Topic: rhubarb

[gwynnethmary]

My husband's summer project was revamping an area of our front garden, reulting in a nice raised bed, which I thought would be perfect for growing rhubarb! I bought a small plant in August, found some horse manure up the lane (veg in a front garden, carrying horse muck home from a little walk up to the village- too disconcerting for said husband!), dug a big hole (making sure the manure was not in contact with the roots) and stuck it in.   It now looks very healthy, much bigger with several new stalks and a good crown.  My question is, "When can I pull the stalks off and cook crumble?, and, if I have to leave them on, what will happen in the Winter?  Will it all just go sort of stewy and mushy and sink inton the soil?  Is there anything else I should be doing with it?

[saddad]

Mine has gone all mushy this week... and will go back into the soil soon. It'll be back in Spring and that's when you want to start eating it...  :)

[manicscousers]

ours have also gone mushy this last week, we cover one in spring with a bucket for forced rhubarb  ;D

[gwynnethmary]

mine is no-where near mushy- just standing there looking very perky.  Does it happen overnight or over a period of days?

[Trevor_D]

Rhubarb is a spring/early summer fruit/veg.

If it's only just been planted you can't crop it all next year. Leave it be and the year after you'll have a good picking. As the stalks wilt, pull them off; if you happen to have straw around then swaddle them with it, but otherwise leave them alone.

[gwynnethmary]

I planted it 3 months ago.  So I relly have to wait 2 years from,planting before I can harvest it?

[Flighty]

Gwynnethmary it's said that new plants should be allowed to become established during the first year, and pulling can begin 12 to 18 months after planting.
If it grows well next year then by all means pull some of the sticks but be sparing if you do.

[Melbourne12]

I planted it 3 months ago.  So I relly have to wait 2 years from,planting before I can harvest it?

It was an unusual time to plant it.  The warm autumn weather has presumably encouraged it to keep growing.  Most plants are now withered or well on their way.

I suggest that the best thing is not to take anything now, and to tidy it up when it does die back with the first frosts.  Give it another manure mulch, and next spring you'll be able to get a modest harvest.  But don't pick it too hard in 2010, and by 2011 it'll be romping away.

[busy_lizzie]

Agree entirely with Melbourne.  Now is the time to let your rhubarb die back and get ready to manure around the crown for the winter. Be gentle with it next year and don't strip it bare, but go for it properly in 2011. It will be well worth it. busy_lizzie

[Obelixx]

I agree.  Manure it well this autumn and also next spring and it will produce a fine crop of stalks.  Don't force it in its first year and only remove half the stalks for eating so it can build up root vigour for a bumper crop the following year.

Mine (a dozen crowns) has all gone to mush now but then we did have some frosts on the 7th and 78th of October and the warm weather since hasn't saved them.   I force about 4 plants each year for early picking and then leave them all summer to recover.  The other 8 give me enough for crumbles and chutney - see Emma-Jane's excellent recipe on the recipe board.

You're not supposed to pick it for eating after July as the oxalic levels increase and I find it gets woody enayway.  The leaves all go on the compost heap except for one or two I leave on the ground after cutting as they are slug magnets.  They like to shelter underneath so are easy to find and destroy.

[gwynnethmary]

Thank you all for your helpful advice.   Now I have another question.  I am very hopeful of getting an allotment fairly soon.  I think my husband and I would rather it was growing there than in our front garden.  Can I move it, and if so, when would be the best time?

[Obelixx]

Yes you can move it - in autumn once it's dormant.  Later on, when it's big enough, this is also the time to split it and create more plants.  We started off with just one.......