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Comfrey fertilizer

CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
in Problem solving
I have loads of comfrey in my garden - hidcote blue and hidcote pink, not the tall wild variety.. Are all parts of the plant (leaves, flowers, stems and roots) suitable for making fertilizer?  How long should it keep it 'steeping'?  Should I wait until it gives off that unmistakeable odour?
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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Leave the flowers on the plant as they are great for pollinators.  When the flowers are done, cut off the foliage and flower stems and use to make your comfrey "tea", leaving the roots to grow another crop and keep the supply going.

    The old school way is to scrunch the comfrey foliage in a deep bucket and then cover with water and then a lid.  Leave a couple of weeks to steep, stirring occasionally.    Strain the resulting liquid into a container and dilute 1 x comfrey liquid to 10 x water and use as a liquid feed or a foliar spray.

    A less smelly way is to find a deep container into which you can sit a less deep plant pot that will fit on the rim.   Fill the plant pot with as much comfrey foliage as you can and then weight it down with a stone or brick.   The juices will seep down into the container below and can then be diluted as above.   

    Whichever method you use the residue of squished or rotted comfrey leaves can go on the compost heap.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
    Thanks so much Obelixx, a very comprehensive reply!  I am on it today 😄
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    If you can chop the Comfrey up, it will rot down more quickly @Collareddove
    . We usually leave ours for one month to soak. We use a cheap black plastic dustbin to make ours. If you can keep it somewhere where it gets a few hours of direct sunlight each day, this will also help speed up decomposition.

    You can use the mushed foliage after you have finished. It can be used as a mulch around plants (as can raw Comfrey leaves), and it acts as an accelerator on your compost heap. 

    We put our finished juice into a water butt, which makes it easy to access when we need it, but you need to stir the contents before use, as the gunk tends to collect at the bottom of the butt.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I do the old fashioned way, stuff as much into a bucket as you can and weigh it down with a brick before adding water. It stinks and I find if you don't add a lid, hoverflies lay their larvae in it (which isn't a problem but it means I can't use it until they have gone).

    One word of warning if you are planning to bottle and store it, you need to open the lid quite often because if you forget, the pressure can build up and explode the bottle, hence why my shed still stinks of comfrey tea. 
  • CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
    Thanks all for your very useful advice.  I have been wondering what it is that makes nettles and comfrey so particularly good as liquid fertilizer?  Are there any other plants which can be used to the same effect?
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Nettles are full of nitrogen which is good for leaf growth.

    Comfrey roots go deep and pull up a wider range of minerals from the soil and are good for flower and fruit production hence their value as a fertiliser for roses and tomatoes and any other fruiting and flowering pant.

    Seaweed is good for potatoes, sweetcorn, peppers, apples, strawberries as it contains a substance that helps the soil retain water.

    Grass clippings are high in nitrogen and weeds in general can be composted or made into a tea that is high in nitrogen.

    Horsetail (weed) can be used to make a good fungicide. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,394
    edited April 2022
    thevictorian said:
    One word of warning if you are planning to bottle and store it, you need to open the lid quite often because if you forget, the pressure can build up and explode the bottle, hence why my shed still stinks of comfrey tea. 

    Is this when storing the tea, the squashed liquor, or both? 
    East Yorkshire
  • CollareddoveCollareddove Posts: 173
    Interesting reply Obelixx.  So really I should have two separate bins, one with nettles, one with comfrey as each is useful for different stages of growth.  Eg, for plants coming into flower I should choose comfrey, for vegetables such as chard and spinach, nettles would be the better choice?
  • LeadFarmerLeadFarmer Posts: 1,500
    These are my Bocking 14 comfrey plants grown from cuttings that a kind member on here sent me, I'll be making comfrey tea after they have flowered, and might even Chelsea chop some of them..


  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    I have some wild off-white Comfrey, but lots more Alkanet, same family, same deep roots.  It all goes on my compost heap.  Roots after having been dried out.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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