[Sven]

Try Billy’s Bone Sauce. Go to PermaPasturesFarm.com and order directly in their store. It repels deer, rabbits, voles. A little goes a long way. It ain’t cheap, but it works and that’s money in the bank when it comes to protecting your harvest. They also are in this app. Search for PermaPasturesFarm

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• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Sven.

[Sven]

Forget the pots and stick the root cuttings directly in the soil about 1-2” deep. Keep it moist. Plant it in full sun, partial sun, everywhere to see where it likes it best. It needs about 8 hours sun per day. It does like moisture, so if in direct sun, mulch heavily to keep moisture in the soil.

Mullein can dry out and die in a day or two if not deeply rooted. It likes rocky areas and perhaps a bit of shade midday.

Plantain can grow almost anywhere, mine seems to grow best in dappled sun, shaded areas.

[Sven]

I’d suggest planting in an area that’s usually moist. Perhaps limiting the direct sun to 8 hours would help. My wilts during the heat of the day, but bounces back at night. Maybe plant them on the north side of a Hügel mound where there is good moisture. Just my 2 cents worth, I’m no an expert by any means but have learned through experience. I’ve found that it likes areas by water or wet areas. Planting in heavy mulch is also helpful by holding moisture underneath. Good luck! Oh, and don’t fertilize it or plant in good soil. It does better in junk soil, rocky or clay soil – definitely not in potting soil.

[Sven]

If you have them in a greenhouse in zone 8a, I doubt they’ll die back at all and will continue to grow. I’m in zone 7a and mine died back after a few frosts. But then it warmed for a few days and the comfrey started growing new leaves again. You will have no problems. It doesn’t need to be babied at all. You can even rototill it and it will grow back more plants from the cut up roots. To transplant root cuttings, I take a shovel, Jab it in the ground and pry open a slot. Drop in a cutting and smash it back down with my foot. Keep it moist. It’ll pop up anywhere from a week to 2 months later. Sometimes I forget where I’ve planted root cuttings and a month later – up it comes.

[Sven]

You’re welcome. Apologies for the late reply. I must’ve switched off notifications somehow.

[Sven]

It will die back, but re-emerge in spring. Mine has been through 3 days of below freezing and is still green and growing when the sun hits it. I’m planning to dig up root cuttings tomorrow and plant 1-200 cuttings for spring. Got mine from Permapasturesfarm. I also got Bocking 14 from another place 2 years ago. In my zone of 7a Billy’s Bocking 4 is more vigorous and the soil here is rubbish, mostly hardpan clay. But, the comfrey seems to like it and prefers moisture. I put a bunch on the downhill (and uphill) sides of a Hügelkultur mound. Didn’t seem to make much difference, it grows well there.