Planting and Growing Rhubarb

My rhubarb was planted last year. Went to go look at it this year and it's in a raised bed and rhubarb is rubbery? Why would it be doing that?

Spongy rhubarb stalks might be caused by a few things. Not enough water, stalks past harvest stage, freeze damage, or perhaps a disease. If the leaves are wilting or blackening, and you've had a freeze, then you should not harvest those soft, mushy or spongy stalks, as there is a possibility that they are not safe to eat; discard them and wait for new ones to appear.

I have 3 great rhubarb plants in full sun. But, My plants only grow about 9 inches high. They are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Is this normal ? I only see stalks that are thin and about 12 to 15 inches long in the markets Are my plants lacking something in the soil or what? hope you can help me!! Terry

Rhubarb with short spindly stalks can be caused by several things. Some varieties naturally produce thinner stalks than others. Also, young plants will be spindly--it may take a few years for them to produce robust stems. Every 4 to 5 years, some plants may get crowded and need dividing, as their stalks may get short spindly; use a spade to separate the crown so that each piece has a good section of root and a portion of crown with at least 2 to 3 buds; be sure not to injure the crown. Also, its best to prune out any flowering stalk before it blooms, as this expends the plant's energy and may cause weaker stalk growth. Harvesting too many stalks will also weaken the plant, so that next year will produce spindly stalks; only harvest 1/3 to 1/2 of the plant's stalks each year (do not harvest any the first year, and harvest lightly the second year). Certain viruses may cause stunted growth. Make sure that the plant has lots of organic matter--as it is a vigorous feeder; not enough and it will produce weak growth. Hope this helps!

I intended to write this about the end of February. I am Southern Hemisphere, Temperate Zone, New Zealand, Christchurch, about 15 miles from the coast of the South Pacific Ocean, and about 100 miles from the Tasman Sea. Spring, they reckon, starts on September 1st, so add six months for Northern Hemisphere. I love rhubarb, but I have never grown it. So, on September 1st, I bought and planted a rhubarb – Victoria. I read up all the information I could and decided to plant one in a pot. I have at some time been a commercial tomato grower – hydroponics, Nutrient Film Technique (NFT). The fertilisers in the nutrient are soluble and therefore available to the plants immediately as they require. The NFT Solution I use is that which was formulated by Dr. Allen Cooper (the father of NFT) for tomatoes, in his publication, The ABC of NFT. There will not be a great disparity for most garden plants. There still are the macro and micro nutrients (or trace elements). From leaf analysis, hydroponic nutrients can be made to suit specific plant families. The food value in the solution was 22CF – Conductivity Factor, with the pH at 6.3 (these days it would read 22000mS – micro Siemens). For the planting medium I used, a well-known proprietary brand Thrive Premium potting Mix, slow release fertilizer mix. I was assured that it would last six to nine months, depending on the plant – they tell me that rhubarb plants are gross feeders. I planted into a 12inch pottery container, but didn't sit back and watch it grow. I covered the mix with polystyrene sheet to prevent the exposed growing medium drying out and caking which would prevent the water permeating evenly throughout to the plant roots. When the foliage shadow covered the medium, the polystyrene was removed. To start, I watered the rhubarb with one litre of solution daily. This took the pH down to 6.0pH. Before the next daily application of nutrient solution, the probe into the potting medium told me it was 7.0pH. This was the procedure I used daily until the drainage run-off virtually ceased. I then increased it to two litres daily. The run-off still has food value so it can be re-cycled back. It was growing well until the accident sometime in late November. The earthenware pot fell over and broke. I procured a plastic container, approx. 14in x 12in x 12in. The root system was beautiful to observe as it was evenly disposed around the outside of the root ball. The root ball held together as I re-potted it with more of the same potting mix. I increased the feed regime to three litres daily. Over mid-Summer it has been four litres daily, and on a few of the hotter days, 28 deg C – 34 deg C it has had an extra two litres of water. Now that autumn has arrived, the run-off has increased so the feed regime is back to two litres daily, still depending on run-off. Now for the summary. They say not to pick in the first year to let the plant establish itself for the second year. I would say that with the slow-release fertilizer – pelletised – as well as the tomato mix, I was actually force-feeding the plant. The plant accepted the extra feed and utilised it. I think that the rhubarb would have become root-bound if it had remained in the earthenware pot. The plant was always going to be wet. If there was a channel for the water to drain, there was always a channel for air to get to the roots. Flower heads. I did not observe any. If the plant is under stress, it would send up flower heads to preserve itself for the next generation, rather than supply a meal for the gardener. I was pleased to observe that on extremely hot days, and in Christchurch the weather fluctuates by the day, the leaf was quite cool, even though the temperature was quite stiflingly hot, in a human way of speaking. I think that the plant would also have appreciated some shade on the hottest of days. As I write this, there are about 15 stalks I can pull for another feed. The figures. Not statistics. September 1st. One plant with three stalks and one only just emerging. December 13th. Picked the first pick – 5 stalks. From that date until February 23rd, the total of 137 stalks have been pulled, weighing 7kg cut to be cooked. My observation is that with the force-feeding, the rhubarb plant concentrated on producing new growth (hence no flower heads) rather than length or thickness of stalk. The rhubarb tolerated the high 46CF which was the combination slow release fertilizer and tomato mix. After five and a half months, the run-off had reduced to 24CF. With hydroponics, there is an A mix and a B mix as the stock solutions. The iron is a special chelated form which is soluble for the plant’s immediate use. The iron and the copper must not be mixed together until it is diluted with water. As a guesstimate, I think that I have probably used about 450 litres of water with about 4 litres of A and B stock solution. I hope that this information and experience of mine as a first time rhubarb grower will be a help to someone who cannot wait for the next feed. What do I do for next Spring Season? The root system has probably filled the container. There isn’t any fertilizer remaining in the potting mix. Do I start again with another variety? – Red Do I say, “That’s all. I’ve proved my point?” Do I obtain the proper hydroponic nutrient for rhubarb? Do I automate the delivery system? It was an enjoyable exercise. I must have my rhubarb fix though!

I had a large cluster of root given to me from a well established plant several years ago. The stems never did get red like mother plant and bolted heavily. So I dug and separated the plant, amended soil, and put the plants in an old galvanized washtub with light soil mix--to see which plants seemed healthiest as my space is limited. I now have procrastinated too long I fear. The leaves will not die on these babies!! The peat soil mix is lofty and not ideal for leaving plants in overwinter. My question is should I cut leaves off and plant, or remove soil from plant and store root (like iris/flowering bulbs)? Temps are down to 25 F at night now here in WV.

Leave the leaves on the plants and plant them in the ground as soon as possible before the soil freezes. Add some compost or aged manure to the soil when transplanting and water well. The rhubarb needs to be outside in the cold during the winter months to trigger spring growth.

We planted two rhubarb starts earlier this year and they have been invaded by a brown, wooly caterpillar-type worm that is stripping the outer leaves from the plants. Is there something we can use to rid the plants of these pests?

I bought a bag of potting mix which has slow-release fertilizer, but it did not have the NPK listed. I was informed that the Nitrogen was 1.0, the Phosphorous was 0.2 and the potassium was 0.5. What do these figures mean and how does it translate to ppm?

so can you eat the first years rhubarb?