Comfrey - this decorative and medicinal plant enriches the garden in many ways. It can even be used as a natural fertilizer! This saves enormous costs and is particularly popular in organic farming. For everyone who prefers to avoid artificial fertilizers
What is comfrey manure and what is it used for?
Comfrey manure is a natural fertilizer that, in addition to nitrogen and phosphorus, contains important nutrients such as potassium. The manure strengthens the resistance of plants to pests and fungal diseases and is ideal for heavy feeders such as tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes.
What's so special about comfrey manure?
Although comfrey is poisonous in high doses. It is harmless as a fertilizer. In contrast to conventional artificial fertilizers, which mainly contain nitrogen and phosphorus and are aimed at promoting plant growth, comfrey manure contains important nutrients such as potassium in addition to nitrogen and phosphorus.
You can use comfrey manure to strengthen your plants in the garden or in the planter on the balcony. It increases their resistance to pests such as spider mites and aphids as well as to fungal diseases such as powdery mildew and shotgun disease.
Prepare the manure
How to prepare the manure:
- Cut off the leaves and stems of comfrey in summer
- Roughly chop plant parts
- Pour 1 kg of fresh herb with 10 liters of water, e.g. B. in a bucket
- cover with a cloth to prevent insects from entering
- Stir 1 to 2 times a day so that oxygen gets in
You can tell from two points whether the comfrey manure is ready. On the one hand, the manure should no longer be foamy. On the other hand, it should smell fermented. If this is the case, the manure is ready for use.
Combine the comfrey manure with nettle manure
The manure becomes more holistic if you combine it with nettle manure. Nettles also contain high levels of iron and magnesium, among other things. You can plant the leaves of comfrey and nettle together or pour the manure from both together at the end. Even dried comfrey leaves can be used for manure.
The manure in action
Once the manure is ready, you can use it outdoors in the garden as well as on the balcony. It is ideal for heavy eaters such as tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, pumpkins, celery, potatoes and herbs such as lovage.
The manure is diluted 10 times. So 1 liter of manure + 1ß liter of water. Simply pour the whole thing into a large watering can. Attention: Water directly onto the ground and do not sprinkle the leaves of the plants. The manure would damage the leaves.
Alternatively, you can save yourself the effort and not make any manure. The soil can also be mulched with comfrey leaves that are unsuitable for consumption to enrich it with nutrients. These release their nutrients slowly and over the long term through mulching.
Tips & Tricks
If you are bothered by the smell of the manure, you should add rock dust to the mixture. The rock dust reduces the strong smell, which is not for everyone
