Comfrey isnt growing...

19 years ago

Can anyone help?

I planted out some Comfrey in December that was kindly sent by Sooze and it went mad for a while but has basically died down to nothing now, it is just a mass of brown dead leaves with the occasional unhealthy looking green leaf.

It is in the back left hand corner of our North facing block, which probably is stopping it gettting enough sun??

(It would get from 10am-2pmish at the moment), Can anyone help with some advice so I can get it going again.

What are the ideal growing conditions to have it flourish?, as I really want to have a good supply around for the Compost pile.

Thanks

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Comments (7)

anakei_36
19 years ago
I don't think you have to worry. Comfrey dies down in the winter and will come back in the spring. It sounded well established before so I am sure that it will come up again. It doesn't mind a shady spot,in fact it will grow just about any where, the only thing that might kill it is if it gets too dry. Leave it alone for now, and wait for the new growth in spring. I expect your next post to be "I'm swamped by comfrey, how do I control it?"
Cheers
Anakei
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wishful
19 years ago
that's a scary thought - the comfrey len sent me is green and strong and.... threatening?
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If you don't disturb the plant, for instance by tilling, not even a little, it should stay put. We have friends who tilled a bit of the comfrey growing at the edge of their garden and had a major invasion. They stopped it by covering for 2-3 years with black tarp. Planting it in rich clay loam may have been part of the problem. Seeing what happened there we planted ours in sod, in rather poor soil. Comfrey's deep roots draw minerals into the leaves, making them a good fertilizer. This website suggests picking the early leaves to line potato planting trenches with - I'm planning to try it this year. The site makes a few claims that seem over the top but comfrey has a long proven track record. Here is a link that might be useful: comfrey uses
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I have observed comfrey growing for many years. I agree with this research article that this plant is allelopathic and discourages the growth of other plants. http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.3719/weed.50.Supplement_94 I received a comfrey plant from a swap recently and decided to exclude it from my herb garden and plant it near the woods in moist rich soil. I do not want comfrey to take over my garden. I have heard of the use of comfrey as a natural fertilizer, but am skeptical. I can see the need to compost this plant initially and then incorporate the rotted compost in the soil. A surface application of leaves will not be readily accessible to the roots.
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I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow, see I originally thought it was the cold, and still kinda do. However, it is supposed to be hardy to zones 9A and up, in which I'm on the line of 9A and 9B climates. I've found them growing good in people's yards and even a few that are wild on Galveston Island, TX. I have two plants, so I'll do a test run of cutting off the top on the weaker one. Just terrified I'll lose them. I'll hopefully be moving to the Hollywood region of Florida in a year or two so I'm trying to stock up on tropicals. 3 kinds of guava, 2 kinds of mango, tamarind, royal poinciana, rainbow eucalyptus, jamaican hibiscus, jackfruit trees, several different breeds of papayas, so far at 7 different species of fruiting Passiflora (and still collecting those), 2 kinds of grapes, soursop, and many more. Anyways, thank you for your advice.
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I should add that I really worked on having beautiful soil when it was planted. The bed was new and the soil that was there was basically builders junk from almost 30 years ago with that many years of whatever happened to decompose on it, which wasn't very much at all. I added high quality compost (I compared the analysis sheets of the compost near me and chose the one with the highest nutrients) and peat to the soil, making it nice and fluffy for root growth. It's possible those additions helped my plant along. I have three other aralias, all bought late last summer, and they are about the same, all in good soil. Maybe it was their size at the time of purchase. The only place that had them at that time was a froufrou nursery for the more...blessed...among us. They were in pretty big pots, definitely bigger than the standard gallon pot. They were roughly 3 feet when purchased. Could that be it, as well?
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Daisyduckworth
19 years ago
Comfrey needs a LOT of water. If deprived of enough, the leaves will wither, and once that happens there's no turning back for them - they just die. Remember that comfrey has a very long tap root - may go down more than a metre - so water it deeply. A nice boggy patch would suit it well. Don't worry too much. Comfrey is as tough a plant as they come. If the roots are still alive, it will bounce back. You only need to worry about comfrey getting out of control if you disturb the roots. Every tiny sliver of root will become a new plant. Meantime, use those dead leaves as mulch or toss them into the compost. They are full of nutrients and help the compost heap to break down faster.
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sooze
19 years ago
BigSteps,
So glad the comfrey took off, Anakei is right, let me tell you mine (in Sydney) is dying back now and yours in Melb. will do it even earlier. No worries though, it will come back even stronger in spring. Its a perennial here and where you are. You can't kill the stuff.:-)
Wishful, you may have a triffid on your hands:-) Only joking - but it will probably be a lot more vigorous up north. Just use the leaves for "tea" or compost starter.
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wishful
19 years ago
*spent a long time in the garden today looking at the comfrey... green, healthy, not dying back at all.....is it spreading? ARGGHHHHH!*

LOL @ me!

*will go look again next week just in case though.....*
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anakei_36
19 years ago
Perhaps it doesn't die back in Brisbane? We've certainly had very warm weather so far this 'winter' so it may not be getting the trigger to rest. Just don't turn your back on it Wishfull.......
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mikey10
11 years ago
Why not just plant about a dozen Comfrey plants around your compost pile. That way the leaves are readily availble to toss on the compost, they should get adequate moisture and nutrients and the worms naturally attracted to the compost pile will be in "worm heaven"?
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Comfrey isnt growing...

Comments (7)

anakei_36

wishful

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