Comfrey Better than Proprietary Brand - Beechgrove

They compared Comfrey and a proprietary brand (Bottle looked like Tomorite to me).

Comfrey won - free too







1m40s in

 

Comfrey (nettle, etc.) water can be pasteurised in bottles and stored in the same way as cider, apple juice, etc. http://www.ciderworkshop.com/juicepasteurising.html

If I tried clamping veg the way they showed it would become a giant rat/mouse nest.

P.S. They had a nice crop of Cucamelons

 

There was never any chance of any feed beating Comfrey in a side by side battle (IMO), it really is that good and can be used in a number of ways so is versatile too. I have quite a big patch of it on my plot and always have a new bin full on the go.

In case someone reading this thinks of planting some Comfrey, DO NOT use seeds, instead buy comfrey root cuttings of the variety called "bocking 14". Comfrey puts it's roots down very deep and once it is growing it is nearly impossible to get rid of. Bocking 14 is a sterile plant and will not produce seeds to blow all over your garden and cause you problems.

Steve...

 

I never had much success with Comfrey tea. Don't get me wrong the stuff is much better than the shop bought stuff but I used the comfrey tea on my tomato plants last year and the flavour was rubbish compared to stuffing the plant with comfrey leaves as a mulch and letting that rot down.

Also that smell!

 

That can be solved (if that is the right word!) by making a concentrate by compressing the leaves (e.g. in a vertical drainage pipe with a heavy-ish weight at the top, and a small-ish bore pipe at the bottom to release the liquid into a container. That doesn't smell and (perhaps?) has the additional benefit of being easier to keep until next season - providing Comfrey fertiliser early in the season before a potential crop of leaves, AND the steeping process, could be accomplished.

Some faff is "loading" the pipe though.

 

It can get disgusting in hot weather




And there's also the rat-tailed maggots that get in it (mine got so disgusting it killed the maggots!)

 

Absolutely Steve.....I steep mine and yes it's stomach churning but the left overs from last year I bottled and it wasn't quite as offensive.Same goes for Nettles too,I tested it on two different pots of N.Langsdorffii and the difference was amazing.It greened up plants in a matter of a couple of days

 

Just a quick word about bottling Comfrey tea. It ferments, so leave bottle tops loose to avoid explosion, you don't want that stink sprayed everywhere!!

Steve...

 

As far as I know they dont do any harm ,

and look like this as adults ,
This stocky hoverfly is the commonest 'drone' fly, so called because they mimic bee drones (male hive bees)

 

I love both nettle and comfray last year I transplanted some lettuce and I was sulking like mad then I have a good nettle tea and within a day they was up all healthy and green now I use them all the time pumpkins love them too