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Can I plant comfrey root cuttings in winter?

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posted 2 years ago

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I got eager and ordered several comfrey roots online, and they’re currently in my fridge. I live in zone 6/5b. Am I okay to plant them in the ground now, or am I better off to plant them in pots indoors and transplant later? Would it help if I put a little mulch on top? Thanks.

Doug McGregor

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posted 2 years ago

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If you have some grow lights inside you could start the plants early, they might get big in zone 6 your last frost is in april.. I would keep them in the fridge a while in something like peat moss and plant outside closer to spring. Having said that I'm starting some from seed inside next month, your roots will take off faster than seed.

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Thekla McDaniels

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posted 2 years ago

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And, if it were me, and the ground isn’t frozen, I don’t really know the climate by numbers, I would put them outside now, put chips over them, or straw, something to mark their location as well as moderate the day night temperature swings.

How big are the root cuttings you received? I should have asked that first!

I think it’s easier to let the plant wake up in place when it senses appropriate conditions. And I get to skip the high maintenance phase of planting from pots indoors to soil out doors.

Good luck! Comfrey is a wonderful, generous plant, and very forgiving!

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Jen Fulkerson

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posted 2 years ago

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Hi John, I was wondering what you decided to do, and how it worked out?

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Hugo Morvan

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posted 2 years ago

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I use comfreyroot for balms. So every time i dig up a big root i get at least five bits with roots and leaves. They always work. Winter summer, sure thing. The smaller bits of roots are trickiest, but bits as thick as fingers mostly get gping if pût in pots in semi shade. Where i've taken the adult plant from a hole is in the ground. Weeks to months after new plants pop up from the remaining roots. In the soil.

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Devon Olsen

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posted 1 year ago

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Where are you located Hugo?
I'm sure winter Temps would make quite the difference in this experience

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Trace Oswald

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posted 1 year ago

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You can still plant comfrey in WI this time of year.

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Luke Mitchell

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posted 1 year ago

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I would plant comfrey roots out at any time of year. Winter or early spring would actually be the best, in my opinion, as the plant will spring into action once out of dormancy - and wont dry out whilst it grows its root system.

That said, we rarely freeze for long. If the ground froze for long periods over the winter, down to the depth the cutting was planted at (8" or so, shallower in rocky soil), I would try and hold off if possible.

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Shari Humphries

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posted 1 year ago

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Do you know how to move comfrey root from one state to another? I am moving from Arkansas to Idaho and can not bring a green plant. I need to transport the roots. I can not get to them for several weeks.
Would storing the roots in sand keep them alive and dormant until I can unpack them?

Thekla McDaniels

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posted 1 year ago

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are you digging your own roots?

i think your idea would work, but why not wait to dig the roots?

if you are buying live roots why not wait until you are in idaho to have them delivered?

“Strictly Medicinals” in cottage grove oregon ships live roots. see their blurb below

IMG_9521.jpeg

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Thekla McDaniels

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posted 1 year ago

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that’s a screenshot, but if the idea sounds good, it might be a good idea to check with them now to find out everything you need to know to end up with the roots.

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May Lotito

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posted 1 year ago

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Comfrey grows readily from root cuttings and bringing the roots will save you a lot of money to restart your patch in the new location. Keep them moist in a low temperature if you don't want them to grow yet. Here are my root cuttings dug from dormant plants on Dec 9. I planted them indoors at 72 F and they sprouted after just 3 weeks.

20231230_085057.jpg

20240109_225410.jpg

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

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Hugo Morvan

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posted 1 year ago

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I make an impressive balm with the older rootstock. Together with rosemary and eucalyptus and minthe, the best for muscles and joints, can add arnika and lavender and hamamelis, but no need, rosemary or lavender will be great as well.
Just take out the central root and grate, add oil and keep it under the oil or it will rot.
You'll have enough side shoots to replant and at the place where you dug it out a month later five to ten will pop up in a crown.
But it's a very little known trick, because people are too relaxed and comfortable to own a good spade and use it.

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Alan Burnett

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Location: Zone 4

posted 1 year ago

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I finally got my hands on some comfrey, it's growing pretty happily in a 1 gallon pot.

Since it grows so well from root cuttings, my idea is to let it fill up the pot and get root bound, then come November or so, when plants are dormant but the ground isn't completely frozen, I'll empty the pot and cut the roots into 1 inch chunks , then dig small holes around the garden and drop in the chunks

Is that all there is to it? It all seems too easy

Timothy Norton

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posted 1 year ago

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I have not tried before winter but I have done your process coming into early spring when the ground first thaws with great success.

Comfrey is a pretty resilient plant. You may have a few losses from the winter depending on how cold your zone is because the roots are not established but I think you will have success.

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Thekla McDaniels

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posted 1 year ago

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For a most part I think fall is the best time for planting, (I grew up with wet winters and hot dry summers).

In a cold winter climate I like to get things into the ground a couple months earlier. Comfrey is a tough plant, and it will most likely survive what you describe, but I think I would double the size of root chunks, and I expect they will be very slow to show themselves in the spring!

Good luck with this!

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James MacKenzie

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posted 1 year ago

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tbh i would find a spot and plant it there right now... break it up into small roots... it will grow FAST with a bit of fertilizer... be sure to keep it moist..

you are in zone 4... after your first frost... go dig up the upper half of some of your plants and bring it inside in pots to overwinter.. leave the bottom half in place.. maybe mulch it but i doubt it will make a difference seeing as it is that cold there..

the pots inside are an insurance policy - i am pretty sure the plants you leave in the ground will come back - it is REALLY hard to kill.. i gave some root cuttings to a friend who lives in regina.. she says it is growing like made and moving towards the neighbors yard

should work for you - if not i will send you a whole pile next spring - cheers!

Michelle Heath

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posted 1 year ago

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Regarding comfrey in a pot-I pretty much established patches every time I moved the pot mine were originally in. Roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and were left behind and essentially created a new patch.

I generally opt to go with a minimum cutting length of 2" and even longer is it's a tiny root. I rooted several cuttings in two window boxes this year with nearly all of the larger cuttings surviving and approximately half of the smaller ones. Of course we've had quite a drought this year but I've noticed the same thing with tiny roots in the past.

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