Is this easy to grow from seed? Most internet searches indicate they are easily grown from cuttings but I know I'll never find any here. I'd like to try growing some for my compost. Will do SASE unless a trade is desired but I can't list everything I have, you'll have to ask if I have what you're looking for.
Thank you!

I don't have seeds but I have comfrey plants at my house and community garden. If you don't get seeds, I can try and send you roots if you are willing to pay for postage and packaging. Full disclosure, I've never sent cuttings in the mail but I have a general idea how to do it and will consult youtube for more information / guidance.

Agee, thank you so much for offer I will take you up on it if I don't get seeds or find a plant in some well-stocked nursery here. I'll try the nursery route first as it might be less labor and time for you to send & more cost to me to have them sent if sending thru Fedex etc. But if they can be sent safely via a bubble wrap then it might be well worth it. I will go to the farmers market & a large nursery this weekend.
Thanks!

I'm going to take a chance & buy seeds on eBay, not my favorite seed source but found a reasonable site. After calling numerous nurseries, finally found one that had a mother plant that will have babies next month if all goes well
So thank you for your kind offer Ages much appreciated!

peebee, if it isn't too late, I was told Comfrey is very hard to start from seed. Once you have a plant that takes, you will have plenty of plants everywhere and forever. It isn't fond of transplanting either, but it can be done when young and freshly dug.
Try a nursery that specializes in native plants, look for a local native plant group or call your extension office for suggestions on where to obtain a plant. I believe they have a large taproot , so a smallish plant will be easiest to establish.
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Thanks greenthumb, I decided not to buy the seeds after all when I looked at the site's other offerings. They had oddly colored flowers like bright neon blue roses . I will wait for my small local nursery when their propagated plants are ready to be sold in about a month. I will also grow borage as they seem to grow well from seed. Baker's Creek has them so I'll order it soon.

I think you made a wise decision Peebee. Comfrey can be extremely invasive, but I have the one with sterile seeds which has been very well-behaved. I did manage to get several more plants to sprout from root pieces that I planted one fall.

I have my eye on a variegated version which is yellow and green. It's called Axminster Gold. Absolutely fabulous! I think it's sterile too, and I haven't seen any plants in my neck of the woods, but you might want to look out for it.....

Linda

Linda, I doubt I will ever find the variegated ones here, it was hard enough to even find a source for the common kind. Kind of disheartening when you call a nursery & you get questions like "Comfrey? Is that spelled with a K? Never heard of it" or "Concrete?" I've had to patiently either spell it or describe it or both. I consider myself very lucky to have found my source right near me, a place that specializes in hard to find plants.

Oh that's too bad that it was so hard for you to find! My first plant came from a Garden Club plant sale.

I hope that it does well for you. The bees really love the flowers . When I can, I use the leaves (instead of newspaper) to line the indoor bucket in which we save items for the compost. I also use comfrey leaves to line the container that I use to collect chicken droppings. When the plant becomes huge, I cut a pile of leaves and dead flower stems, and layer them in the compost bin. It is supposed to speed up composting as well as adding extra nutrients

Yes I plan on using the leaves in my compost pile. I heard it can be invasive so I hope it means it's hardy & a quick grower. In my climate here in S. CA it should be good. One other nursery that has 1 plant in a 5 gal pot quoted me $35 can you believe that
The place I'm waiting on, while not cheap, should be more reasonable & probably 1 gal.

There's this. I know nothing about the company.
https://www.crimson-sage.com/store/euro ... rey-detail

That's a gorgeous plant!

I agree that going with a root or plant better than seed. If you are in Southern California you can probably get the plant established in a few months then propagate by slicing off a small bit of root and planting that plug.

If you were open to buying seeds online, see if you can find a vendor that sells roots/plugs on Amazon, Ebay and/or Etsy. If you can determine if the nursery posted above is reputable, that seems like a good choice assuming the shipping rate is not outrageous.

Bocking 14 is often preferred because it does not reseed.

peebee wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:06 pm Yes I plan on using the leaves in my compost pile. I heard it can be invasive so I hope it means it's hardy & a quick grower. In my climate here in S. CA it should be good. One other nursery that has 1 plant in a 5 gal pot quoted me $35 can you believe that
The place I'm waiting on, while not cheap, should be more reasonable & probably 1 gal.

I could believe the price if it's the Variegated one "Axminster Gold". Could be worth it . Yes, they do grow fast. I remember my little ones that grew from root cuttings came up quickly.

Linda

Nan6b wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:13 pm There's this. I know nothing about the company.
https://www.crimson-sage.com/store/euro ... rey-detail

Nan, That's the variegated Comfrey. Good price! Too bad that the shipping would cost me $21

Linda

I can confirm that Comfrey is easy to start from seeds. I got 10 seeds from TradeWindsFruit started 5 seeds outdoor in Oct and have 3 seedlings growing now. They are growing nice big leaves however are aphids magnet!! Also, the ones I planted in the ground, all the leaves were promptly devoured by snails/slugs overnight. I'm still keeping my hopes up that at least one will survive as the weather warms up. I have traded for Comfrey seeds before they arrived all crushed up because the seeds are rather big and irregular shape. So for the price of package postage you might be better off buying root cuttings on ebay.

peebee wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2020 5:07 pm Is this easy to grow from seed? Most internet searches indicate they are easily grown from cuttings but I know I'll never find any here. I'd like to try growing some for my compost. Will do SASE unless a trade is desired but I can't list everything I have, you'll have to ask if I have what you're looking for.
Thank you!

FYI, there are up to 35 species of comfrey, according to Wikipedia. At least some comfrey is said to reseed. Some of them are perennials with strong root systems. At least one is a perennial that sets seed (I imagine others are, too). At least two kinds don't set seeds.

If you want something similar to comfrey that is easy to find and grow from seed for sure, try growing borage. It's a related plant. It reseeds easily, but isn't a perennial. You can make a fertilizer tea from the leaves as with comfrey, so I read.

Superseeds is a great store that sells seeds for Symphytum officinale (Common Comfrey). That species is supposed to be a perennial. I'm not sure if there is any annual comfrey.

Shule wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:19 pm If you want something similar to comfrey that is easy to find and grow from seed for sure, try growing borage. It's a related plant. It reseeds easily, but isn't a perennial. You can make a fertilizer tea from the leaves as with comfrey, so I read.

Yes I knew borage seeds would be easier to find & was on the lookout @ stores recently. Sure enough I found some today yay!

I can confirm that borage starts easily.

Yup I'm getting almost 100% germination on the borage seeds I planted