How to Grow Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that anyone can grow. It’s also highly flexible in the kitchen, and can be enjoyed in a number of ways. Here’s how to grow a rhubarb of your own, and reap the delicious benefits in the years to follow. Read on for more.
Materials
Rhubarb root clumps
Mulch (see The Guide to Mulch)
Compost
Shovels
Garden trowels
Clippers
Procedure
Rhubarb is rarely planted from seed, so keep an eye out for started rhubarb plants or clumps of roots in plant nurseries.
growing rhubarbs
Rhubarb is best grown in early spring, as soon as the ground is soft enough. You can also grow them in fall in areas with warmer climates.
The best place to grow the rhubarb is an area where you can leave it where alone. The soil should be well-drained and fertile (loam, ideally). Rhubarb also prefers full shade, although it will also grow in partial shade. The ideal range for soil acidity is 6.0 to 6.8. You can see that the rhubarb can be pretty flexible when it comes to planting conditions.
Dig the planting bed very well and deep. The trench should be at least two feet across just as deep, if you’re planting more than just the root clumps.
Mix in the compost or organic matter to ensure that the rhubarb gets all the nutrition it needs. Partially refill the hole with a 50/50 mix of soil and compost.
Plant the rhubarb clumps at least three feet apart for each plant. Each plant should have a mound of soil to itself, set in the crown with the roots over the sides. Add some more soil so that the buds are only an inch or two away from the surface. Lightly firm the surface using the palm of your hands.
Mulch the area generously with grass clippings or shredded leaves as the shoots begin to emerge.
Water the baby rhubarb plants an inch of water a week.
Remove seed stalks as soon as they appear later in the summer. If you let the seed stalks develop, the rhubarb plants will die. You will be able to tell the seed stalks by their shape: They are tall, thick and round.
Once late autumn comes around and the plants have died back, top-dress the bed of rhubarb with compost (Tips on how to make compost). Do this every spring and fall.
Don’t harvest rhubarb in the first year, just keep the seed and flower stalks clipped off. You can start harvesting a few leaf stalks as thick as your finger in the second year. You need to give the rhubarb time to establish a good root development.
You can harvest rhubarb freely from the third year onward.