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fairuse

When to transplant mature comfrey & mullein plant

fairuse
15 years ago

Hello,

I planted a comfrey cutting too close to my concrete patio and now it is quite large and should be moved to give it more space; also a mullein plant that I planted next to it and thought had died, has come back and now they are enmeshed together.

I have tried online to find out the best time to do this but to no avail. I think that usually it's Spring & Fall when plants are dormant , but I'm not sure which would be best for comfrey and mullein. I only have one plant of each so I would not like to kill them by doing this at the wrong time. I don't really have a green thumb and have problems keeping things alive so I'm a little hesitant to start digging them up unless I know what I'm doing.

Could someone please tell me?

Thanks,

Sand

Comments (7)

  • Laura thegardenpages
    15 years ago

    It is best to transplant when the weather will be mild at least for a week so they can get acclimated.

    I had a comfrey once and remember it being quite invasive, if any part of the root is left it will resprout. So don't worry about him!

    Some mulleins are biennial, meaning once they bloom they will not be back.

    Good luck!

  • fairuse
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the replies. Even though this is maybe the third-fourth year the comfrey has grown, it has never flowered.And I can't remember if the mullein ever came up before now. So I don't know if this is the first or second year for it. I guess if it flowers, that means it's the second year? I'm not going to take any of the leaves in case I keep it from flowering, so I'm not going to touch it. If that's the case that moving the mullein would disturb it too much, maybe then I will leave it there and just move the comfrey.

    Sandr

  • CA Kate z9
    15 years ago

    I was going to recommend not moving the Mullein. If it is smallish then it is 1st year, the second year they can get quite huge (depending on the variety), and they will flower and die. Hopefully some of the seed will set and then you'll have a continuation of plants.

  • eibren
    15 years ago

    If the Comfrey is not getting enough direct sunlight a day, it will not blossom. It can live for awhile in shaded areas, but eventually runs out of food and dies. Possibly the competition from the Mullein has also weakened it.

    You might also want to check the soil around the plants. I understand why growers use the lightweight potting "soil" they use, but in my experience if the earthworms do not gradually replace it around a planted herb, the herb tends to die.

  • eduohio
    15 years ago

    I've been trying to transplant 1st year mullein rosettes. Every night something is digging up the ones that are closer to the woods and open field, completely destroying them. The ones they don't touch are thriving, but the garden's going to be lop-sided next year since there won't be any mullein flowers in that half! :-)

    Has anyone else had this problem? There are quite a few other types of plants there that have not been touched. My guess is a skunk. Not sure why he'd do that, but I don't know who else would either.

  • ursankid_hotmail_com
    12 years ago

    Dear fairuse: I had this weird plant growing in an abandoned container on my patio but not doing much for over a year not sure if it was a weed (too interesting!) so I left it alone, when suddenly last spring/summer it shot up 6 feet! A friend from the country came by and asked where the heck a Giant Mullein had come from. First time I learned what it was. It came from a bag of wild bird seed I had purchased, I think, because it is not a plant often seen where I live, wet west coast Canada.
    That year it produced a four-foot stalk of yellow flowers and thousands of seeds as fine as black pepper. I shook the flower stalk over a newspaper and kept them. I have since learned that these seeds can remain viable for 100 years!
    So if you can bear to leave it for one last chance to bloom (it will re-seed itself and die off) you will be rewarded with seeds enough for a city block!
    The abandoned container is FULL of tiny mullein plants, and I am going to attempt to transplant them into a deep barrel, about 4 per. I am hoping for a continuous summer of mullein by staggering the plantings (they only bloom every 2 years). I have also planted a few seeds in another long deep container and am hoping for the best.
    It is a very interesting and ancient herbal plant that bears reading up on.
    Wishing you success and all the best!

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