On a whim this fall, I decided to dig up a scraggly comfrey plant from a poor location outside and put it in a container to bring inside. The intention was not to grow comfrey, as much as it was to grow out a root, which I could divide and grow out and so on. My strategy was one of clear cutting every other week or so, to enlarge the root base. This has been working wonderful so far. I have growing a large area of fresh shots, that multiply after every clear cut. This is in a 7 gal sip setup. The other day I spotted this. IMG_0147 by Organic sinse posted Nov 30, 2017 at 7:15 PM Its a little bitty canna seedling. Here is what happened. A couple weeks ago I was planting a Critcal +2.0 auto. I had 2 seeds in my hand and accidently dropped one somewhere. I searched High and low and never spotted it. Apparently it fell into my comfrey pot which was right next to where I was standing. I had written it off as a loss of a $10 seed. So here is the tough decision I made and why. I decided that the seedling was a little too advanced to transplant, and I didn't really have a pot available to accept it anyway. After thinking about it for a while, I decided that the seedling was far enough from the comfrey main stems, that I could continue my business of clearcutting the comfrey every 2 weeks or so, and just let things play out. I would never do this on purpose. Since it happened though, I intend to learn a few things. Here is how she looks after the clear cut the day I discovered her. IMG_0150 by Organic sinse posted Nov 30, 2017 at 7:15 PM I don't expect this plant to do much. When I mixed up the soil for the comfrey I based things on what comfrey likes. I just screened compost and added rice hulls and some perlite. That's it. No peat, no amendments, nothing. I don't think I added enough aeration for canna. Again, I was thinking comfrey is a water hog, and doesn't really need a real good draining soil. Also, there are zero added nutes of any kind. Just what comes from compost. I have been making great compost lately, and it was teaming with worms, so I'm not super pessimistic, but I don't expect this plant to do much. Even though I could top dress some amendments, I'm not going to. I will probably give her a top dress of my vmc at about a month (If I can fit any on top). But that's it. It will receive identical waterings that I use on my other plants of similar ages. I kind of expect that the comfrey will mine and store all the nutrients available in the compost, and this little girl will starve. Or maybe it will be a glorious relationship. Stick around and see. I hope that this accident helps me gauge just how good my compost is, by itself. Maybe I don't need nearly as many and or much of amendments as we all use. I have already learned one Very Valuable thing. Adding rice hulls to my screened compost makes such a good seed starter that it works without me even helping. Not even proper hydration to be honest. I won't be surprised if this plant stunts, but since it hasn't, I don't think it will. If there is any interest in this thread, I will post pics along the way as she grows. Otherwise, I will for sure be documenting this one in my thread "Automatics make good Organic sinse." Remember, Sinse might do some goofy shit, but it is usually interesting and often impressive. Cheers os
This will be interesting, im going to assume you will need more potassium throughout the grow however comfrey could just be cut and top dressed it breaks down fast could be a good thing.
That is the plan. Everything I clear cut from the comfrey will be mulched on top. There were a lot of worms in the compost so at least the micro herd should be rockin. This is the first time in years I have grown without adding mycorrhizae. I hope some tagged along with the comfrey when I dug it up from outside. Otherwise I fear she will really be lacking at the end. But, you never know. Regardless of the canna results. I will still meet my comfrey root mass cultivation goal. Anything else is just extra credit at this point. Thanks for popping in! Cheers os
I looked into growing comfrey indoors. Seems its not the easiest according to most. Even gave it a shot for a bit. Ended up moving it outside. Do to it's extensive root system that goes deep in the earth it's difficult to cultivate indoors. It's definitely a happier plant outdoors. Good luck
I know how poorly they grow actual biomass inside, I did it last year to headstart some roots. My goal was really to make the transplanted root mass large thru clear cutting. When the time is right, I will divide the root with green growth attatched to it. I will let 4 or so of these grow with clear cutting inside till spring comes and they go outside. cheers and thanks for stopping in os
Oh lol - excellent, this is definitely bound to be interesting! Not lastly because (not that I plan to grow a weed plant along with them tho!) I had to rescue these from an even smaller -window box - container, the roots had grown sideways all along it... I have them in there just over winter, as food for the others. And was just pondering whether to cut off the flower stems starting to develop or not I bet your baby girl will do fine in there - after all, it's a location she chose! Cheers!
