Growing Rhubarb

Rheum rhabarbarum : Polygonaceae / the dock family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
      P                

(Best months for growing Rhubarb in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Plant crowns
  • Easy to grow. Plant pieces of rhizome or roots 8 - 10 cm (3 - 4 in.) deep. Best planted at soil temperatures between 41°F and 68°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 35 inches apart
  • Harvest in approximately 1 years. You will have a stronger plant if you leave it for about a year before using..
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Brassicas (Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, etc)

Your comments and tips

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20 Jan 20, Louise R (Australia - temperate climate)
I haven't been able to buy Rhubarb Crowns in Armadale 6112. W.A. You can only buy Punnets.
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11 Jan 20, Kevin Crosbie (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
Hi we live in Port Elizabeth and recently started growing a rhubarb plant in a pot. It has being doing fine although some critter has been eating on the leave. I came home yesterday and it looked like it had started wilting so I gave it some water,thus morning it looks like it is dying there are some new leaves at the bottom should I be cutting back the old growth?
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13 Jan 20, (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
I don't grow rhubarb but if the leaves are dead then cut them back.
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22 Dec 19, Hannes (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
What time of the year is best to plant Rhubarb seeds in Gauteng?
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24 Dec 19, (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
Go to the blue tab above
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30 Dec 19, anon (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
Work out your climate zone then go to Rhubarb and set your climate, then check when to plant.
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14 Dec 19, Brian Cossill (New Zealand - temperate climate)
ruhbarb doesn't need any thing done to your plant in NZ other than water fortnightly cheers Brian
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09 Dec 19, Brian Cossill (New Zealand - temperate climate)
is there any sense in using a rhubarb forcer to increase the length of the stalks during the growing season in NZ cheers Brian
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12 Dec 19, Anon (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Read up about what a forcer does on the net.
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10 Dec 19, Anon (New Zealand - temperate climate)
I suggest you google rhubarb forcer and read what it does.
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I am from East Washington but moved to Texas. Rhubarb is one of my favorite things and when I was growing up in my Washington hometown, my grandma had a huge, really old rhubarb plant that had been producing stalks since before I was born. And I would just pull a stalk out of the ground, wash off with her hose, and snack on whenever I felt like it. Well, I married a military man, and he got stationed in San Antonio and then he got offered a civilian job here, so we are now here to stay. I would really like to grow rhubarb in my garden, especially because I can't even find it here in the store (and the only two times I have found it fresh in the store, the cashiers didn't even know what it was. I kid you not. That's how rare rhubarb is here, so uncommon that the locals don't even know what it looks like as a fresh vegetable). Anyway, does anyone know how I might grow rhubarb here in my new climate? I really miss it. Thanks!

- Washingtonian in Texas

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