Rhubarb

[Stroppy scotte]

hi
Can anyone tell me why you can't eat rhubarb in its first year?
Planted crowns last season but am not sure why we can't eat them this year.
thanks
SS

[Mrs Dobby]

Its so that the crowns can get themselves established, the leaves feed up the crown so that it has the energy to grow bigger leaves and stems next year. By leaving it a year before cropping you'll ensure it has enough energy to continue growing and wont become exhausted!

[Stroppy scotte]

Thanks Mrs Dobby.
Now it all makes sense---for the time being at least
SS

[Sue]

SScottie
I'm in my second year, think I'm allowed to have three sticks of rhubarb and hopefully next year it will have got into its stride.
It's a long wait
Sue

[Stroppy scotte]

Thanks Sue
Assumed we could have what we wanted next year. Presumably after that we can have as much as we want!!
SS

[mrskp]

Thought I read somewhere that's it's beneficial to always leave a few sticks but I know nothing and have got a good couple of years to wait anyway !

[mrskp]

as a supplementary question, I planted mine last weekend, so what do I actually do with whatever grows this year, and then next. Do I just leave it to die down and cut and compost after it's all died back, or what ?

[Hans Mum]

another supplementary.....mine are some crowns we moved from a friends garden (some got split and some didnt) so do i treat these as new and leave a year or can i crop?

[Alice]

I don't know what the orthodoxy is, but rhubarb is tough stuff, and I'll be cutting and eating mine.
Mrs KP, are you going to the Dunblane Tattie Day on Sat 3rd. Great opportunity to meet other grapes.

[Mrs Dobby]

Fom what I've heard you should always leave at least 4 sticks of rhubarb on each crown, so that it can get enough nutrients, other than that you can crop away after the first or second year.

The crowns that have been moved / split should be treated like new crowns this year, as they will need time to get established, crop them too early and you rin the risk of exhausting them. Its the same if you fancy 'forcing' your rhubabr, after forcing you need to leave it to recover for a year or so before normal cropping can resume!

We've 7 crowns on our plot, 4 of which are established, and 3 of which are ones we've split, so they will be left alone this year!

As to what to do with what grows this year, let it die back naturally, then add it to the compost heap!

Hope this is of some help!

[Stroppy scotte]

Guess the rhubarb crumble will have to wait till next year!!!
Kids tell me they hate it anyway.
SS

[mrskp]

oh but think of the rhubarb fool they'll be missing. you can feel your arteries hardening with each mouthful !!!

Alice, I'm definitely going to try to come along and will definitely post an aye or a nae beforehand. The OH is talking about going to Blackpool this Saturday for the football so two Saturday's out of action might just be too much for me to cope with. I'd love to come and meet some Grapes though, so as it's my car, I may just put my foot down (all the way to Dunblane)

and thanks Mrs Dobby, that's exactly what I needed to hear !