Growing Rhubarb

Rheum rhabarbarum : Polygonaceae / the dock family

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

(Best months for growing Rhubarb in New Zealand - cool/mountain 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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06 May 16, Jeannie (Australia - temperate climate)
Can we grow rubarb here on the Gold Coast ? Itcosts a fortune here to buy in theshops.
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22 Apr 16, Steve (Australia - temperate climate)
Rhubarb loves lots and lots of cool manure - cow is great. You can't put too much of it around the plant.
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18 Apr 16, glenda deschamps (Australia - temperate climate)
We have had our rhubarb in for more than 1 year and the leaves and stalks are growing beautiful but are still green. When will they turn red?
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22 Apr 16, Tempest (Australia - temperate climate)
They won't. It sounds like you have a green-stalk variety of rhubarb. If the stalks aren't even partially red when they first sprout then it's not a red variety. I've got three different red rhubarb varieties and even the dullest colour one had stalks come up with a pinky tinge to it. Do you know what the variety you have is called? Also, whether it was grown from crown or seed? For example I've heard that the Victoria variety can be either red or green, and if it's grown from seed then it's far more likely to end up being green.
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02 Sep 16, longinthetooth (Australia - temperate climate)
The culinary web sites recommend the green varieties, better taste, but quite difficult to find.
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18 Apr 16, Julie (Australia - temperate climate)
We have a rhubarb that doesn't seem to ripen to red stalks it is in a large pot could this be the problem
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15 Apr 16, Janys (Australia - temperate climate)
We have 3 crowns of Rhubarb, they get all the necessary TLC but the stems don,t grow more than 10cm length at maturity and about thumb thick how can I get them to grow longer stems ?
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13 Apr 16, Shirley stephen (Australia - temperate climate)
What manure do you use to make winter Rhurbarb which grow green stalks into Red This was on a better homes and gardens a few weeks ago
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12 Apr 16, Cassie (Australia - arid climate)
I have the same issue and have just reconciled myself.
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04 Apr 16, Celeste Olivier (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
Where in Pretoria can I buy rhubarb plants?
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Showing 391 - 400 of 635 comments
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you really are better off putting them in a raised garden bed with mixed clean top soil, lots of compost, peat moss, blood meal, and a slow release fertilizer. Rhubarb get very large and can live for many years and their root systems can get quite large, keeping them in pots will restrict their growth and you will have to water more often and continually use fertilizer more often then them being in the ground.

- Laura Ellington

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