Really? I have been wondering this myself as I am finding a number of little comfrey plants popping up around my garden. I was beginning to think I was sold a strain of comfrey that isn't sterile, I bought what was said to be bocking 14. I do a lot of chop and drop of my comfrey plants around my fruit trees, throughout the growing season and in the fall when I mulch my beds for winter. I'm still not convinced that I have the sterile strain so I have started an experiment planting seeds from each of my plants in a labeled pot to see if any sprout. I do have 3 common comfrey plants as well that I continually cut back before they flower to stop seed spread but I might have missed a seed here or there when mulching them, soo.... They are either spreading by: -stems / leaf stems rooting from "chop and drop" mulch. -not bocking 14 and speading by seed. -or its from my common comfrey (seeds/flowers that got missed "chop and drop" mulch) Time will tell, I will update this post once I find out for anyone else wondering / curious. Here's a question for you "a4000t" Do you know if the seeds develop and germinate if picked before flowers open. (do the flowers mature and set seed once cut from the plant and used as mulch on the ground). I wonder this about all plant flowers? If a plant blooms, does the flower still continue to turn into seeds even after it is cut from the plant? I think so.. any opinions about this is greatly appreciated. thanks to whoever reads and answers this.
I bought a sad little comfrey plant in a fall close out at the garden store a couple years ago. I put it in the ground and it seemed like it died but sure enough it came roaring to life in the spring. I have been able to divide it a couple times and I now have 4 large, happy comfrey plants!
My parents had a ton of this plant on their property when I was a kid it took us about 10 years to completely kill. At the time we treated it as a weed and didn’t even know what it was until after it was all killed off. Looking back now I have some regrets but at least I learned how hard it is to kill once it’s established. So all in all I learned a lot about this plant so I consider that a win in a way
I never had a piece of Comfrey root that didn't sprout and grow. I plant the 2" pieces of root about 2" deep in loose soil, and 3 or 4 weeks there is a plant growing.
I bought boking 14 (sterile seed) a year ago, it’s been doing well in the Arizona shade in fabric pots with a drip system. I was just trying to see if it would survive here, now it’s time to make it rain comfrey, so going to multiply what I’ve grown. I’ve got tithonia diversifolia cuttings on the way as well, to see how many nitrogen fountains I can create. If I can get both to survive, I bet they would Inter plant well with the Tithonia providing shade for the comfrey… we will see anyway. Commenting to add some fertilizer to the RU-vid video. Love your stuff hope you’re doing well where you’re at now.
Thank you, I've recent become obsessed with comfrey and you had several uses at the beginning of the video that i hadn't heard of yet. Really well done video too!
I have true comfrey and it self-seeded like crazy ! The blooms are so beautiful and it blooms early- April in the PNW Wa. So the bees have something in early spring. I use the leaves in my compost as well. Thanks for the great video!
Amazing video!! Glad to see you put your observational skills to more than just your farm enterprises ;) looking forward to the next chapter. Your teachings have helped us in our tiny garden emmensly. All the best from Victoria BC
thank you for sharing this I have had no success due to something always eating it ...one out of 9 plants have survived ...we are in a very hot climate possibly that was the issue...shady seems to be the answer//maybe I will plant in a deep tall pot for now?Great idea about the organza bag...stay blessed
Found huge amounts of wild comfrey (cynoglossum virginiana) in the woods today...looks nothing like the domesticated type. The inflouresence of flowers look like forget-me -nots. Also called hound's tongue and giant forget-me-nots. Beautiful and large native here.
Thanks for all this information on Comfrey. I've never learned about it before but now I'm researching it further. I'm finding there are multiple types of comfrey with different characteristics. Is there a particular variety of comfrey that you recommend over others?
I'm only a little way into the video so I may be saying what is eventually covered: Bocking 14 comfrey is a non-invasive variety due to it being sterile (no viable seeds produced) and also not given to root creep. I have several plants and will have to use pieces of root to propagate more plants.
@@trevorhoward7682 Yes, Bocking 14 is from the Russian cultivars, who've bred out the seeding capacity completely. Not by gene manipulation or something, just by selective breeding for decades on end.
This is really an eye opening ! I was us in just anything available. Now I have to find the Nepali name and search this plant -COMFREY ! My gardener knows about it but does not know the name. Thanks.
I have tried to grow the bocking 14 a couple of times. First I tried the live plant, which didnt last our summer (Arizona). I also placed it in full sun, not a good choice. The next year I bought 12 root cuttings in our winter, thinking that if they had plenty of time to get established then they would stand a better chance in summer. I planted them all in different levels of shade. They took 6 weeks to sprout and all came up. They did really great until the summer heat, none made it. I may try again in fall and dig it up before the heat kills it and store it.
Do you think I could grow out a small plant I just received thru the winter in my house under lights to get the plant as big as a possible and then propagate that plant in January or February?
i got 3 plants last summer.. i decided to let them take hold for the year but would like to propagate them alot further this year. how many times could you do this? i am in Canada Zone 3 basically i have from end of Mayor perhaps June when they come back.. till end of September
how small of a root cutting have you seen grow? I made the mistake of growing comfrey from seed then after 8 months or so, I dug them up, cut the small roots up and planted them throughout the yard... what are my chances?
If the Russian comfrey Is the safe 1 to take internally and is sterile and has no seed, How are you planting seed And the seed producing A new plant??? I have planted cup free seed and the plants came up wonderfully but they are different and shaped differently than the Russian bockking 14.
@@Zoe-sj7of strictly medicinal seeds has root crowns that are reliable and decently priced, I would highly recommend the bocking 14 cultivar. It doesn't produce seeds so you can split like a hosta
I know this an older video but I'm hoping to get a response anyways. I'm very interested in getting some comfrey but I'm having a lot of trouble with finding a reliable place to buy any from. I bought some seeds from Amazon and followed the instructions and nothing happened. So, I was hoping to learn where I could get preferably some crowns or root cuttings from? Any help would be appreciated. TIA!
Been watching so much videos for this plant propagation, care and uses but all of them said that it needs SHADE!!!! Never plant it i on direct sun! I just purchased several roots and crowns and 10% are alive perhaps because I have them under the trees! We are in zone 9 and now am confused on where to plant them! I was thinking behind a building that gives 90% shade but now am confused! Also, everyone says that you can't never grow it from seeds!!!! OMG just like what to eat this days!!!
Propagate in 100% shade, once they have some root structure after a few weeks, dappled sunlight is good, then they can be planted a few weeks after that. It depends on the plant how fast roots are created.
Be very careful when buying comfrey seeds or root cuttings. Some list it as being another name for foxglove. It is NOT. Make SURE you know what you have before using it or allowing livestock anywhere near it.
"#4...just dig in the ground a little, plant "it" and cover it." What is, "it?" Root, crown, or stem? This is the point at which this video lacks helpfulness.
