Dusty, Rhubarb growing

Dusty, do you have a secret for raising lots of large stalk rhubarb.

Mine is always puny and a low producer. Thanks

Dakota Dave wrote:

split you rhubarb into several. the root stock gets bound . split the root and spread into several all will produce larger better stalks.

Well I did some big time splitting on the red stem this spring. We'll see

Fresh cow manure was what folks used under the rhubarb. And it was a half or more of a wheelbarrow full that went in the hole. The rhubarb produced for nearly 40 years from that and then dwindled down.

I dug the stuff up a few years back and split the roots and transplanted using fresh manure for some of them, rotted manure for some, hay pile/manure rotted down for a few and the last ones I had 5 gal. buckets of veggie refuse tossed into the bottom of the holes.

And the size and quality of the rhubarb goes with the list above, the puniest being the ones supplied by buckets of veggie refuse.

Some say horse manure was best for this application.

Dad talked about making hot beds for starting plants in outdoors, and that consisted of laying down about 6-8 inches of horse manure in a wood frame, then laying down about 3 inches of dirt, soak with warm water, plant your seeds and place old windows over the top to stop the cold winds. When going to do chores or coming back from morning and night, adjust for air flow of the day or cover or uncover them with a blanket(s) depending on how cold... and the horse manure provided the heat from beneath as it decomposed.

He who says there is no evil has already deceived himself
The truth is the truth, sugar coated or not. Trawler II says, "Remember that."

My mother is still harvesting rhubarb from plants that were on the property when they

bought it in 1951. They've been split and moved many times over the years and still

going, 70 years later.......and nobody knows how old they were in 1951

If ignorance is bliss, than happy days are here again.

I use horse manure, mostly composted down and triple 10 or 12 on the side.

Started some from seed last summer, transplanted them to the row when they had good growth and all of them came up this year. I didnt harvest any stalks from them----dont need to since the big guys are making plenty. I have 3 bunches that have got to be split next spring too.

The seedling row

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john(MI) wrote:

I was just reading an article about the need to pick the stalks the proper way or the plant won't produce. You never cut off the stalks. You reach down to the bottom of the stalk and give it a quick tug.

Never heard that until this spring, my mother told me the same thing a week or two ago. I've been cutting it for a long time. Never seemed to hurt it one bit. Having said that, probably try pulling it this year.

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