Forum:

propagation

Can I plant comfrey root cuttings in winter?

Posts: 2

posted 3 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I got eager and ordered several comfrey roots online, and they’re currently in my fridge. I live in zone 6/5b. Am I okay to plant them in the ground now, or am I better off to plant them in pots indoors and transplant later? Would it help if I put a little mulch on top? Thanks.

Doug McGregor

Posts: 16

Location: Canada

posted 3 years ago

1
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

If you have some grow lights inside you could start the plants early, they might get big in zone 6 your last frost is in april.. I would keep them in the fridge a while in something like peat moss and plant outside closer to spring. Having said that I'm starting some from seed inside next month, your roots will take off faster than seed.

Oak Summit Nursery - Zn 3b Manitoba, Canada
www.oaksummitnursery.ca
@OakSummitNursery

Thekla McDaniels

gardener

Posts: 3631

Location: Western Slope Colorado.

832

I like...

posted 2 years ago

1
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

And, if it were me, and the ground isn’t frozen, I don’t really know the climate by numbers, I would put them outside now, put chips over them, or straw, something to mark their location as well as moderate the day night temperature swings.

How big are the root cuttings you received? I should have asked that first!

I think it’s easier to let the plant wake up in place when it senses appropriate conditions. And I get to skip the high maintenance phase of planting from pots indoors to soil out doors.

Good luck! Comfrey is a wonderful, generous plant, and very forgiving!

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 1966

Location: N. California

975

I like...

posted 2 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Hi John, I was wondering what you decided to do, and how it worked out?

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

Hugo Morvan

gardener

Posts: 1181

Location: France, Burgundy, parc naturel Morvan

534

I like...

posted 2 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I use comfreyroot for balms. So every time i dig up a big root i get at least five bits with roots and leaves. They always work. Winter summer, sure thing. The smaller bits of roots are trickiest, but bits as thick as fingers mostly get gping if pût in pots in semi shade. Where i've taken the adult plant from a hole is in the ground. Weeks to months after new plants pop up from the remaining roots. In the soil.

Creating edible biodiversity and embracing everlasting abundance.

Devon Olsen

Posts: 1274

Location: Central Wyoming -zone 4

I like...

posted 2 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Where are you located Hugo?
I'm sure winter Temps would make quite the difference in this experience

Farm Website
My Available products thread . My Blog!! . My Podcast!!

Trace Oswald

pollinator

Posts: 3987

Location: 4b

1459

I like...

posted 2 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

You can still plant comfrey in WI this time of year.

A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series

PEP - BB5 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Ash Jackson

animal care - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Ash Jackson

gardening - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Ash Jackson

woodland care - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Ash Jackson

commerce - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Ash Jackson

Luke Mitchell

gardener

Posts: 586

Location: Pembrokeshire, UK

439

I like...

posted 2 years ago

1
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I would plant comfrey roots out at any time of year. Winter or early spring would actually be the best, in my opinion, as the plant will spring into action once out of dormancy - and wont dry out whilst it grows its root system.

That said, we rarely freeze for long. If the ground froze for long periods over the winter, down to the depth the cutting was planted at (8" or so, shallower in rocky soil), I would try and hold off if possible.

Small-holding, coppice and grassland management on a 16-acre site.

PEP - BB80 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

oddball - sand badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

Shari Humphries

Posts: 1

posted 2 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Do you know how to move comfrey root from one state to another? I am moving from Arkansas to Idaho and can not bring a green plant. I need to transport the roots. I can not get to them for several weeks.
Would storing the roots in sand keep them alive and dormant until I can unpack them?

Thekla McDaniels

gardener

Posts: 3631

Location: Western Slope Colorado.

832

I like...

posted 2 years ago

1
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

are you digging your own roots?

i think your idea would work, but why not wait to dig the roots?

if you are buying live roots why not wait until you are in idaho to have them delivered?

“Strictly Medicinals” in cottage grove oregon ships live roots. see their blurb below

IMG_9521.jpeg

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

Thekla McDaniels

gardener

Posts: 3631

Location: Western Slope Colorado.

832

I like...

posted 2 years ago

Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

that’s a screenshot, but if the idea sounds good, it might be a good idea to check with them now to find out everything you need to know to end up with the roots.

