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Tasteless forced rhubarb :-(

fredwarwickfredwarwick Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg

Good morning, having been bought a terracotta forcer for Christmas I was looking forward to my first crop of forced rhubarb.  What a disappointment, hardly any taste except of earth!

Help! What went wrong?


Thank you

Posts

  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    Nothing I suspect. I've never had a good tasting forced rhubarb, it is meant to be less sour and milder than letting it go normally. But I found it just comes out tasteless.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited April 2018
    I've not experienced a lack of flavour, but some varieties have more flavour than others ... which one are you growing?

    Mind you, we're growing Timperley Early here and as the crown is now too big for the forcing pot it's been allowed to grow 'au naturel' and we've been pulling it for a fortnight already here in Norfolk ... so not much later than when we force it, and in a cold spring too. 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I agree with Skandi, I gave up forcing them after the first year and now just use the pot for decoration. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I am struggling to grow decent rhubarb in this garden. Have Timperly Early which is really spindly and an unknown variety which has died. Have just bought Victoria, an old well known variety and Glaskins Perpetual which has a low oxalic acid content so can be used from Spring until late in the season. I have never heard of it, has anyone grown it?
  • fredwarwickfredwarwick Posts: 2
    Dovefromabove said:
    I've not experienced a lack of flavour, but some varieties have more flavour than others ... which one are you growing?

    Mind you, we're growing Timperley Early here and as the crown is now too big for the forcing pot it's been allowed to grow 'au naturel' and we've been pulling it for a fortnight already here in Norfolk ... so not much later than when we force it, and in a cold spring too. 


    Thanks,  think it is either Champagne or Victoria

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