No wonder why herb lovers plant comfrey in their own garden – comfrey is known as a medicinal herb and natural fertilizer. But how to increase the yield or how to propagate it?
Propagation method 1: sowing
Many try their hand at sowing comfrey. In principle, this is recommended for all those who do not yet have a comfrey plant in the garden. Sowing should be tackled between March and April or alternatively between September and November.
Comfrey can be grown in advance on the windowsill or sown directly in the open ground. In cooler regions, preplanting is advisable. Then comfrey can be planted in the garden from May .
The brown-black and between 2 and 3 mm long seeds are dark germinators. Therefore, they are covered with soil. A layer of soil of 1 cm is sufficient. Then the seeds are kept well moist. After 14 days at the latest, the seeds germinate. As soon as they have formed the first leaflets, they can be exposed – if they were grown in advance.
Propagation method 2: Root division and root cuttings.
A much faster and effective method is propagation via the roots of comfrey. In addition to dividing the plant – using a spade to divide the excavated plant – this can be done via root cuttings.
This is how to propagate via root cuttings:
- Dig up the root in autumn or early spring.
- Cut the root into thumb-sized pieces, e.g. with a spade or knife.
- plant root pieces in another place
- from each root piece a new plant develops
- Caution: To avoid damaging comfrey when digging, it should be lifted out of the soil with a pointed shovel. It has a deep root system. After the new plants have sprouted, they can be transplanted to another location – if necessary.
Tips & Tricks
If you have too many root cuttings and don’t want to plant them all, you can continue to use them and dry them for preservation, for example . Comfrey is an excellent medicinal plant when it comes to fast wound healing and pain relief.