The way I usually like to trim the comfrey is like this. I will clear cut everything but the smallest leaf or shoot. Then when some new shoots appear I will trim that one. This is just for development of the plant, or the first trim or 2 on a new plant. For your window box I would follow my recommendation above. Cheers and thanks for stopping in Cali! os
Thanks, that certainly makes it easier to cut her back. Comfreys are definitely not the ideal plant for pots, given their preference to grow very deep roots. This I have learned. I was hesitant to cut the ones I have in that pot, thinking it may rob them of their vitality. But the way you explain your practice, it seems to have the opposite effect - if regularly cutting tabula-rasa style will cause the plant to grow a broader (and hence less depth-oriented) base of roots, then harvesting-as-needed (as I also have done in my garden) will promote longass roots into the center of the earth. I 've had a bocking14 in my garden for years, and I see now how NOT cutting her at all for the first two years actually prevented her from becoming more voluminous ( I tried to get to her roots to "divide" them this spring - but there were just very few, albeit amazingly thick roots going down - way farther than I could dig!). And that is probably also why comfrey is usually harvested batchwise not continuously, as I did with the "wild" variant comfreys I got going in my garden this year. Conversely, if we want to slow a comfrey down, continuous harvesting will do the trick? Usually I chop comfrey with water in the blender and water my plants with that - it doesn't take much in that form though - one leaf per plant is more or less what I've gone with this past season. But I definitely will be trying this more radical approach on mine - and yeah, maybe better to just chop and mulch.. Cheers!
Oh and concerning yours, it just may stop growing when the cannabis plant starts overshadowing it. I've had borage growing beside my plants a few times now, which at first had a kind of protective function, getting defoliated when its leaves would start crowding out the seedling - chop and drop style of course - but then slowed its growth down to practically nothing when the cannabis overtook it in size. Actually, just by watching the borage, I have come to think of it as comfrey's annual sister - but never seem to get around to finding the data to compare their respective nutrient profiles... So who knows, the comfrey may behave similarly! Very exciting experiment, this! Cheers!
It’s been a minute, but I recall someone on gco using borage like comfrey. There is a variety that grows wild somewhere in my region. I keep an eye peeled for it. Cheers os
A little update on the Critical+2.0 Auto. This seedling has shown growth and vigor, the likes of which I have never seen. The comfrey has stopped growing at the surface layer, now that it is in a shadow. I have just left the comfrey alone. She has progressed well. Here is a pic from about week after the ones posted above. Dec 6 #2 by Organic sinse posted Dec 14, 2017 at 7:09 PM Here she was 4 days ago. Dec 11 by Organic sinse posted Dec 14, 2017 at 7:09 PM Dec 14 #1 by Organic sinse posted Dec 14, 2017 at 7:09 PM And today Dec 14 #2 by Organic sinse posted Dec 14, 2017 at 7:09 PM This is going to be one to watch. I feel this is going to become a very fat squat plant. Whatever it decides to do, I can tell it will be interesting. Cheers os
This blessed little accident has motivated me to start experimenting with my own seed starter recipe. I have shied away from doing so in the past due to the fact that I really never had any peat or compost or vmc that wasn't pre amended. The initial growth was so impressive, I have only seen results that slightly compare when growing in the greenhouse around summer solstice. Right before the first freeze hit here, I saved a couple 5 gallon buckets of screened compost that was teaming with worms, but has nothing added to it. I have just been keeping moist and loosely covered. I didn't know what I would do with it, but I do now. I am going to play around try a simple compost/ rice hull mix. This is the long game as I won't be starting any seeds for probably a month to 6 weeks. cheers os
