Rhubarb - when to pick/harvest?

is76

Okay, beginners question:

Rhubarb is growing in my garden - it has been for a few years and I have ignored till this year. (shameful!)

Its quite small, maybe about a foot or so. When can I harvest some of it? Shall I take a little bit and will it grow back over the summer?

On a brighter notes, my runner beans seeds have grown into seedlings and will be able to planted out soon.

This is my first year of grow your own....

conradmum

Is it a foot tall or a foot wide? Either way it sounds very small for a plant that's been growing for a few years. Is it just small now but it'll get bigger later on?

Normally you would harvest rhubarb from now to about June, taking a few sticks every few days, but rhubarb grows very large. Mine will be four feet across its leaf canopy at its peak.

I would definitely take a few sticks and see how it reacts, then leave it completely alone from June onwards to give it a chance to replenish its strength.

is76

The stalks are about a foot tall. Its small clump. I should really split the crowns but I think I have to do that at the end of the season.

conradmum

is76 wrote: »

The stalks are about a foot tall. Its small clump. I should really split the crowns but I think I have to do that at the end of the season.

You shouldn't have to split the crown. In fact, I would either leave it alone or move the whole thing to a more favourable position. If it's been there a few years and that's as big as it gets, it isn't thriving.

Farway

conradmum wrote: »

You shouldn't have to split the crown. In fact, I would either leave it alone or move the whole thing to a more favourable position. If it's been there a few years and that's as big as it gets, it isn't thriving.

Agreed, try chucking a bucket of rotted manure on it this year and see how it responds. [I did this with 6x manure once, my measly rhubarb turned into a rhubarb tree with huge stalks and vigour]

ALIBOBSY

We've got 2 crowns grown from seed last year that are bigger than a foot, just starting to get our first proper harvest this year (have to admit we took a few peices at the end of last year as it was so big).
It seems in fact to get bigger everyday, fastest growing plant we have I think lol. But they do like very rich soil so add some compost or manure and feed it. They also don't like being very wet, so if it is in a dip or boggy part of the garden it may need moving?

ali x

newleaf

Rhubarb loves to be fed! We slung some rotted chicken poo on ours a couple of weeks ago and it shot up almost overnight! We are now harvesting it regularly, pulling a few sticks at a time. Yumm

LilacPixie

I love Rubarb. Would it do well in a large pot or is it better in the ground??

COOLTRIKERCHICK

we have our rhueburb growing by the side of one of our compost bins....and it loves it, as its getting all the nutriants as they rot down

i was looking at it today with my mouth watering.... and thinking about rhueburb crumble......mmmmmmmmmm

i ready somewhere that you are not supose to put the leaves in the compost bin... does anyone know why?

notwithit??

I have just made a rhubarb crumble!! am eating it as we speak!
I used to pick the stalks when they seemed to be the same size as ones i had seen in the supermarket!! Now (after 3 years), i pick them when they seem to be overcrowded. the stalks are thick on some but not others, but they still taste yummy, not sure if its two different varieties though as i inherited them.

lola34

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

we have our rhueburb growing by the side of one of our compost bins....and it loves it, as its getting all the nutriants as they rot down

i was looking at it today with my mouth watering.... and thinking about rhueburb crumble......mmmmmmmmmm

i ready somewhere that you are not supose to put the leaves in the compost bin... does anyone know why?

I know that the leaves of the Rhubarb are poisonous so may be to with that, I tend to just bin the leaves- I think - don't think I've put them in the compost