I had 5 crowns of rhubarb in a bed near my shed, one purchased Pink Champagne and 4 Victoria I had grown from seed. All fruited well last year but quickly stopped producing and withered away. In the hot summer despite watering and thickly mulching the crowns looked a lot smaller and frankly dead. The bed was too dry, being sheltered by the shed, so I decided to create another permanent rhubarb bed in a less sheltered bit of the plot. I covered the old bed in thick black plastic and left it overwinter until now……
Today I noticed a tear in the plastic and on further examination the rhubarb was not only alive but had been forced and had a load of lovely pink new growth! I took a pic after I had already picked a load of stems for a rhubarb and custard tart, so it looks like I’m going to end up with two rhubarb beds!
