My comfrey plants are suffering from rust. They were growing near trees, in part shade, so I transferred new plants from cuttings out into the open. Those plants have rust now, too. Can I still make comfrey tea from the leaves, or does the rust affect their usefulness as a fertiliser?
I fear you have transported rust spores with your plants and the cycle has started again.
Comfrey rust (Melampsorella symphyti) is a fungal disease and hard to get rid of. Dig up your plants and destroy them by burning, burying deep in a hot compost system, or binning, then invest in new plants.
Cultivar ‘Bocking 14’ is supposed to be more resistant to the rust, though if you have wild comfrey growing nearby (Symphytum officinale) there’s always a risk that your new plants will become infected, too. Plant your new comfrey out with plenty of space between individuals to improve air circulation and give them rich ground to get going in.
Finally, I wouldn’t make tea out of infected leaves, because if the spores don’t rot down, you run the risk of spreading them again.
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