rhubarb

[barboo]

Hello I wonder if anyone can help. My rhubarb is in it's third year and one crown seems to have developed another smaller crown about six inches away. Is this normal. thanks barb

[Monty]

Yeah perfectly normal. This is the plant cloning itself.

If you wait until just as it starts producing new shoots next spring, you can transplant the new crown so it has more room and will be the next generation's crop.

Just as an afterthought, it is very advisable to divide your crown of rhubarb at the same time as mentioned above. At home we had a huge rotting slab of crown which produced nothing. I divided it into 10 pieces and have had a HUGE glut . But I read you shouldn't harvest the same year as dividing-it needs a year to settle in.

[hedgewizard]

Yup - as soon as the sprouts appear dig it up and spade halfway through it where the two join, then tear it the rest of the way. Give the smaller bit a year to settle in. You'll probably find you have more than two though.

[barboo]

Hi, thanks for your advice. Should I dig it up now, or spring time? barb

[hedgewizard]

Here you go!

http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/rhubarb-propagation.html


I've always done it in early spring, and it really only needs to be done once every five years or so. I usually pot one or two up to force them under glass for an early crop, and pick those ones to exhaustion.

[barboo]

Thanks for the link hedgewizard. I think I will dig it up in spring, because I will, fingers crossed, have my allotment by then and I haven't really got enough space in my garden. barb

[hedgewizard]

No probs. I'm overdue digging mine up because I can't decide where to put all the plants!

[Millymollymandy]

Have same problem! I think I might just chuck 'em! Mine aren't very nice anyway - thick tough stringy green stems.

[chadspad]

I havent had much luck so far with mine. I bought a plant from a garden centre and planted it down by our stream where the soil is damp most of the time. It seemed to go well for a while, then took a nose dive. I rescued it and put it in a pot for the time being, it recovered and about quadrupled in size!! Cant keep it in a pot tho can I?

[den_the_cat]

ours were pretty dismal but we stuck them in big pots when we moved and they're really happy now, showing no signs of dying back so far this year, so I hope they can stay in pots because it seems to suit them....

[Christine]

Rhubarb does okay in big pots but you'll need to keep potting them on with plenty of rich compost/manure and dividing them if you want them to be happy.
Excess Rhubarb is great for adding to the compost heap - treat it as green manure.

[the.fee.fairy]

i composted my rhubarb plant yesterday. I got it with 4 big healthy leaves, planted it in the garden and 3 leaves fell off. Then, there was a small shoot, so i dug it up (presuming that the slugs had got at it, or it was too shaded) and put it into a pot, fed it well and left it in a sunny shaded position.

By yesterday, there were no leaves at all. The whole thing appeared to be dead, so its in the compost now...

RIP Rhubarb.

I'll try again next year though!!

[Pilsbury]

Mine went into an 85 litre dustbin this year that was 3/4 filled with compost and manure and it has stormed away.
I didn't harvest any this year as it was its first year and i left the bin 1/4 empty as i plan to chuck on a good mulch of manure each yer for about 5 years then empty it out and devide and repot ready for another 5 years, long term goal i know but at least its a crop i wont have to keep planting every year and i can move it about the garden as i need to.
Also if i want to force it i can just put the lid on the dustbin, should work a treat i reckon.

[chadspad]

What a super idea Pilsbury! Gonna find me a big dustbin with a lid - thanks for tip!

[Sue]

Blimey seems ages
I'm confused - rhubarb / compost?
I was told DO NOT put rhubarb in the compost heap as it poisons it
Have I binned the biggest tropical leaves and bits for nothing?

Have found a gorgeous recipe - dead easy - soften rhubarb with a bit of sugar - fold it into custard and put in the fridge - rhubarb fool (think thats the name of the food not me having potentially "wasted" lots of green stuff!

(I had been waiting for my rhubarb to turn pink but it didn't so I've eaten it green, and eaten it with an "r" in the month too - am I living dangerously or what!