If you ’re grim of paying for fertilizers and plant food , then comfrey tea is for you . It ’s easy to make and , if you ’re already grow some healing herb in your garden , it ’s practically free .
Comfrey tea is incredibly sustainable . you may make it using repurposed containers and you may apply it to fee all your plants .
It ’s super nutrient and helps control that intimate garden foe : powdery mildew . quick to get set about ?
Why Comfrey Tea is Good For Your Garden
If you ’re an organic nurseryman , you probably pay more for your garden products . You ’re also buy things in moldable container that have been send long distances . Not very green .
On the other hand , comfrey tea is radical - local and much spare . Plus , it ’s nourishing without contribute harmful elements to the surroundings as commercial fertilizer can .
Plants call for specific nutrients to fly high . The self-aggrandizing three include nitrogen , daystar , and K . When you buy plant food from the entrepot , it has an NPK rating , which say you how much it contains of each of these nutrient .
Nitrogen encourages healthy foliage , while phosphorus help with general growth and disease immunity . atomic number 19 creates racy yield and flowers .
Comfrey has these in abundance because it draws macronutrients from the soil and stores them in the leaves . In fact , comfrey has high K levels than compost .
It also has gamey levels of Mg and calcium , two other authoritative food .
How to Make Comfrey Tea
If you are n’t growing comfrey yet , gibe out ourgrowing guideand get protrude ! Then , go out and harvest your adult comfrey leave .
Make the Mixture
fulfil a large bucket ( or any large container ) with freshly picked leaf . The leaves should be about a animal foot tall . Cut them down to where the stem is about two in from the ground and use the extinct leaf first .
you may cut them up or shred them to get a quicker result .
The bigger the leaf country , the longer the process will take , so I veer them into small pieces . If you do n’t beware waiting and do n’t want to do the extra body of work , just give the leave in whole .
Use glove because comfrey leaves are quite hirsute and some people find them irritating to their pelt . The molder process will be smelly , so do n’t keep the container near the household .
Some people snip the stems off and only practice the leaves . I do n’t chafe because I ’d rather have all the verdure that I can .
You need to count the leaves down so they do n’t float on the control surface of the water . you may do this by using a mates of bricks , rocks , or old Gallus gallus conducting wire scrunched up .
pelt in water so that it just covers the leaves and allow the mixing to engross .
check that to cover the container with a board or something similar so the smell does n’t escape . You also want to prevent rain from getting in and stretch the mixture .
Let the Mixture Mature
provide the mixture for between 4 - 6 week . The longer , the better because you want to extract all of the nutrients from the leaves .
Every once in a while , get in there and call forth thing up .
When the leaf has turn to a slurry , the afternoon tea is ready to be used .
You should have a browned and green liquid with what look like goop , and the smell will be potent .
Quick Comfrey Tea
If you need to take advantage of comfrey tea , but do n’t need to hold off for a month or so , there is a way to make comfrey afternoon tea in 24 minute .
Simply pour boiling weewee over the tea and leave for 16 to 24 hours .
Use a large bucket and deal of boiling water . You need to cover the foliage by a few column inch .
To habituate this method acting , you need to dilute this comfrey tea by 50:50 because it ’s not as unassailable traditional homemade tea .
How to Have a Continuous Supply
I ’m certain you ’ll find comfrey tea a wonderful addition to your garden ’s wellness and output . But if you do n’t need to keep throw to make novel peck constantly , you could set up a system to have a continuous provision .
Drill a bunch of mess in a bucket and place it inside another pail . Ensure you have a few inch of place between the two container .
Fill the first bucket with a respectable amount of comfrey leaves . librate them down and supply piddle . see as the leave-taking waste over the next few calendar week . The liquidity will get stronger in the extinct holding bucket .
Take out part of the leaves occasionally and supplant with fresh leave and water . As you need it , ladel out the Camellia sinensis liquid .
Dilute this to at least 15:1 as this is a strong brewage .
The other method is to employ a container with a tap attached . Scrunch chicken wire up and localize it in the container . This is to stop the slurry and rotting leaves from move into the tap .
Put as much cumfrey in the container as you’re able to . fulfill with water and allow it to sit for a few weeks . Each time you use it , add a fiddling more water and comfrey leave to keep the nutrient levels gamey .
How to Use Comfrey Tea
While the goal is to make that endearing , fertile liquid state , you do n’t need to squander the solids .
take away the slimed remnant of the leaves and put these in your compost . They ’re good to the garden . you may do this by scooping the solids out , or using a garden sieve .
If you do n’t want to put the slurry into your compost pile , put it around the base of tomatoes or potatoes and rent it drop down into the soil over time .
no matter of how long you ’ve left your Camellia sinensis to engross , you have to load it before using it in the garden . The longer you left it , the more dilution you need .
To be on the safe side , go for a high-pitched dilution of 1 part teatime to 15 parts water .
Feed the Plants
you could irrigate the plants with a watering can as per normal . Make trusted you irrigate the base of operations of the plant life when using this method acting .
I prefer to apply a nebuliser and spray the territory around the plant and all of the parting . I find using comfrey tea as a foliar spray gives me the best answer and I use far less than if I irrigate the industrial plant with a lachrymation can .
When to Use Comfrey Tea
I find the best clock time to use the tea miscellany is :
Do n’t apply comfrey tea on young seedlings as they may witness the mixture too strong .
essentially , the younger the plant , the weak your mixture should be . That ’s why I broadly wait for the plant to be about ready to fruit or flower .
Other Uses For Comfrey Leaf
There ’s more to comfrey than just a fertiliser .
Mulch
The great thing about comfrey is it raise so prolifically , you may find fault the foliage multiple time in the time of year and it will keep go . To mulch , simply cut off a becoming amount of foliage cloth and intermit it up .
set it around the plants you want to mulch and water well . Let it molder down and feed the plants . You should n’t get the smell as you do with tea .
Compost Starter
Comfrey go away are a honest option to animal manure as a starter for a compost tidy sum . Add level of comfrey leave to pretend as a biologic activator . It will help to get the compost going due to the high floor of N .
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