Topic: Rhubarb present - what to do?!

[amanda21]

Have just been given some rhubarb crowns from a lottie friend but haven't a clue what to do with them - I can't get to the plot until Friday - will they survive until then?

Also any tips on growing area, planting etc - will be get to eat it this year?

Many thanks as always.
Amanda
x

[busy_lizzie]

In my experience I have always found rhubarb to be pretty hardy, and they even quite like a bit of frost, so I think it will be okay until you can get up to see to it.  Then I would dig a hole and put lots of well rotted manure in and plant your crowns. Mine, both at the lottie and the garden are starting to shoot away now and I suppose now is the time you  can force it by putting straw around it and putting a bucket on top. I am sure you will receive more informed advice but this is what I would do. busy_lizzie

[kenkew]

Protect it from frost until you can plant it. Dig a hole twice the depth of the root and loosen the bottom of the hole with a fork. Put in a bucket of rotted manure per plant. Cover with soil and put your crown in. Put it in so that you have only an inch or so of plant showing. Cover that with 2" of strawy manure. Leave 4' min between plants. Don't pick any growth AT ALL this year. Don't force the plant AT ALL. Next year pick no more than 1/3 of the stalks. Following years leave at least 1/4 of the stalks to die back into the ground.

PS: If like me, your ground is too hard to dig, wrap the crowns in damp sacking and put in a bucket out of the frost. Don't let them dry out.

[Debs]

I would quite like to try forcing & have a question to the panel ;D

Q: Will a normal household bucket be tall enough to place on top & does it
     need ventilation holes??


Debs

[kenkew]

No and no.
Needs to be about twice that height and 'ventilation' holes let the light in and sort of defeat the object.

[grawrc]

I currently have 6 crowns of rhubarb inherited from previous plot holder. They are about 18inches - 2 feet apart. I want to move them since they're behind the shed and pretty inaccessible. I have a bed dug over for them with plenty of manure added. Is it still OK to move them? (ground has been too hard and frozen up until now.)

[kenkew]

Rhubarb is one of the first fruits to show so it's actually beginning to produce new leaf any time now. Your plants at 2' apart are far too close so I would certainly take out every other one. Depends how long they have been in there but if it's 4 or more years you'll find the roots are quite large. These can be divided now simply by slicing through the middle of the crown. Treat each half as a new plant. Some would say to treat the cut ends with fungacide powder, not a bad idea. A method used in the past was to cover the cut with talcom and wait until it had 'scabbed' over. Scabbing before replanting helps prevent fungal attack. Try just leaving the cut crowns until this has happened naturally if you wish.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've never done it, but I've heard of people lifting their rhubarb to let the frost get at it. It's well hardy, so don't worry too much; just plant it ASAP, it'll be OK.

Grawrc - If you take every other root out and make a second row four feet from the first, that will be about the right spacing. Do it as soon as possible or you'll miss out on a crop this year.

[grawrc]

Thanks Ken and Robert for the advice. I'll try to do it ASAP.

[kenkew]

ASAP? Let it scab.

[amanda21]

Thank you all.  OH has just got home and unloaded them from the boot - there seems to be loads!  ;D  Lots of digging needs I think although I haven't got any manure at the moment!

[kenkew]

'Loads...?' Best thing is to take the best of as many as you need...2..3..maybey 4 at the most I would have thought. Then pass the rest on to someone else.....and let 'em scab if they're cut crowns.

[mega]

hi,I suppose everyone has their own way of doing things,but after splitting crowns I leave them above ground to get frosted before planting, as it encourages growth,and gives a better harvest even in the first year. Im sure some will disagree, but it does work.

[amanda21]

Didn't have time or light to see exactly what's in the bags but OH unloaded a dustbin bag and a compost bag which were both fairly weighty!  He thinks it was a whole plant which has been split into maybe four pieces.  I'm sure my dad will take any spare off me!
Scab?  will it scab without talc powder and if I have to keep it moist??

[kenkew]

If they're fresh they will be moist. Just make sure they don't freeze. They will scab (harden) over the cut.
Mega is also right in that frost won't harm if it's not prolonged so that the crown freezes.

[Robert_Brenchley]

You don't need to worry about manure too much; plant it and mulch with anything organic; the worms will take it down. Mine currently has piles of rotted down grass cuttings all over it. How many you want depends on how much you can eat; I have a bed over ten yards long and I run out every year. It's rhubarb crumble every time I have the energy to make it until the supply runs short.

[grawrc]

Or rhubarb and ginger jam or rhubarb wine ... ;)