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  • Mystery root monster...

    Hello all, I'm hoping that someone may be able to please help me identify this monster lurking beneath my new plot. It's masses of roots spanning an area of at least 2' by 15' and I'm struggling to get it all out. Not sure if it's weed or not but my main concern is that it may be something that will grow back if I don't get all the bits out.

    There are some pics in this album:

    http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...+monster!.html

    Any help would be greatly appreciated

  • #2
    Is it Comfrey? If it is, keep it

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    • #3
      are the leaves slightly hairy? (comfrey? borage?)
      otherwise my thoughts were horseradish?
      worth keeping a few roots of either
      http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...gs/jardiniere/

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      • #4
        Thanks VC, just found some pics of comfrey roots and it may well be. I've only dug up half so far so will leave the rest for now and see what happens. Do you know if the odd bits of root left in the section I've cleared are likely to re grow?

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        • #5
          Thanks Jardiniere, when I first found it I tried smelling the thick roots for any clue but no obvious scent of horseradish or anything like that. Unfortunately I don't really know what the leaves are like, there were only a few sprouting and I dug them up last week before I realised the full extent of the roots.

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          • #6
            If it is comfrey it is a very useful plant, so you might want to keep some of it.

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            • #7
              Pictures 3 and 4 look like comfrey. That's about the stage of growth mine is at the moment.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Dotty Sarah View Post
                Thanks VC, just found some pics of comfrey roots and it may well be. I've only dug up half so far so will leave the rest for now and see what happens. Do you know if the odd bits of root left in the section I've cleared are likely to re grow?
                From another thread Buy B-actif comfrey root-cuttings
                So, bag them up and sell them on (once you know what they are )

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                • #9
                  I'd go for comfrey, and yes Dotty S, small pieces of root will grow into plants if allowed to (even pieces sliced as thin as coin sized discs). Very useful plant though.
                  Location ... Nottingham

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                  • #10
                    Brill, cheers all. We'll have to wait and see, how exciting Any ideas on how to store the roots to keep them viable?

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                    • #11
                      As said, if its comfrey then you'll find it very difficult to dig it out anyway, it grows very easily from root cuttings - I have some at one end of my plot which I've been trying to get rid of for ages which only ended up there because it had a pot of the stuff sat directly on the ground for a season until I got round to planting it where I wanted and the root grew out the bottom of the pot and a bit must have broken off when I moved it. Great stuff though.

                      Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

                      Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Dotty Sarah View Post
                        Brill, cheers all. We'll have to wait and see, how exciting Any ideas on how to store the roots to keep them viable?
                        Why do you want to store them?

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Dotty Sarah View Post
                          Brill, cheers all. We'll have to wait and see, how exciting Any ideas on how to store the roots to keep them viable?
                          Bury them in the soil. Like they were before you dug them up.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Dotty Sarah View Post
                            Brill, cheers all. We'll have to wait and see, how exciting Any ideas on how to store the roots to keep them viable?
                            Don't worry about what you've dug out, Sarah - as the others have intimated, you'd struggle to kill it off! Brilliant stuff!

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                            • #15
                              I will have some.......are you going to the grapefeststockmeetthingy?. If so could you bring a bagful?

                              Loving my allotment!

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