Rhubarb, from planting to harvest

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Thick petioles three to four centimetres across rise from a clump of huge leaves that can top three feet: rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum) is treated as a fruit for jams and pies, though botanically it is a vegetable. Give it a space of its own away from the vegetable patch, and two or three rhizomes will feed a family.

From planting or preparing seedlings all the way to harvesting petioles, regular care should help you boost growth. Growing, care and recipes… here is all our advice.

• Health: health benefits of rhubarb

Planting rhubarb

Rhubarb is best planted in fall from rhizomes, but can also be planted in spring.

Since it takes up a lot of volume, keep a space that is separate from the vegetable patch, because if you don’t, it will quickly colonize the entire plot!

Rhubarb needs rich soil, and regularly adding organic fertilizer is a requirement for it to “prosper”.

• Two or three rhizomes planted 3 feet (1 meter) apart are more than enough to cover an entire family’s needs.
• Although you will certainly find the perfect rhubarb for you in your local horticulture store, it is also a plant that can be shared from friends and family, and even handed down from father to son!
• Rhizomes are easy to divide once the plant starts growing well.
• A chop of the spade will make you the proud owner of what can become a complete bed of rhubarb that will be at your side for your entire life.
• Even if you must move around in life, don’t leave your rhubarb without a caretaker!
• Bring a piece of it to your new home: dig a cluster or root out, and life will go on!

Sowing rhubarb

If you wish to sow rhubarb, sow in spring or summer, preferably in nursery pots, and place them in the ground from early autumn to early spring.

• Seed-raised rhubarb does not come true to type, so expect seedlings from one packet to differ in stalk colour, thickness and vigour.
• Soak beetroot seed clusters, whose corky, papery coats slow germination, overnight in water, then sow them singly about an inch (2.5 cm) deep, one to a pot, in moist compost.

Pruning and caring for

Rhubarb doesn’t require any special care, except for removing weeds that might run it over and removing dead petioles.

You can spur its growth, especially the first year, by offering each stem bunch 3.5 oz (100 g) of type 7-11-17 mineral or 5-7-7 organic fertilizer granules.

Tear the last petioles off in the first days of winter.

The rhizomes will enter dormancy, but they will surprise you anew in the first days of spring. Mulch can help retain soil moisture in summer.

Watering rhubarb

Rhubarb is a plant that perspires a lot during summer because of its huge leaves. It requires dedicated watering.

• Water in case of prolonged dry spells or heat waves.
• It is best to water in the evening, and avoid wetting the leaves.

• Soak the soil deeply rather than sprinkling a little every day.
• A rhubarb kept short of water gives thin, stringy petioles and is quicker to throw up a flower stalk, which should be snapped off at its base.
• Large-leaved plants often wilt in midday heat and recover by evening, so before watering check the soil about 5-8 cm (2-3 inches) down and water only if it feels dry there.

Harvesting rhubarb

Harvesting generally occurs twice a year, from Mid-spring to early autumn/mid-autumn. Tender spring shoots are a favorite, they’re the most tender and least bitter.

• Choose firm and thick petioles, around 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 cm) thick.
• Pull them out at their base, breaking them off rather than cutting them.
• Clean the petioles and store them in a cool spot to keep them from drying out.

Keep the wide leaves to prepare rhubarb tea to fight aphids and leaf-mining flies.

Forcing rhubarb

Every other year, you can “force” your rhubarb plant.

• Midwinter, clear any protective mulch from atop your rhubarb plant.
• Flip a large pot upside-down over the clump.
• Block out any light from reaching inside. For this, plug all the holes.
• Insulate around the pot to let soil warm up. Use fern fronds, straw or dead leaves for instance.
• For two months, don’t open the pot or let light in.
• Early spring, normally your rhubarb stalks will start lifting the pot up. You can harvest the stalks!

Forcing has two advantages: it triggers the plant to start sprouting earlier, and stalks are much sweeter.

However, you shouldn’t force the same clump two years in a row. Best practice is to grow 2 or 4 plants, so you can alternate which ones you force.

The rhubarb year, task by task

Rhubarb asks for very little, but each job has its moment in the year. Here is what to do and when, from planting the rhizomes to lifting the forcing pot.

Follow this rhythm and a single clump will keep cropping year after year.

Which rhubarb variety to plant

Rhubarb clumps stay in place for a decade or more, so the variety you plant is worth a moment’s thought. The table below sets out the kinds most often sold in garden centres and seed catalogues, by stalk colour, cropping season, suitability for forcing and flavour.

All there is to know about rhubarb

Rhubarb is native to Asia, and was only introduced in the West around two hundred years ago.

Today, it is used as a fruit when preparing jam or delicious rhubarb pies but in the botanical classification it is a vegetable.

• • Avoid eating rhubarb leaves: they contain far more oxalic acid than the edible stalks, though other compounds may also contribute to their toxicity, so the exact poisonous agent remains uncertain.
  • Snap out any flower stalk as soon as it shows, because bolting pulls strength away from the petioles you want to pick.

  It can be grown anywhere in Europe, but is more common in cool temperate climates.

• This magnificent plant can reach over 3 feet (1 meter).
• Not only can this plant provide a bright green bed that compliments the view, it can also surprise you and enhance your desserts and favorite jams. <!–silentHere is the recipe for rhubarb jam, pleasure guaranteed!–>

Primer on rhubarb health benefits

Rhubarb is famous for its laxative properties.

Mineral-rich, with high phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and calcium content, rhubarb is a very good food supplement, especially to enhance digestion.