euro so I'm only familiar common/wild comfrey being symphytum officinale

I think you are correct anyway. After reading more it looks like the wild comfrey of the US also known as hounds tongue, is a close relative of the European and Russian comfrey varieties, and all part of the boraginacea family. They both evolved all these years on different continents under different names, but do pretty much the same job. The Russian comfrey is more cultivated and less prickly than the weedy wild comfrey we have here. I was under the impression that they were more different than they really are. Thanks for promting me to learn more about comfrey.