growing rhubarb
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GERRYFEERY
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What is the best way to plant rhubarb stools.Do I need to make a ridge or can they be planted straight into the ground. They already have stalks starting to grow so how deep can I plant them .Timperally [which I most likely have spelt wrong] Early is the variety.
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oldherbaceous
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Evening Gerryfeery, i have always planted them straight in the ground, i have dug the ground through first though and added some well rotted manure.
They need planting so the noses are just sticking out of the soil, the noses are the round bits where the leaves emerge from.
You were nearly there with the spelling, Timperly Early.
They need planting so the noses are just sticking out of the soil, the noses are the round bits where the leaves emerge from.
You were nearly there with the spelling, Timperly Early.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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alan refail
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You were nearly there with the spelling, Timperly Early.
You were nearly there with the spelling, dear OH - Timperley
Sorry about that - old teachers (like me) never die, they just go on...and on.....and on...........
You were nearly there with the spelling, dear OH - Timperley
Sorry about that - old teachers (like me) never die, they just go on...and on.....and on...........
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Alan, i know if it was anyone apart from me, you would find this hard to believe.
But i did type in Timperley, then i thought i would just check my Parkers wholesale catalogue and in there it was spelt Timperly.
Just goes to show, i'm probably right more often than i think.
But i did type in Timperley, then i thought i would just check my Parkers wholesale catalogue and in there it was spelt Timperly.
Just goes to show, i'm probably right more often than i think.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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GERRYFEERY
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Thank you old herbaceous.I am only gardening about 2 years or so and need all the advise I can get.This is a wonderful place for tips and advice. Hi Alan Refail, its only in the eyes of youth that teachers are old....
Hello OH
My rule for checking spelling is to write it down - if it looks right then it is right!
John
PS Agree with you about the rhubarb planting.
My rule for checking spelling is to write it down - if it looks right then it is right!
John
PS Agree with you about the rhubarb planting.
Last edited by John on Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
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PLUMPUDDING
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You've got an excellent variety there - it is my favourite. It is very early, good flavoured and not mouth puckeringly acid. It came out top in the rhubarb taste testing at Harlow Carr a couple of years ago, and they hold the national collection of rhubarb.
I also would plant it with just the top poking out and give it a good mulch of manure or compost every year. I've had mine for years and when the tops die down in autumn I put a bag of the hen hut cleanings over the top of it to keep it cosy over winter.
The leaves are so huge in summer that I used one as a mould for a bird bath last year (using concrete and chicken wire)- it must be 24 inches across. There were two robins splashing about in it yesterday, so it has their approval. I've not worked out how to put photos on this site yet, but will have a try later. Got to get out in the sunshine now.
I also would plant it with just the top poking out and give it a good mulch of manure or compost every year. I've had mine for years and when the tops die down in autumn I put a bag of the hen hut cleanings over the top of it to keep it cosy over winter.
The leaves are so huge in summer that I used one as a mould for a bird bath last year (using concrete and chicken wire)- it must be 24 inches across. There were two robins splashing about in it yesterday, so it has their approval. I've not worked out how to put photos on this site yet, but will have a try later. Got to get out in the sunshine now.
The acidity developes with time so the early sticks should be quite sweet (especially if forced).
I never pick after July as the sticks are too bitter and it gives the plants time to build up the roots for next years crop.
I never pick after July as the sticks are too bitter and it gives the plants time to build up the roots for next years crop.
I don't suffer from insanity .... I enjoy it!
Vivianne
Vivianne
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Mike Vogel
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Regarding not picking after July, vivie veg, your reasoning is spot on. I gave some to friends one August and they were scared by the old wives' tale that the stalks become poisonous after July. So I asked advice from Garden Organic, and this is what they wrote:
Dear Mike Vogel,
Thank you for your recent enquiry to Garden Organic.
You can reassure your friends that your rhubarb is perfectly safe to eat. It is only ever the leaves which are poisonous on ingestion. It does say in many books not to pick after July and the reason for this is that picking after this time deprives the roots of energy produced by the leaves. This energy is stored in the roots and used to produce a good crop next year. If your rhubarb patch is well established then this shouldn't really be problematic. Just pick sporadically and you won't do any harm. When planting a new crown in spring you should not take any stems until the autumn and then only very few. You can pick freely in the second year.
Hope this helps
Yours sincerely
Lucy Packer
Garden Organic Advisor
I hope this is useful and informative.
mike
Dear Mike Vogel,
Thank you for your recent enquiry to Garden Organic.
You can reassure your friends that your rhubarb is perfectly safe to eat. It is only ever the leaves which are poisonous on ingestion. It does say in many books not to pick after July and the reason for this is that picking after this time deprives the roots of energy produced by the leaves. This energy is stored in the roots and used to produce a good crop next year. If your rhubarb patch is well established then this shouldn't really be problematic. Just pick sporadically and you won't do any harm. When planting a new crown in spring you should not take any stems until the autumn and then only very few. You can pick freely in the second year.
Hope this helps
Yours sincerely
Lucy Packer
Garden Organic Advisor
I hope this is useful and informative.
mike
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There is a superb site for all us rhubarb fans at:
http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/
It has absolutely everything a boy or girl needs to know about rhubarb and more!
John
http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/
It has absolutely everything a boy or girl needs to know about rhubarb and more!
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
There seems to be few article about just now telling you how to force rhubarb. I agree with most of the advise, but find that an upturned bucket is far too small.....I use an open bottomed plastic compost bin. At this time of year I just lift it off the compost and put it over the rhubarb patch. The stick can then grow to about 3 foot before banging their heads on the lid, but you will have picked them before that!
I don't suffer from insanity .... I enjoy it!
Vivianne
Vivianne
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Vivie veg, thats a rather cunning trick, i should think a lot of people have an empty compost bin at this time of the year, do you know i might even do this myself.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Hi Vivie,
That reminds me of the joke my grandfather played on me. He grew his Rhubarb against an old tack room and he put four salt glazed pipes on top each other over the top of his Rhubarb tied them into the side of the building and told me to wait for the leaves to come out the top which they duly did at about the end of June. He took the leaves off and removed the pipes to reveal Rhubarb about 4" wide and 12' long, then got me to cut it down and saw it in 4 and told me to take in into my mother to make an enormous pie.
The next bit was unprintable but she caught him bending and slapped his BTM as hard as she could with one of the sticks he didn't do it again. That was about 1936 so it made quite an impression on me. He taught me a lot but most of all never to upset my mother.
JB.
That reminds me of the joke my grandfather played on me. He grew his Rhubarb against an old tack room and he put four salt glazed pipes on top each other over the top of his Rhubarb tied them into the side of the building and told me to wait for the leaves to come out the top which they duly did at about the end of June. He took the leaves off and removed the pipes to reveal Rhubarb about 4" wide and 12' long, then got me to cut it down and saw it in 4 and told me to take in into my mother to make an enormous pie.
The next bit was unprintable but she caught him bending and slapped his BTM as hard as she could with one of the sticks he didn't do it again. That was about 1936 so it made quite an impression on me. He taught me a lot but most of all never to upset my mother.
JB.