[Kate_S]

Hello , we have just bought our seed potatoes, and will be preparing the beds. We reckon the amount of potatoes will be enough for 3 of our beds which are about 18 feet by 6. I see that Thompson and Morgan sell bags of  comfrey  pellets, ( 1kg bags)but I am not sure of the amounts to put in.Does anyone have any tips as to how much I should get? I was thinking of dissolving them as well. 

[Dave NE]

Hi Kate, been over to their site and the prices are  , I got my comfrey root cuttings off ebay for just over £3 and free postage, once you have the plants you will have an endless supply of free fertiliser, Dave

[mumofstig]

I certainly wouldn't pay that price for potato fertiliser - I use a handful of chicken pellets, Blood Fish & Bone or Growmore.

John's (the site's owner) advice is

With a weak soil without the benefit of manure apply a general fertiliser like Growmore or Blood, Fish & Bone at 200 grams per M2 plus wood ash or comfrey leaves applied a week before planting should carry the crop to harvest. Since neither ash nor comfrey can be bought, a good substitute is to apply 200 grams of chicken manure pellets that tend to be high in both potash and nitrogen or you could add 20 grams per square metre of sulphate of potash chemical fertiliser.

http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/potato-fertiliser-program.php

[Kate_S]

Great advice thanks!

[Annen]

It would be nice to use comfrey leaves on the potato beds, but I'm planning to plant mine at the beginning of March and my comfrey plants haven't even started shooting yet, never mind taking a cutting from them. so I have to make do with some potato fertilizer.

[moose]

Likewise I rarely get any comfrey leaves to put in with the spuds but I do have plenty for the tomatoes.