Tired of payng for fertilizers for your tomatoes and other garden plants? Grow your own. Comfrey is a gardener's gold. Every gardener should have one. Although some comfrey varieties are classed as invasive, Bocking 14 (Russian Comfrey) produces non-fertile, flowers and unviable seeds so growth is controlled. This is, nevertheless, a large prolific grower and has an extremely heavy growth so it must go in a place where it has room to grow-best away from other plants that it can choke out .
The plant has an extremely long tap root-many feet deep in most cases. That tap root draws potassium from deep down in the soil, a source that is otherwise unavailable to gardeners. The potassium and nitrogen are stored in the leaves and, when laid on soil, quickly decompose releasing the key fertilizers into the soil for uptake by your plants.
You can use leaves straight from the plant. Lay them around your tomato plants and perhaps weigh down with grass clippings or a bit of soil just so they don't blow away.
If you are planting tomatoes in a pot, lay the comfrey leaves in the bottom of the pot and plant the tomatoes over them. As they decompose, the nutrients will be released to the roots. Feed occasionally with fresh leaves on top of the soil.
You can also reserve a liquid from rotting leaves but it is much more time intensive to do so and the liquid version can cause problems if not applied properly. It is also reported to smell....pretty bad!
So, if you don't have a comfrey plant in your garden, reserve a corner for one or find a friend who will. Make sure you are happy with the location because once planted, you likely won't be able to get rid of it.....but then You won't regret it.
The plant has an extremely long tap root-many feet deep in most cases. That tap root draws potassium from deep down in the soil, a source that is otherwise unavailable to gardeners. The potassium and nitrogen are stored in the leaves and, when laid on soil, quickly decompose releasing the key fertilizers into the soil for uptake by your plants.
You can use leaves straight from the plant. Lay them around your tomato plants and perhaps weigh down with grass clippings or a bit of soil just so they don't blow away.
If you are planting tomatoes in a pot, lay the comfrey leaves in the bottom of the pot and plant the tomatoes over them. As they decompose, the nutrients will be released to the roots. Feed occasionally with fresh leaves on top of the soil.
You can also reserve a liquid from rotting leaves but it is much more time intensive to do so and the liquid version can cause problems if not applied properly. It is also reported to smell....pretty bad!
So, if you don't have a comfrey plant in your garden, reserve a corner for one or find a friend who will. Make sure you are happy with the location because once planted, you likely won't be able to get rid of it.....but then You won't regret it.