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Rhubarb

EmmaMEmmaM Posts: 16
in Fruit & veg
Hi, I have a rhubarb in a raised bed which has been in for about 3 years now. We’ve been away and I’ve come back to a monster! Am I able to still pull some sticks off and if I do, are they edible still??

Posts

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Yes and yes.  If you have any open ground, you'll find your rhubarb will prosper better if transferred from the RB into 'proper' soil in autumn.  Growth will be limited if confined within a RB.
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    Yes we are still picking rhubarb and picking enough to put in the freezer for winter consumption. Started slowly this year but has made up for it now..
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    It depends a bit on the variety,  but personally I  would not pick it  this late in the season.  Two reasons,  1, The acid levels get very high and it tends to get tougher and a bit stringy. 2, The crowns need a chance to store food  for next season,  so good top growth is needed. 
    I  didn't think it possible, but my SIL's parents,  overpicked there's over several years and it died out.
    AB Still learning

  • EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
    Not an expert, so can’t speak to what it will be like this late in the season, although I suspect it might be a bit past it’s best. I have always followed the rule to stop picking at the end of June, to give it a chance to put on some growth before winter. This obviously doesn’t apply in your case this year though. 
    Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


  • pinutpinut Posts: 194
    It seems like everyone is worried about their rhubarb plants.

    Here is how I treat them - remember, this is not forced rhubarb so it doesn't need to build up a vast energy store in the crown(s) for growth in darkness.


    I propagated twelve of these by crown division and kept this one for myself.


    This is the second clean picking of the season. I would have picked in November time (as herbaceous plants don't need their leaves in the cold months so you might as well remove them) but I did it just to demonstrate a principle. The tyre provides protection but can be removed once a few new shoots have regrown.


    As long as the crown(s) are healthy and established, they will grow again.


    The good, the passable (with surface blemishes which can be peeled away) and the rubbish.



    The holes in the leaves are slug and snail damage which are nothing to worry about since you don't grow them for the leaves.


  • WaterbutWaterbut Posts: 344
    Once all the stalks have died I place a large terracotta pot, one with a hole in the bottom, over the crown slightly buried in the soil to protect it from nasty beasties and nasty weather over the winter then remove after first shots appear in the spring.
  • ColinAColinA Posts: 392
    It used to be that Rhubarb should not be pulled after July so as to let the plants build up strength for next season
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2023
    That’s how I grow it @ColinA and it works here … this crown of Timperley Early is 12 years old; it crops heavily from late Feb to the end of June and has never ever thrown up a flower spike. 

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





  • pinutpinut Posts: 194
    Just sixteen days after picking the rhubarb clean.






  • WaterbutWaterbut Posts: 344
    After the stalks are well past their sell by date into the compost bin they go after chopping then I cover the crown with a large terracotta flower pot inserted into the ground for winter protection then removed in the Spring. 
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