autumn leaves and comfrey

Not a wiggly thing as such but I'm thinking of mixing my russian comfrey leaves with the autumn leaves this year. Thought it might be a good green/ brown thing and give a good clean material that I may be a ble to use for potting and propagation, as opposed to my usual slightly rougher compost. Anyone tried this; any views?

Hi Jonnie

Sounds like a great compost mix to me. Probably need more brown than green since comfrey is so nitrogen rich. Here's a nice article.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/mulch-compost-power-plant.html#

I may have to try it myself. I'm always needing more green in the winter months. Let us know how it works for you.

Here's a recipe I found for the compost.

Comfrey potting mixture- originally devised using peat, environmental awareness has lead to a leaf-mould based alternative being adopted instead. Two year old, well decayed leaf mould should be used, this will absorb the nutrient rich liquid released by the decaying comfrey.
In a black plastic sack alternate 3-4" layers of leaf mould and chopped comfrey leaves. Add a little dolomitic limestone to slightly raise pH. Leave for between 2-5 months depending on the season, checking that it does not dry out or become too wet. the mixture is ready when the comfrey leaves have rotted and are no longer visible. Use as a general potting compost, although it is too strong for seedlings.

Sherri

This message was edited Aug 6, 2009 9:53 PM

Many thanks for all of that Sherri. I'm going to try regularly mixing the comfrey each time I crop it into the leafmould as it breaks down, but also putting the comfrey into a sealed container with well rotted leafmould also sounds good. In the first case the nitrogen from the comfrey may accelerate the breakdown of leafmould I think, but in the second case it wouldn't be leached out, being absorbed into the leaves to make a rich compost; then I won;t need to buy those bags from the garden centre hopefully. Its all good fun anyway.
Best wishes,Johnnie