Symphytum officinale
Common comfrey
Common names: True comfrey, Wallwort
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Spacing
- 60 cm, rows 80 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- May–Sep
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −25 °C
- Water need
- High
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień (Nova) · CC BY 2.5 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Common comfrey is a powerful plant in permaculture gardens. Its deep taproots draw potassium and nutrients from the subsoil, and the leaves can be used to make high‑quality compost tea and mulch. In early summer, it produces bell‑shaped flowers that attract bumblebees.
Care instructions
Plant in a moist, partially shaded spot, ideally in a place where it is allowed to spread freely, its roots will regenerate from any fragment. Water generously during dry periods. Cut the foliage close to the ground three to four times per season and use it for surface compost or as a potassium‑rich plant tea.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestMay–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 8 °C, ideally 15 °C
- Days to sprout
- 14 to 28 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, humus-rich, moist, nutrient-rich
Comfrey wants deep, fresh to moist soil with a high humus content. Heavy, loamy sites such as at a water meadow are ideal; permanently dry sand is too much for it. As a deep-rooted plant, it taps nutrients from deeper layers itself and is well suited to underplanting beneath trees such as alders or willows.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring, as growth begins, work a thin layer of mature compost shallowly around the plant; that is enough for the whole season. On nutrient-rich, moist soil you otherwise do not need to feed, because comfrey, as a deep-rooted plant, brings up nutrients itself. Only on lean, sandy soil can you additionally work in some horn shavings shallowly in spring.
Overwintering
Comfrey is a hardy perennial and comes through winter without problems and without protection in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In autumn, cut the dead shoots back close to the ground. The strong root reliably sprouts again in spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Division
Comfrey is most reliably and easily propagated from root cuttings or root division; both work in spring (March/April) or autumn (October/November). The plant regenerates vigorously from every piece of root, so the vegetative methods are clearly preferable.
Root cuttings (recommended): Dig around an established plant, take individual side roots and cut them into thumb-thick pieces 3 to 6 cm long, each carrying at least one visible bud. Plant the pieces horizontally about 5 to 8 cm deep, keep a spacing of 15 to 20 cm and keep the soil evenly moist. New shoots appear after 3 to 6 weeks.
Division: Lift the rootstock with a digging fork and divide it with a sharp spade into several sections. Each section needs root mass and at least one bud. Plant the pieces straight away in their new position (planting distance about 40 to 50 cm) and water in well. Crown divisions often sprout after only around 10 days.
Sowing (possible, but unreliable): Common comfrey (S. officinale) can form fertile seeds, unlike sterile cultivated varieties such as ‘Bocking 14’. However, the species sets seed only sparingly, so sowing is the least certain method. Sow in March on the windowsill or in autumn directly in the open ground. Important: comfrey is a light germinator. Only press the seeds down and cover them at most with a wafer-thin layer of soil; on no account sow them 1 to 2 cm deep. Keep the soil moist; germination after about 2 to 3 weeks. Set young plants out into the open ground from May about 50 cm apart. Comfrey forms a deep-reaching rootstock and dislikes being transplanted. Direct sowing at the final site is preferable to raising plants beforehand.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
Borage attracts pollinators and is supposed to keep tomato pests away from the nightshade family.
For example PotatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberryChili and 13 more species in the catalogue
Source: organic greenhouse companion planting practice
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Common comfrey yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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