Quick Comfrey Questions!

When do I dig up my comfrey to chop up the roots for propagation?

When I bought it (shout out Coe's Comfrey!) it came packed in sand with instructions to keep it in the fridge. How long will the root pieces stay viable this way?

Thanks friends.


(It's Bocking 4, a couple years old and has been chopped down 2 times this year. It's re-sprouted to about 6 inches high right now. )

Do you get a dormant season Dan?  If so then towards the end of the dormant season is probably best.  Then when replanted, the roots are ready to grow.  For me they go dormant over winter from about November through to Mid March, So I guess they ought to be happy under the right conditions for four months or so.
Hope this helps.

I've dug it up and shipped it or replanted it myself any time of year except dead of winter with no issues.  It may work in winter, but the ground here is too hard to dig, so I haven't ever tried it.  

When I ship it to people, I pack it in damp vermiculite, but I'm not sure how long you could leave it like that.  I would think it would rot after a week or so, but I've never really tried it.  As you said, refrigerating it should help, but I haven't done it to see.

I got my original plants from Coe's Comfrey as well.  Great to work with.

Thanks!

I do get a dormant season from probably December to  late March or so. So I think I will try to dig 'er up first thing in March.

I think now that I know when to dig and chop I'll just avoid trying to store it all together. That was kind of a gee whiz question I guess.

Thanks again!

Bonus Time: I made comfrey tea for the first time this year. I forgot I made it and the lid was loose on the bucket. For two days, I kept looking around for a dead animal in the woods near my garden, a thick stench, flies all over the place hahaha. But really, after 6 weeks (with the lid nice and tight) the smell was 100% tolerable when I used it and I am kind of a wuss with those things. The results were amazing! Best thing I have discovered so far.

Dan, If you just cut the comfrey and squash it into a bucket, push it down really densely, cover and leave it, after a week or so you get a concentrated plant food that doesn’t smell so bad. Pour it into a bottle, compost the remaining leaves and Just dilute it with water when you need some.  I do that sometimes for my tomatoes etc. in the polytunnel.

Totally, that's exactly what I did. But geez, the first couple weeks you really need to keep it covered, tight. Or stay far away, hahaha.