Disappearing rhubarb?

[HeyWayne]

The year before last I planted 5 Champagne Rhubabrb crowns. Last year 3 plants showed themselves - only tiny, but I thought 3 out of 5 wasn't bad.

This year only one is seemingly growing (quite well) and is about 6-8 inches high at the moment (obviously not being forced this season), but there are no sign of the others that appeared last year. I thought rhubarb was supposed to be easy to grow?

Oh, and the raspberry canes I planted in the next bed - 3 summer and 3 autumn, only a few have grown - but I think I'm right in saying that they set down "suckers"(?) and grow more plants.

Do I just need to be more patient with the rhubarb?

[pdblake]

I have about 8 crowns and they are all at different stages. Some are leafing up and some are just a pink dot on the floor. There's a couple that haven't shown at all yet.

They've been there for about three years now and have always come up in the past. I think they're just lagging behind a bit this year. I think the sharp winter has slowed a lot of things down.

[Alison Adams]

I put in some rhubarb a couple of weeks ago from a really old donated crown, no idea what variety. I chopped it up a bit randomly with a spade and buried the bits. Lovely pinky red stalks coming up already ! Only short, 3-4" maybe, but not spindly and with firm, bright leaves - the real deal. Pity I cant eat any until next year when the crowns have established :-(

[pdblake]

I put in some rhubarb a couple of weeks ago from a really old donated crown, no idea what variety. I chopped it up a bit randomly with a spade and buried the bits. Lovely pinky red stalks coming up already ! Only short, 3-4" maybe, but not spindly and with firm, bright leaves - the real deal. Pity I cant eat any until next year when the crowns have established :-(

I got an old crown donated by next door the other year. It cut up into four pretty big crowns, lovely rhubarb. The rest are all grown from seed and have been so good I've sown some more in the hope of filling the freezer in coming years.

I've read up on rhubarb seed and everyone seems to say it's no good and doesn't come true. If that's the case why on earth do places sell it? Mine all seemed to do alright though.

[Mi Jardín]

I inherited mine with the house too, and its been a good cropper, but I put some manure on it in early winter without thinking, I panicked a bit, but I just saw the first signs of life yesterday! So don't worry, its still early in the season!

[zazen999]

My lottie neighbour dropped some rhubarb onto a pile of manure over the winter and it is nearly half the size of a shed now. It had been moved from his old lottie to the new one....

manure is good stuff I'm guessing!

[Dottie]

I put loads of chicken manure on all over my rhubarb bed late January. Slight concerns it might be too powerful, but decided to take the risk, as I wanted to enrich the soil in that area.

I've already picked loads of rhubarb and I'm really impressed with how lush the bed is looking. I don't know which variety I have, but the leaves are a lovely light green colour. Whereas the plot next to mine, his rhubarb has darker leaves and is not ready for eating yet. So it maybe you have a later variety, wander around your allotment and make a note of who has a early variety and maybe do an exchange at the end of the season, thereby extending your rhubarb season.

I've a couple of rhubarb plants that didn't have any chicken manure, they have come up as tis the season and if I didn't have the others to compare with, I'd be quite happy with them. However the size and quantity of the chicken manured rhubarb, is 2 to 3 times greater, than the unmanured rhubarb. Result.

[Mi Jardín]

I thought manuring rhubarbs was bad, no?