Bocking 14 variety of Russian Comfrey

Update. I received the root cuttings on March 13, 2015 The first photo is what they look like. Seems to be a good size root cut to about 1/2 inch. Then split down the center.

I placed them cut side down and covered with a little wet potting soil. We will see how long it takes to root.

I just ordered and will be growing the Bocking 14 variety of Russian Comfrey. (Symphytum x uplandicum)This sterile variety of comfrey grows very well in Zones 2-9. Comfrey has been used for thousands of years as a medicinal herb as well as a fertility builder for the land.

Both Bocking #4 and #14 can be used as garden fertilizer, compost activator, mulch, medicine, or be fed to animals as fodder
Both reduce transplant shock of plants. Put some leaves in the hole before you replant.
Plant indoors in pots and keep indoors until spring. After winter passes and the ground can be worked move the comfrey outdoors and plant in the ground.


I will be getting 10 individual 1" to 2" long pieces

Non-invasive Bocking-14 form of comfrey, which will not produce viable seed.

Bocking-14 comfrey is the most desirable cultivar for making a tea to fertilize your garden with an NPK ratio 1.8 / 0.5 /5.3. Comfrey is a dynamic accumulator of nutrients, most notably iron, silicon, nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium and many trace minerals.

Save money on animal feed! Comfrey is used worldwide as an animal fodder. Dried comfrey leaves contain 26% protein. Although some animals enjoy comfrey fresh, if you find your animals do not like fresh comfrey, offer them comfrey which has wilted for a day or dried completely. The little silicon "hairs" on the leaves sometimes bother animals, though the problem is solved by allowing the leaves to wilt first. Comfrey is the only plant which harvests vitamin B-12 from the soil!

Use comfrey leaves to turbo-charge your compost pile, especially piles made predominately made from carbon heavy "browns" like dry leaves, straw, brush, wood chips or shavings, etc.
 #14 is more frequently used as a garden fertilizer because its stalks are a little thinner than #4 so it decomposes faster.

 Note: All types of Russian Comfrey (cultivars Bocking No. 1 through Bocking No. 21) are botanically known as "Symphytum × uplandicum" or "Symphytum x uplandica". They all are a cross (natural hybrid, not GMO) between rough comfrey and common comfrey

 

Comparing #14 to #4: Potassium Russian Comfrey is high in potash (potassium). Dried leaves of Bocking #14 are 7.09% potash. Bocking #4 is 5.04%. True Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) has 5.3% potash. Wilted Comfrey #14 has more than twice as much potash as farm manure and 30% more than compost. Comparing #14 to #4: Potassium Russian Comfrey is high in potash (potassium). Dried leaves of Bocking #14 are 7.09% potash. Bocking #4 is 5.04%. True Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) has 5.3% potash. Wilted Comfrey #14 has more than twice as much potash as farm manure and 30% more than compost.The Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK) ratio of True Comfrey is 1.80-0.50-5.30. Another way to use it is by making liquid fertilizer or compost tea. You put about 5 pounds of comfrey leaves in 7 gallons of water. If you want a lot of fertilizer, use a 55 gallon barrel. Use a proportional amount of leaves. Cover with a lid and let sit for 4-6 weeks. The liquid is used to fertilize your plants.