moving rhubarb and raspberries

kezlou

I'm due to move house in the next couple of weeks and i was wondering how to safely remove rhubarb and raspberries.

The rhubarb is about 2 years old, same as the raspberries.
they should be staying in a large tub till i find a place to put it in the patch of mud at the new house.

Thanks

DaftyDuck

The rhubarb will be beginning to shoot about now, but it should be ok (ish) to move. Dig it up as deeply as you can (established crowns can grow big down there) and put it in a large plastic pot or bucket. Use plenty of compost, leaf mould or, at a pinch, peat compost. You could, indeed, plant the whole thing in a compost bag. Keep it lightly moist. You may well find that you can split a large crown into smaller plants - they'll be easier to move, and the more you have, the harder to kill the lot of them.

Raspberries; It's an ideal time to move them. They have fairly shallow, wide-spread roots, but will last weeks in just a damp bucket. If you can plant them in a tub (or, again, a used compost bag would do) they'll be fine. Cut all the shoots off to about 4" above ground level and, when you replant them permanently, plant a little deeper than you dug them up - you get better and more new shoots that way.

Both are tough plants, so should survive just fine. I wouldn't crop any Rhubarb this year, just let it grow strong again.

Leif

You could just follow these instructions for dividing rhubarb:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/growfruitandveg_growingrhubarb1.shtml

kezlou

Oh thanks never thought to split in two. Didn't think you could that till they four years old? hmmm

Thank you for the link and the info, really appreicate it.

I have some peat compost and chicken manure pellets do you i should mix both of them up ready for the raspberries and rhubarb?

Leif

kezlou wrote: »

Oh thanks never thought to split in two. Didn't think you could that till they four years old? hmmm

The book I have says it works well for rhubarb that is at least 3-4 years old, so you might be right. There is probably only one crown.

elisaves

if the rhubarb is only 2 years old I wouldn't split it; you can just dig it up and store it safely for few weeks, use only the compost though as the manure pellets are not necessary at this time of year, the plants are dormant, don't need food

kezlou

Great stuff

I haven't checked the crown yet, i'm planning on digging it up next so i'll see what its like then.
Just thought about the rhubarb, it might actually be 3 years old :undecided: I know this sounds silly but we bought a rhubarb crown and a gooseberry bush for ourselves as valentines present.:o
Unfortunately the gooseberry bush took a nose dive this year, loks like its died a death .

Told my OH he has plenty of moving to do when he gets back :rotfl:

tim_n

don't worry about the years, worry more about the size of the crown. I've cut fist sized chunks, planted them in almost pure unrotted manure and it just keeps on going. I've been unable to kill mine for about 6 years now. It just keeps getting bigger and stronger...!

It's currently survived several droughts, a house move and my spade on several occasions. I split it whenever and it doesn't seem to mind.

Weird feeling when slicing it up though, doesn't look natural to split it at all!