ID Please? Leaves make a "organic tonic" for plant Can anyone ID this for me? I had gotten this at Rodale Institute and was told that if I cut off some leaves occassionaly and put it in a large tub of water I would be able to use the liquid in the tub as an "organic tonic" for plants and veggies. I can't remember the name. Any help would be greatly appreicate. TIA ( photo / image / picture from Frugalkate's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Frugalkate's Garden ) moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Symphytum officinale (Comfrey) And it does make a very good plant food. It will develop a very long tap root so if you haven't put it in the ground yet be sure to find a place where you really want it to be for years.
Not much that I can add to the "old" pro Toni's words--her info is correct on all accounts. The only thing that I WILL say is that I use the leaves of this plant (comfrey) for fertilizer--both as a mulch and as a liquid food for the veggies. It is a good plant for a frugal person. As a final word of agreement with Toni and that is about the roots. Watch out for those, because if you do not get all bits of the long and 'permanent' tap root out of the ground when removing the plant, it will just keep on living. It can regenerate huge, leafy plants from the smallest chip of the root's fibers.
YES! Comfrey! Thank you both! And I know full well about it regenerating itself! As soon as I was given a very small piece from Rodale Institute I stuck it in the ground. Then last fall I wanted to move it to a different area....and I guess I didn't dig all of it up because now it's growing huge again in the first place I had put it. Does anyone know if this will grow in very little soil that has a rocky (slate) composition to it? My backyard slopes upwards and I have 2 tiered rock walls up there and just about everything I've planted doesn't take - except the weeds of course!
I have some that was given to me a little over a year ago, and it is huge. It loves water if it gets too dry or hot. I have an old brush pile that I am making into a flower bed --it is very wild right now--but my comfrey is just huge anyhow. http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/g ... mfrey.html This is an interesting site for comfrey.
I just wanted to update you all on comfrey. The other day after reading this post, and reading several websites about the healing powers of comfrey, I found one of my hens severely injured from the rooster. He is a very large rooster, and loved to pick on this hen. She had huge wounds in her side, well into her tissues, they had already festered when I found her like that. Blondie is one of my favorite hens, and I was afraid she would not live. I did pour some peroxide into the wound to cleanse it and slathered on a generous amount of fly repelling creme, and into the wounds. I remembered about the comfrey and made some tea with it. I just boiled water, turned it off, and let some leaves steep in it for a bit, and cooled it off. I have been washing her wounds with the tea several times a day, and they are healing up nicely. She is still eating and cheerful, so I think she might live after all. I knew if flys laid their maggots in it she would surely die. I gave kept the rooster apart from my hens and gave him to a family member who wants to raise that breed of chicken. He will still be a pet, but I did warn them he is very mean. She has a hen of the same breed and is not so small as my chickens. Who needs a rooster anyhow? If you or your pets have a wound that needs healed up, try some of the comfrey tea on it if you can.
Itr is difficult to imagine that it would do well in a place that has very little soil and rock under that---it has a long taproot, you see...there is a reason for that. I would imagine that it shallow soil with slate under that would not allow for that. Well, having said that, it is a plant known for being a survivor, so you could try itm but I really would be surprized if it worked. Good luck if you try...keep us posted.
