by Candace Williams

Created on: June 21, 2008

Rhubarb is one of the plants most pioneers put in their garden. Mothers shared a start with their daughters and neighbors shared with neighbors.Rhubarb or pie plant is fairly simple to grow. It is a perennial which means that it will come back each year without being replanted. This fruit is generally started with a plant or sometimes by a piece of root. It will send up stalks from the central plant or the root which can be harvested the second year.

What Does It Need?
Like all plants it needs good soil,water and sun. It likes to be out in the bright sun. If you look at old farm gardens you will usually see that there is a row of rhubarb not too far from the kitchen. You can spot the tall stalks and large leaves from quite a distance. Most gardens were edged with a row of rhubarb between the grass and the garden. This was a pretty good spot for it since the row of rhubarb was not plowed up and replanted every year. It needs to be ferlilized if you want to have large thick stalks. It helps the plant to cultivate around it. The plant also likes a neutral ph soil. My gardening books recommend putting wood ashes in a ring around the plants in the spring.

What Bugs Rhubarb
Most bugs won't bother rhubarb but slugs will. The slimy little creatures seem to enjoy munching on the leaves. Those leaves are toxic for humans but don't seem to bother slugs. Putting a ring of wood ashes around the plants will discourage slugs and reserve the energy the leaves gather for the plants instead of producing a batch of slug babies.

This One Is Coldblooded
Winter is needed for rhubarb to thrive so if you want to grow it in a warm climate you have to lift the crowns and put them in a cool place for a couple of months to fool the plant into thinking it had a winter. You can do this to force some witner rhubarb too. One way to do this in a northern location is to plant it in a box or pot which you leave outside until after Christmas then you can bring it in the house or greenhouse and let it produce stalks early.

Your Plant Will Multiply and Fill Your Row
Over time the rhubarb plant will multiply as healthy perenials do. When there are several plants in the spot which was origianally one plant you can lift the plants out of the hole and clean the soil off the root balls. Then look for the divisions of the plants. You don't have to be particularly careful in doing this. Rhubarb is hardy and will tolerate some fairly rough treatment. If you don't want to have several plants you can give away the

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>