Rhubarb Leaves

[WrexTheDragon]

Looking for some advice.

The leaves of my rhubarb are now turning yellow. I normally just leave them to cover the crowns over winter.

Should I leave them to rot by the plant or remove them and put on my compost heap?

[snuffer]

Not sure what the 'right' thing to do is but I've always cleared away the old stalks and leaves. I think it is reccommended to cover the crowns with straw or similar to protect them from the frost. Must confess I don't always do this and have never noticed the lack of insulation doing any harm.

[WrexTheDragon]

I was always led to believe that the leaves also helped in keeping weeds down, but not sure on this.

[snuffer]

My fear would be that leaving the leaves in place over winter would encourage rot.

[binley100]

I was going to put leaves on compost heap and cover the plants with compost or manure.

[gojiberry]

Frost should not affect the crowns unless they are waterlogged. When forcing crowns they are usually lifted and left on top of the soil to get frosted before forcing, so on that basis the crowns should not be affected. The idea of straw is to put it over the crowns in Jan to give some protection to get an early crop (i.e. a mini type forcing).

Ian

[Flummery]

I just leave mine alone. Idle bum, moi!

[peanut]

I let mine rot down each year, they've already disappeared for this year and I've never had a problem with rot.

[WrexTheDragon]

Many thanks all, I will let them rot down, as nature intended.

[pigletwillie]

I tend to clear them away but add a good layer of leafmould to the crowns as a mulch and feed.

[zazen999]

I clear them away as they get in the way when they are too big and old.

[Snadger]

My rhubarb has a wooden packing crate around it to keep it tidy. The packing crate was filled with straw to a depth of about 2 foot. I have had lovely blanched clean stems of rhubarb, the area is tidy and the leaves just rot away to nothing. I'll add another layer of straw in the spring and hopefully will have a similar harvest to this years which has been superb!