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2149

Location: Zone 6b

1347

I like...

posted 2 years ago

1
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Comfrey grows readily from root cuttings and bringing the roots will save you a lot of money to restart your patch in the new location. Keep them moist in a low temperature if you don't want them to grow yet. Here are my root cuttings dug from dormant plants on Dec 9. I planted them indoors at 72 F and they sprouted after just 3 weeks.

20231230_085057.jpg

20240109_225410.jpg

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

PEP - BB5 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

gardening - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

textiles - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Ash Jackson

woodland care - air badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by Mike Haasl

Hugo Morvan

gardener

Posts: 1181

Location: France, Burgundy, parc naturel Morvan

534

I like...

posted 2 years ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I make an impressive balm with the older rootstock. Together with rosemary and eucalyptus and minthe, the best for muscles and joints, can add arnika and lavender and hamamelis, but no need, rosemary or lavender will be great as well.
Just take out the central root and grate, add oil and keep it under the oil or it will rot.
You'll have enough side shoots to replant and at the place where you dug it out a month later five to ten will pop up in a crown.
But it's a very little known trick, because people are too relaxed and comfortable to own a good spade and use it.

Creating edible biodiversity and embracing everlasting abundance.

Alan Burnett

Posts: 70

Location: Zone 4

posted 1 year ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I finally got my hands on some comfrey, it's growing pretty happily in a 1 gallon pot.

Since it grows so well from root cuttings, my idea is to let it fill up the pot and get root bound, then come November or so, when plants are dormant but the ground isn't completely frozen, I'll empty the pot and cut the roots into 1 inch chunks , then dig small holes around the garden and drop in the chunks

Is that all there is to it? It all seems too easy

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

Posts: 7376

Location: Upstate New York, Zone 5b, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

4020

I like...

posted 1 year ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I have not tried before winter but I have done your process coming into early spring when the ground first thaws with great success.

Comfrey is a pretty resilient plant. You may have a few losses from the winter depending on how cold your zone is because the roots are not established but I think you will have success.

- Tim's Homestead Journal - Purchase a copy of Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Purchase 6 Decks of Permaculture Cards -
- Purchase 12x Decks of Permaculture Cards - Purchase a copy of the SKIP Book - Purchase 12x copies of Building a Better World in your Backyard

PEP - BB60 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

Thekla McDaniels

gardener

Posts: 3631

Location: Western Slope Colorado.

832

I like...

posted 1 year ago

2
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

For a most part I think fall is the best time for planting, (I grew up with wet winters and hot dry summers).

In a cold winter climate I like to get things into the ground a couple months earlier. Comfrey is a tough plant, and it will most likely survive what you describe, but I think I would double the size of root chunks, and I expect they will be very slow to show themselves in the spring!

Good luck with this!

Best luck: satisfaction

Greatest curse, greed

James MacKenzie

Posts: 145

Location: eastern cape breton, 6b

I like...

posted 1 year ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

tbh i would find a spot and plant it there right now... break it up into small roots... it will grow FAST with a bit of fertilizer... be sure to keep it moist..

you are in zone 4... after your first frost... go dig up the upper half of some of your plants and bring it inside in pots to overwinter.. leave the bottom half in place.. maybe mulch it but i doubt it will make a difference seeing as it is that cold there..

the pots inside are an insurance policy - i am pretty sure the plants you leave in the ground will come back - it is REALLY hard to kill.. i gave some root cuttings to a friend who lives in regina.. she says it is growing like made and moving towards the neighbors yard

should work for you - if not i will send you a whole pile next spring - cheers!

Michelle Heath

gardener

Posts: 533

Location: WV

177

I like...

posted 1 year ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Regarding comfrey in a pot-I pretty much established patches every time I moved the pot mine were originally in. Roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and were left behind and essentially created a new patch.

I generally opt to go with a minimum cutting length of 2" and even longer is it's a tiny root. I rooted several cuttings in two window boxes this year with nearly all of the larger cuttings surviving and approximately half of the smaller ones. Of course we've had quite a drought this year but I've noticed the same thing with tiny roots in the past.

Forever creating a permaculture paradise!

I am Arthur, King of the Britons. And this is a tiny ad:

Back the BEL - Invest in Permaculture

https://permies.com/w/bel-fundraiser