Topic: Rhubarb doing badly- is it too old?

[George the Pigman]

I have a massive patch of rhubarb on my plot which I have had for nearly 20 years. It always produces a mass of shoots in April/May then has another spurt in early Autumn. Normally there is far too much to use so I only end up taking about a fifth of it.
However last year and this year it is pathetic . The leaves are small and going brown and there is very little to harvest.
Does rhubarb decline with age or is something else up with it? Should I dig it up and start with a fresh plant or does it just need splitting?

[aquilegia]

It's probably got too big for itself! I would try splitting it and giving it a good mulch (not over the crown). Mine doesn't do well when it's hot and/or dry.

[Obelixx]

I used to split mine every 3 years and give them plenty of mulch afterwards then again in autumn once their leaves had died and also made sure they never got thirty in dry periods.  New garden this year so new plants but they'll have the sam regime.

I suggest you dig up as much as you can and keep some chunks ofrom the outer edge to re-plat in fresh soil and with plenty of compost.  You'll need to keep them well watered and not pick anything this year but they should be fine for a few stalks next year.   Discard and compost what you don't keep.

[aquilegia]

Is there a good time to split it? (mine needs doing as well, but it's a job for Mr Aqui!)

[Obelixx]

I did mine in autumn as soon as the leaves have died down.   Then it has all winter to recover and grow new roots.  However, you must water well and then protect the crown from frosts with a good pile of well rotted manure or garden compost.

[johhnyco15]

its been a bad year for rhubarb here on the sunshine coast very dry and really windy which devastated the crop broke most of the stems  so id see what its like next year it will be  a task and a half splitting a 20 year crown but yes when its dormant  december is best. Leave the  split crowns to get frosted before replanting  they will romp away

[Silverleaf]

I can recommend giving it a feed of urine - my old rhubarb was pitiful despite splitting it several times, but it responded very well to the nitrogen.

I manure it in the autumn as well.

[Pescador]

I'd wait until November and then look for some crowns on the outer part of your plant/patch. Plant these, but remember you won't be able to harvest from them for a couple of years.
So I'd leave the main plant in, unless it's totally useless, to give you something in that time.
Don't worry about frosting it. It will grow away happily without that

[johhnyco15]

 got this from bbc website
For a first-time vegetable grower, there isn't an easier place to start than with rhubarb. It will flourish without too much attention and will provide you with tasty stalks at a time when little else is ready for harvest in the garden. Cultivated for its delicious, pink stems, rhubarb is a very hardy, frost-resistant vegetable - in fact it requires a period of frost in the winter in order to produce the best stalks. just to clear one or two things up

[BarriedaleNick]

Mine is rubbish this year and it has been massive for the last ten years so the above advice is welcome.  Mine has also lost its taste and has that tannic acid dry mouth feel  you get so I guess time to replace or move it. 

[sunloving]

It's been to dry a spring for mine , I'd try giving it a thou rough soak and see if it swells out a bit.