Comfrey Press

Materials list

3ft (1m) length of 4" (10cm) diameter plastic drain pipe
1 - End cap to fit pipe
2 - fixing brackets
Plastic drinks bottle the same diameter as inside of pipe
Length of plastic or nylon string
Container to catch liquid

Construction Details

Construction of the Comfrey press is quite simple and few tools or skills are required.

Start with the length of pipe and attach the blanking plate to one end using the PVC glue supplied for these fittings. Drill a few holes in the plate, approx. 10mm in diameter, to allow the liquid to drain through.

Attach the pipe to a post or other support, using the fixing clamps available for the pipe.

Fill a plastic drinks bottle with water, replace the cap and attach a piece of plastic string to the cap end. Ensure that the string is long enough, so that when the bottle is at the bottom of the pipe, the string is still available to pull the bottle back up again. Place a container to catch the liquid, fill the pipe with some chopped up Comfrey leaves, lower the bottle into the pipe and wait. The weight of the bottle will press the leaves down and help to extract the liquid fertiliser. Cover the top of the pipe to prevent rainwater entering.

Use the concentrated Comfrey liquid diluted, 1 part liquid to between 10 and 20 parts water, depending on the plants. It makes an excellent tomato feed diluted 1 part liquid to 15 parts water.