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jclepine

Rhubarb help

jclepine
14 years ago

Hello. Someone gave Darren a rhubarb plant. They dug the whole thing up and sent it home with him in a plastic bag.

What do we do with this "thing"? Should it sit in our all-day sun or part sun/shade? How deep should it be planted?

Thanks a bazillion!

And, I hope you all are having as much summer fun as we are...out on the trails...wandering through wildflowers...blowing your noses all day and rubbing your eyes. Phew, allergies!!

J.

Comments (9)

  • digit
    14 years ago

    I'm just about cooked, J. Someone should stick a fork in me . . .

    Don't cook your rhubarb plant. The best plants I know of, including the 3 I have, sit on the east side of a building. So, that's wet shade rather than dry shade from a tree.

    I don't think that they like a whole lot of shade but protection from the hot afternoon sun and plenty of water allow these plants to be enormously productive.

    Just my experience, supposition and 2¢ . . .

    Steve

  • msfuzz
    14 years ago

    I've seen rhubarb grow pretty well in mostly shaded (but still wet) areas. But that was non-cultivated-on-purpose rhubarb. :D I've never tried to grow "captive" rhubarb.

  • greenbean08_gw
    14 years ago

    I would guess either full sun or part shade. I always picture it in part shade, but I planted my "captive" :-) rhubarb I bought this spring in full sun at the edge of the garden and so far it's surviving. It's still pretty small, so we'll have to see how it does.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

  • jclepine
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks all!!

    I'm thinking full sun only because my flower beds, which are the things I water, get full sun. I do have room on a shadier side, but that never gets watered and I'm not sure he'd remember to water them!!

    I think I'll just have to give it a shot and see what happens.

    I'll try to find a little shade, things get pretty hot up here even if the temps aren't that high.

    Thanks!!!

    Jennifer

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    14 years ago

    Ours is in full sun, but this is also full wind. Combined with our hail, it's looking tattered. You should be able to tell from the tuber-ish thing how deep, but if not, ~2" should work. You'll have to water it, but if you like rhubarb - we might be having a cobbler tonight, I understand - you'll make the sacrifice.

    Dan

  • jclepine
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Honestly, I dont' like rhubarb much. I do like rhubarb/strawberry pie, but when Darren does his Canadian thing and puts it in a pot with white sugar, ew, I don't like it!

    But, he is going to use it for making dye. He'll probably eat the stalks then use the leaves for dying wool.

    I save him all my dead heads: dandelions, coreopsis, even the unknown daisy.

    Thanks, Dan!

  • sirrka
    14 years ago

    5 years ago I planted a rhubarb start from my neighbor in the northwest corner of my back yard and ignored it. It grew. This year we have an actual veggie garden and I have been watering it regular. The stalks are small, but that is because I never fed it and it is a heavy feeder. I just put a bunch of rabbit poo around the edges. We shall see what happens. Rhubarb is Very Hard to kill.

  • carlisa (CO-5a)
    14 years ago

    Our little rhubarb plant is getting hammered by something. We put diatomaceous earth around it and something was still dining on the leaves, so it probably wasn't slugs. I put the DE directly on the leaves, which has helped, but it has to be re-applied after every rain. Does anybody know what kind of insect loves rhubarb leaves?

  • highalttransplant
    14 years ago

    Well, if yours looks something like this

    {{gwi:109704}}

    than I would say it's probably grasshoppers.

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