Comfrey is rich in potash making it a highly effective herbal fertiliser
Anyone have much experience with making comfrey liquid fertiliser? We have some fermenting in a barrel at the back, as poor Mary who was innocently weeding 50 feet away, discovered when I opened the lid to examine it the other day.
The internet is full of helpful tips on making the stuff. Pretty simple really: just cover with water (preferably rainwater) and leave. There is some discussion as to whether you use a barrel with a tap at the bottom and drain it from there, making for presumably a more concentrated mix. Others just suggest simply pouring it into a watering can (sieved or not) and sploshing it around. Where they divide, and l have checked out many sites, is on the crucial question of dilution.
Some suggest diluting by 1:25, a number recommend 1:10, some say 1:3, others half-and-half, and I know at least one farmer who pours it on as is. So what say you experienced growers out there?
Last year, we used nettle 'tea' in parallel with comfrey
What they all agree in is the appalling throat-closing stench, and to never let it splash on bare hands. One site warns that the smell never seems to fade and from my experience it will take many days, baths, and essential oils before it finally lifts.
I would recommend a bio-hazard suit, or failing that, washing-up gloves and wellingtons (I am only just recovering from the shame of the road-kill smell I exuded last year). My last tip: do not crop the same weekend, let alone day, as spraying. I ruined a fish supper with curiously stinky chard.
