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Comfrey - when to stop harvesting for season?

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posted 8 years ago

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Hello all!

I was wondering when to stop harvesting my comfrey for the season?

It is mid September in zone 5b and I have a lot of comfrey to harvest but heard somewhere you should stop at a certain time to allow the plant to store up energy for the winter.

I have about 60-90 days to first frost....will this be enough time if I harvest now?

Thanks.

Craig Dobbson

steward

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Location: Maine (zone 5)

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posted 8 years ago

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I'd say that you have more than enough time to get another crop off of it. You really can't kill that stuff, trust me. I've tried. LOL

"You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”
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Jim Fry

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Location: Stone Garden Farm Richfield Twp., Ohio

posted 8 years ago

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We pick as long as there are nice leaves.
We piled a foot of wood chips on some comfrey last Spring. It made it through a couple weeks later. Tough herb to kill. And it loves to spread.

Creating sustainable life, beauty & food (with lots of kids and fun)

Todd Parr

pollinator

Posts: 1793

Location: Wisconsin, zone 4

posted 8 years ago

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I usually stop now, not for the sake of the plants, but for the sake of the spiders. Hundreds of them can over-winter in the big comfrey leaves.

"People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do."

Craig Dobbson

steward

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Location: Maine (zone 5)

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posted 8 years ago

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Todd Parr wrote:I usually stop now, not for the sake of the plants, but for the sake of the spiders. Hundreds of them can over-winter in the big comfrey leaves.

That's a good point! I always feel so bad when I see people doing the "full fall cleanup" leaving nothing for the predators and prey to hang out in over the winter. Then again, I usually take all of the brush and leaves from the curbside paper bags so their loss is my gain. SoOOOOOoooo much mulch. Happy garden.

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Jeremiah Redden

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posted 8 years ago

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Yeah didn't really even think about the spiders and preditory insects! lol. Maybe I will cut back half of them (have like 20 plants going).

Thanks again for all the advice!

Craig Dobbson

steward

Posts: 2719

Location: Maine (zone 5)

595

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posted 8 years ago

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by the way Welcome to Permies!

"You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”
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Todd Parr

pollinator

Posts: 1793

Location: Wisconsin, zone 4

posted 8 years ago

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Jeremiah Redden wrote:Yeah didn't really even think about the spiders and preditory insects! lol. Maybe I will cut back half of them (have like 20 plants going).

Thanks again for all the advice!

If you're like me, you'll have a lot more than that

I love comfrey. It has so many uses and is so easy to propagate that I have it everywhere.

"People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do."

if you think brussel sprouts are yummy, you should try any other food. And this tiny ad:

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