Rhubarb turned to slime?!

[hamamelis]

My rhubarb, which I've had for the past three years, appears to have somehow crossed itself with a hagfish, and has turned to horrendous slime!

It was fine less than a week ago, just starting to open up the first leaves on the season, then today I noticed the edges of some of the leaves were black. I assumed they'd managed to get frost damage, went to pick them off before they rotted and spread problems, and noticed that the bud next to them was squishy to the touch... It turned out to be full of some seriously revolting clear slime. It was incredibly sticky, and closer inspection showed that pretty much all the other buds had turned to something similar- some less far along than others- and almost all the leaves were only attached by a thin, rotten, strip and fell off when I touched them.

Does anyone have any idea what on earth happened? Like I said, it was fine less than a week ago, I checked it carefully last time I was down at the lottie, and it was looking really good! I'd got the crumble recipes ready and everything!

Also, what should I do (apart from put the crumble recipes away)? I'm assuming I should dig it up and probably burn it, but should I move the little rhubarb that was in the bed next to it to a new spot? Is it likely to spread to other plants?

I didn't have my camera with me (and it'd put you right off your dinner if I had taken a picture) but if you've got strong stomachs, I could get a photo tomorrow.

Thanks for any ideas!

[Darwin.]

I'll be interested to hear the results of this one. I haven't a notion myself but I grow rhubarb so I want to know what it is and what to look out for.

[wizzbang]

OMGoodness!
That's scary.
Can't wait to hear what everybody thinks about this.
Is it just 'there' planted, nothing covering it up, is it just out in the fresh air?
Lynne x

[hamamelis]

It's just sat out there in the open, nothing's been covering it.

I put some home-made compost around it a few weeks back, but none on the crown...

[veggiechicken]

Has anyone been spraying anything nearby?

[hamamelis]

Nope- the plot's organic, and it's in a corner backing on to a feral corner of the site with no other access.

The neighbour on that side doesn't appear to have done anything on her plot since September, and sneaking down just to spray my rhubarb would be beyond even her normal level of weirdness.

[veggiechicken]

I asked because I sure someone on here had problems with spray drift from another plot. killing their rhubarb

[rabbit]

AW sorry to hear about your rhubarb, did google help?

[wizzbang]

Crown rot: This is the most common problem affecting rhubarb caused by various soil or water-borne fungi or bacteria. Plants look sickly, fail to grow and rot at the crown. This can spread to stems and foliage causing the plant die.

This is what the RHS site says.
It could of course be something else.
Lets hope our own experts here can help you.
Lynne x

[out in the cold]

Oh no!

You must be gutted. Do the RHS say whether you need to leave the rhubarb plot for a while, or can you dig out and start over again?

[veggiechicken]

Rhubarb / RHS Gardening
Advice seems to be to cut back into healthy growth - or to remove immediately and destroy.

[hamamelis]

I don't know- it doesn't really match the descriptions of crown rot, so I'm just going to go back over there, dig it up, destroy it, and leave the little one to take its chances I think

I don't really have anywhere else ready to move the little 'un to, and it's a few feet away, so it might be ok! It's the second one I've lost from that spot (the other wasn't very big, and gradually disintigrated over a summer), so I s'pose I'd better try a different patch. Oh well, no rhubarb for me this year!

[veggiechicken]

If you've lost 2 from the same spot.............
Take some photos so that we can see the damage.

[FB.]

Crown rot: This is the most common problem affecting rhubarb caused by various soil or water-borne fungi or bacteria. Plants look sickly, fail to grow and rot at the crown. This can spread to stems and foliage causing the plant die.

This is what the RHS site says.
It could of course be something else.
Lets hope our own experts here can help you.
Lynne x

I agree - crown rot sounds quite possible, but is usually associated with over-watering, persistently heavy soil, waterlogging or covering with compost which makes a sodden layer over and around the crown which encourages crown rot.
Many plants can suffer from crown rot, and is why they dislike compost all the way up to them, and dislike heavy saturated soils.

[hamamelis]

I've been very careful not to cover the top with anything- and it's been pretty much dry here the last three weeks, so it seems really odd that it'd survive the rain of last 'summer', and then rot in the longest dry spell we've had in the past year.

The previous one I lost there was one that was hiding on the plot when I got it; it wasn't very big, and I accidently dug it up, in bits, with hardly any roots, so I wasn't surprised it died.

I shall go and take photos and destroy it when I've finished me lunch, if the rain stops, which it appears to be doing.