Ten Tips for Growing Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that gives a tart, unique flavor to pies and other recipes. The stalks may also be eaten fresh from the garden after removing the leaves and the thin outer peel. Although rhubarb often grows well without any help, little extra attention from the gardener will produce the most abundant crop. Follow these ten tips for growing rhubarb successfully in your home garden:

1. It helps to live in the right climate! Rhubarb is a cool-weather plant and does not tolerate heat well. The temperatures must dip below 40 degrees F in the winter and the average summer temperature should be around 75. Rhubarb will grow well in the northern part of the United States and in Canada, but not in the hot southern states.

2. Rhubarb is a hardy plant and relatively free from disease and pests, but may be choked out by ground covers. Chemical herbicides are not recommended for rhubarb crops. Use a soil solarization technique to kill weeds naturally, or weed the garden thoroughly before you plant your rhubarb shoots.

3. Rhubarb may grow in less than ideal soil conditions, but does best in a moist, well-drained garden that contains plenty of organic matter and that has a pH level of 6.0 to 6.8.

4. Rhubarb benefits from fertilizer, but don't use fresh manure. It may burn young shoots. Mix well-decomposed manure or compost into the holes before you plant the rhubarb shoots, or use a 5-10-10 fertilizer.

5. Dig holes approximately 10 inches deep and plant your rhubarb shoots with the crown buds 2" below the surface of the soil. Space crowns two to four feet apart, in rows three to four feet apart. You can place them a bit closer in a smaller garden.

6. Cultivate an established rhubarb patch in the spring. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer in a circle around each rhubarb plant when growth begins, or work some compost into the soil.

7. Remove flower stalks and seed pods as they appear. Their vigorous growth will inhibit the development of the edible stalks, and it's difficult to grow rhubarb from seed anyway.

8. Don't cut the stalks the first year, and pick lightly the second year. After the third year you may harvest the entire plant. Perennial rhubarb will grow for four or five years before it will need to be divided.

9. Mulch around your rhubarb plants in the late fall or early winter to protect the roots from frigid weather, but don't cover the crowns or they may rot.

10. After the first hard frost, cut down any stalks that are still standing, and throw them on your compost pile. The leaves are mildly poisonous but the toxins will break down quickly and won't harm your compost.