A Stroll Through the Garden: Rhubarb stalks are smaller than hoped

A few years ago, I received an email from one of my readers about her Rhubarb or Rheum
rhabarbarum.

It seems that the stalks on her rhubarb were as thin and weak as they have
ever been. Her rhubarb normally does well and has not let her down.

You really should have big thick stalks to make a good strawberry-rhubarb or rhubarb pie.

My first solution is to get a soil sample around your rhubarb. Rhubarb can grow large leaves and stems quickly, meaning that it can deplete a soil of the nutrients it needs.

If you test the soil, you can begin to discover what your soil needs to grow a healthy rhubarb plant.

Unfortunately, my reader did not share with me how she cares for her rhubarb, so what I’m going to discuss is what you need to know to grow a healthy, productive plant.

My research and experience say, that you fertilize with organic compost at least once every 4 weeks to encourage growth. You should increase P and K with an organic fertilizer to enhance the size of the stalks of rhubarb stalks.

Organic fertilizers won’t burn the rhubarb or create other problems.

This means you should top-dress the areas around the crown and to the edge of the leaves at least 1 to 2 inches deep with a good compost.

For the balance of the season, I would do a vermicast compost (worm po) – two tablespoons of Epsom salt per quart of water and de-sulfured molasses compost tea.

Drench the compost tea and Epsom salt mix later in the season for the best results.

There are many effective organic fertilizers you could use to aid in rhubarb production.

When you plant your rhubarb, you will need a fertilizer with 11 x 15 x 11 analysis at two cups per 100 square feet.

Side dress early each spring with three-fourths of a cup of 11 x 15 x 11 fertilizer before new growth starts. After you have harvested the stalks, you need a second application of one-half cup for a 100-square-foot area 16 x 0 x 0 to promote leafy growth.

Rhubarb does its best in full sun but will tolerate partial shade. The lower amount of sun will reflect in a smaller plant and smaller stems.

Just as with most plants, one inch of water during the growing season will encourage the growth. For rhubarb to grow well you will need a soil temperature of 75 degrees F. The first hard frost will cause the leaves to die back.

The best soil drains well and is full of organic matter. Because of the natural vigor of rhubarb, you should continue to compost annually after the last harvest.

If you have not divided your rhubarb you will experience a steady decline. I recommend dividing your rhubarb every six to ten years. All perennials will decline if you are not regularly dividing them.

Make sure that as you divide the rhubarb you keep a good one foot between the crowns.

This kind of division rejuvenates the plants and gives them a better chance of survival.

Make clean sharp cuts. The best way I have found to divide rhubarb is with a sharp spade.

One of the challenges with dividing is that you expose the roots of the rhubarb to soil where diseases could be hiding.

Rhubarb does better in rich well-drained soil and for the most part, grows like weeds. Just be aware that if you have planted your rhubarb in heavy clay soil it may be struggling.

Rot diseases are the biggest disease challenge that rhubarb has.

New rhubarb crowns plant two to three inches deep in the soil and allow a three-foot by three-foot space for the rhubarb to spread.

Remember this is a perennial vegetable and will do best with a mulch of some sort spread around the base of the plant.

You should have a great time growing this plant.

Have you noticed how the flowers are doing so well out in the gardens this year? I have enjoyed my roses, poppies, Shasta daisies, and mock orange this week. I hope that you have a nice stroll through your garden.

If you find an issue in your garden drop me an e-mail at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.