rhuburb question.... help needed... please..

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i grew some rhuburb plants in the middle of last year from seed... in little individual pots....

most of them are just starting to show signs of life....

so do i wait until they have totally sprouted so to speak.. before planting them in their final position in the garden

or can i do it over the next few days....? even though they are in pots they have been outside throughout or mild winter.....

some i want to keep .. others i want to put into bigger pots... to give away /swop.. or sell on...

thanks.....

tight_jock

Hi
if they are healthy and showing signs of sprouting then I would plant them out and cover the whole plant with about 3" of well rotted manure. This will protect the tender tops and give the roots plenty of food and a head start. Remember that these are perennial and so are used to growing in colder weather.

TJ

BlondeHeadOn

Just remember to plant them somewhere where you want them to be for a long time... We had two rhubarb patches (left by previous owner of house) and wanted to remove one of them to build a patio. Rhubarb are very hard to kill if they are well-established! We ended up laying a 2-inch thick paving slab on top of the (very well-dug and completely rhubarb-free - we thought) patch of ground, and a month later the paving slab split and some cute little rhubarb shoots poked through.........
:eek: :eek: :eek:

Believe me, they are tough little blighters!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

thanks guys.......

i have one plant which i planted 3 years ago.... which has established nicely..... in a bed next to my compost bin...

i made rhuburb chutney last year.... only 5 pots.... as it was sooooo srummy.... that its all gone.... and the funny thing the whole family liked it... yet they dont like rhuburb..... ....

i have an allotment.. that i had last year... but with all family probs that we had.. it hardly got touched.... so this year... i want to get at least some beds ..going....

thanks for the advice.......

Noah'strolly

Some one gave me a really useful tip a few years ago. Add rhubarb to red fruit jams, the fruit is still the dominant flavour and you don't need so much of it.

toblerone_2

they like manure but are tough as old boots plant it out when its not too frosty and watch em grow.if it stops being productive then cut plant into peices and discard the middle.for sweeter rhubarb cover and block out light and force your rhubarb yum!!

tight_jock

I wouldn`t force first year plants . Only force every other year or you will exhaust the plants

WestonDave

Can anyone advise how and when its best to split rhubarb plants - if at all. Both me and my parents have decided to get into growing veg this year having moved into new houses last year. (Boy was that a stressful couple of months!).

As part of our new garden we've inherited two rhubarb plants which are currently just beginning to sprout. Dad wants to have some for their garden and obviously we are happy for them to have some. Is it best to try to split a plant, or try to move one whole plant? Is this a good time of year to do it? The other problem I have is that only being in the house since Autumn we've not really seen their productive capabilities - there were a fair number of stems on them at that point which have since died back.

Sorry for all the questions!

tight_jock

WestonDave wrote:

Can anyone advise how and when its best to split rhubarb plants - if at all. Both me and my parents have decided to get into growing veg this year having moved into new houses last year. (Boy was that a stressful couple of months!).

As part of our new garden we've inherited two rhubarb plants which are currently just beginning to sprout. Dad wants to have some for their garden and obviously we are happy for them to have some. Is it best to try to split a plant, or try to move one whole plant? Is this a good time of year to do it? The other problem I have is that only being in the house since Autumn we've not really seen their productive capabilities - there were a fair number of stems on them at that point which have since died back.

Sorry for all the questions!

Rhubarb is as tough as old boots!! I would lift one plant and split it in two with a sharp spade as long as it is a well established plant at least 4 inches across the crown. If you do it now there may be a slight check to the growth but it will soon recover.

Cover in loads of manure!!!!!!!!