Here is what this girl has become at about 29 days. Critical companion at 29 days by Organic sinse posted Dec 23, 2017 at 10:14 PM The stem on this thing is ridiculously fat. No sign of the comfrey coming back. Just to review, this an accident that started in a soil mix of compost with rice hulls. I added 1 teaspoon of Langebenite to add a touch of mag at about 2 weeks. I just top dressed an inch of my ewc. Its had one kelp tea, otherwise aloe water only. I'm pretty sure Santa was behind this one. Cheers os
Just a weekly pic update. Comfrey companion Critical +2.0 day 33 LST hanging candy canes by Organic sinse posted Dec 28, 2017 at 11:47 AM She looks great. More vigor than any of my other plants. The stem is crazy fat. I was expecting this to be a short squat plant. One of the reasons I didn't put a cage on it. Its squat, but its now the tallest girl in the room. Keep watching, this blessed accident is definitely one to watch. This one really is the poster girl for "get the compost right and the rest will just fall into place". Just compost and rice hulls with a top dress of vmc last week. I will say one thing about this batch of compost. I dug huge holes and used this same batch of compost as the sole 'soil' for comfrey plants this summer. The difference in growth was immediate upon transplant! They produced like crazy! cheers os
Indeed! When I just saw the pic of this plant on your auto thread, my mind immediately jumped to the quality of your compost! Awesome stuff you must have there, by the looks of it. In my eyes, that is true wealth! Cheers!
A new conundrum! I think that possibly, the comfrey may also be contributing to the vigour of your plant! And here's why: I had my old chili plant standing next to my comfrey for a while, and a seed pod must've fallen into the comfrey pot. So now, I have this amazing chili seedling developing amongst the comfreys. And there's none of your magic compost in there - in fact, the soil I used in that pot was anything but great. It's mainly the soil from a potato bag I had on my deck last year. I had filled that with the mix that got me turned off of perlite (with about 40% perlite, 30% organic potting soil, 30% microbially unspectacular compost, only lightly amended), and had layered in plant debris and handfuls of soil mix over the course of the summer. The potato didn't do very well in it either. Before planting the comfrey in it, I remember having amended it a bit, probably with some VC, kelp and neem (I didn't take notes, it was just a side show...), but it definitely wasn't a great soil. It may have improved a bit with the feedings it has been getting along with my other closet plants. This chili plant, however, is definitely the most vital one I've ever had (for size proportions: that pot is 30cm diameter)! So it's gotten me pondering what the comfrey roots may be doing to improve soil conditions for others in there?! I wish I could shrink myself and go explore the soil to check whether that is indeed the case, and how they're doing it lol Cheers!
So this grow is a wrap. This Critical+2.0, that was an accident, is completely finished in 76 days from seed. She's a beauty and was about 32" tall. I was trying to keep her LST'd to the pot diameter ( 7 gal) but I went a little over due to her being planted so far off center. I took a couple pics after she got a preliminary trim for the camera. Comfrey companion Critical +2:0 76 days harvest time by Organic sinse posted Feb 9, 2018 at 8:26 PM Comfrey companion Critical +2:0 day 76 by Organic sinse posted Feb 9, 2018 at 8:26 PM Even the lower buds are real nice on this plant. even the very bottom buds are nice by Organic sinse posted Feb 9, 2018 at 8:31 PM Check out these nice big chunky side buds. nice big chunky side buds by Organic sinse posted Feb 9, 2018 at 8:31 PM This thing is gonna have a terrific yield. Its got a real heavy feel to her, as she is being hung upside down for a week. So here is the million dollar question. After being shaded to death for 2 months, is my comfrey going to pop back up? I plan to just keep her moist and in the grow room for as long as I can. I'll let ya all know. Cheers os
Its been a month of keeping my soil moist, and the container under light. My comfrey hasn't reappeared yet. cheers os