flat rhubarb

[back-achy jackie]

I usually have a good show of rhubarb but this year it has not grown upwards.Instead it just lies flat on the soil and hardly any growth of the stems.Anyone know why?

[KittyColdNose]

Mine is doing the same so I will be interested to find out why. Very thin stalks too.

[lottie dolly]

I wonder if they are struggling to grow,maybe need splitting and a re plant,have a look at the buds,see if they are upright or leaning ,this is only a thought,

[Raybon]

Mine too, despite feeding and watering carefully. Limp, dull, no upward growth. Lots of holes in leaves though.......

[crannman]

this is strange my rhubarb at home and the allotment are just the same the plants at the plot are one year old both plants have had manure on them

[Snadger]

Aminopyralid affected manure?

[RaptorUK]

Mine too, despite feeding and watering carefully. Limp, dull, no upward growth. Lots of holes in leaves though.......

Mine are similar, they were divided over the winter.

Aminopyralid affected manure?

Doesn't apply in my case, they have been mulched with our garden made compost.

[KittyColdNose]

Same here Raptor. They were split last year and have been fed and looked after.

[catgirl]

I got a good harvest out of my rhubarb about a month ago but ever since it has done the exact same thing as your plant. I don't think I took too many stems off but the plants just haven't recovered at all. I'm starting to think that they might need splitting.

[hellybore]

Mine is flat too!
For some reason this thread is making me giggle! All those poor flat rhubarbs

[hamamelis]

Did you put the bung in properly?

One of mine's doing something similar, but it's newly planted, so I'm hoping it'll sort itself out, and grow more than one, flat leaf. I've never had much luck with rhubarb on the plot though.

[snohare]

Can't be Snadger, my new rhubarb crown came from a tremendously successful plant that was grown in a compost heap last year, no problems there, I put it in a deep pot and it has just flopped !
I wonder if perhaps it is because all the rain this winter has leached out many nutrients from deeper in the soil where the roots would normally feed ? Either that or it's lack of moisture - that's certainly the mechanism at a cellular level...

[sammy_roser]

Mine is the same! Three year old plant, grew well the last two years. Was looking forward to a decent crop this year but they are just very short and not growing upwards like they should!

[Penellype]

I wonder if it is suffering from not having a cold enough winter. Some plants like to have some frost and a dormant period, so maybe it started to grow too early and has got "tired".

[snakeshack]

I wonder if it is suffering from not having a cold enough winter. Some plants like to have some frost and a dormant period, so maybe it started to grow too early and has got "tired".

You may be right there my neighbouring patch at the lottie has very sad looking rhubarb this year , mine got manured in the early spring this year instead of last autumn , due to availability issues . Mine looks good so I think it could be leaching from an extended wet winter


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