Skip to main content

Growing Your Own Rhubarb: Growth and Cultivation

Rhubarb is commonly eaten as though it is a fruit, although in fact it is a perennial vegetable. It is simple to grow, produces a good crop, and if tended with care, can last for up to twenty years. It prefers either full sunlight, or partially shaded areas.

Varieties of rhubarb include ‘Victoria’, ‘Cawood Delight’, ‘Ruby’, ‘Champagne’, and Timperley Early’.

Planting Out Your Rhubarb

Growing Your Own RhubarbRhubarb can be planted out in sets/crowns anytime between November and early April, and can survive temperatures as low as minus fifteen degrees centigrade, as it is virtually frost resistant. The sets are usually around 10cm in diameter.

Before planting, ensure that you have a clear, well-weeded, open patch of well-drained soil, and that the soil is well fertilized. Dig down between two and three ft deep, place the set into the hole, cover with soil, gently firm out the surrounding soil, and ensure that the rhubarb is watered well. If you are planting more than one plant, you must space them approximately 4 ft apart.

Rhubarb can be grown without being forced, but will yield a better crop, which is more tender and is ready for picking earlier, if it is forced. Being ‘forced’ means that once the set has been planted in fertilized soil, it is covered with a large pot or container to encourage it to grow quicker. The pot keeps the set in complete darkness, and encourages growth. The pot/container can be removed after about two weeks.

Rhubarb can be grown directly from seed, but this does not always guarantee good results. To grow from seed, plant the seeds from March to April outdoors approximately 3cm deep and 30cm apart. In Autumn, or the following Spring, select the strongest plants and place in their permanent positions in well-drained, fertilized soil 15-20cm apart.

Care and Attention

Rhubarb should be kept dry in the Winter by covering the plant with leaves. Any leaves should be removed in Summer and Autumn, and the rhubarb should be regularly watered during the Summer months.

Any flowering stems of rhubarb should be removed and disposed of.

The green/pink stems of rhubarb can grow up to 2 ft long, and should be ready for picking in Spring to Summer. When picked, the rhubarb stems can be cooked and can be used in many dessert recipes.

To pick rhubarb, hold each stem at the base, twist the stem, and pull firmly upwards. Do not eat the rhubarb leaves – they are poisonous; instead recycle or compost them. Only eat the stems of the rhubarb.

To keep rhubarb plants in good condition, they need to be divided every 5 – 6 years (ideally during the Winter months) when dormant. To do this, dig the set out of the soil, firmly separate into 2 – 3 sections with a sharp spade, ensuring that each section has at least one shoot/bud. Then plant each individual section separately, making sure that the roots are still pointing downwards, and the top of the shoots are at least 4cm under the surface of the soil.

The post Growing Your Own Rhubarb: Growth and Cultivation appeared first on Downtown Homestead.



from Downtown Homestead http://downtownhomestead.com/growing-your-own-rhubarb/
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Changes Can I Make to My Garden to Be More Natural?

Gardening has changed a bit in recent years as people’s philosophy of gardening is starting to change to go back to more natural and organic methods. For those who have been gardening for a number of years, these new practices might be a bit hard to understand at first since the traditional ways of doing things is adding chemicals to the soil or plants to take care of problems and grow larger plants. Organic methods work a bit differently. Traditional methods use chemical fertilizers to add nutrients to the soil. Organic methods use compost . This is organic matter and carbon matter mixed together. This would be things like fruit peels, vegetables, grass, hay, leaves, and other types of waste mixed together. Over time it breaks down into rich soil that doesn’t need any fertilizer at all. A good compost is natural and doesn’t require extra chemicals. Pest control is a bit more difficult since you don’t want to use chemicals on your plants that end up killing everything. There are a fe...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Create an Evening Oasis of Bloom and Fragrance

I think it is equally important to turn your outside space into a place to feed your family, but not overlook the chance to escape into it. We have a suburban house, that has a backyard backed up to 5 other yards, so we wanted to create a perfect little oasis for ourselves to escape into. So, we are creating a moonlight garden, to give us a perfect little escape for those late-night bonfires.   Many plants bloom in the evening, particularly in warm climates, and their delicious fragrance can be smelled on the breeze perfuming the whole area. The flowers are usually white or light yellow.   One vine that I especially like is an annual called, appropriately enough, moonflower. It’s in the same family as morning glories and the large white flowers can be up to 6 inches across and very fragrant.   The great thing about this plant is the way it opens its flowers. The large buds look like furled white beach umbrellas. But look again. Did you see the bud move? As the twili...
Post a Comment
Read more

Soil Basics – Creating Fertile, Healthy Soil

Have you ever looked at the soil in your garden and considered it as anything more than dirt? If not you should because there is a lot more there than meets the eye. It performs many functions that you may not be aware of and having good quality soil in your garden is essential for your plants. In this article we will look at the functions of soil, what different types there are and finally some ways to make it healthier. Functions of Soil The most immediately apparent function of soil is a medium to support plant life. It provides support both physically and biologically. Physical support is provided by allowing the plant to grow its roots through the soil to hold itself in place. Biological support is provided by its ability to hold nutrients and water that the plant needs. It also supports other types of life as well. Microorganisms and insects live in the soil and they in turn aid plant life by helping to decay organic material and adding structure to the soil. Soil allows the gr...
Post a Comment
Read more