fixing fertiliser failure

I'm in the steep learning curve!

Although I am growing rhubarb from seed this year, I was given a mature crown yesterday. Probably big enough to be split but I have just kept it whole
My mistake is in preparation of the ground. I have added (at a guess) somewhere between 400g-600g of blood fish bone fertiliser to the approx 1m² plot and dug it in well to about 400mm (16 inch) deep.

Only once I'd finished did I read the fertiliser box saying 70g per sq m!

That is quite some overdose!

Do you have any advice on how to rectify my mistake? Short of digging up the crown and replacing the soil. If that is required I will just leave it till next year and start again. As above, I've got more rhubarb plans for other areas of the garden

This is the area I've dug over, with the new crown poking up in the middle
Below is a close up of the new growth it already has

 

I have a feeling that as Blood fish and bone are organic it wont be too much of a problem.
Still a big over dose though.

Had it been a chemical fertiliser things would be a lot worse.

 

Pretty easy to fix....whip the plant out, then swap some of the soil for fresh from another part of the garden, or add a couple of bags of topsoil and whichever, mix thoroughly, digging deeper if possible. If you grow Clematis at all, they'll appreciate the removed soil/fertiliser

 

Looking at the pic, it's hard to tell but it looks like the soil is quite low in organic matter.

I believe rhubarb loves manure or other such organic rich soil.

I'd be more concerned about the soil structure than the accidental fertiliser overdose. If the fertiliser is well dug in, I think it will be dispersed enough to not cause any issues.

As an aside, when my dad used to grow rhubarb, when establishing a new bed, he'd dig in a mix of manure and broken up bricks. He was convinced that the broken up bricks helped it spread. His logic was that as the roots grow outward and become obstructed by the bricks, they'd find a way round, sometimes coming up towards the surface and sprouting a new plant. I don't know if his logic was sound but he certainly grew a lot of rhubarb very quickly.

 

Rhubarb likes good deep rich soil and plenty of moisture.
Used to be said that the best rhubarb came from the site of an outside pit toilet.
I'd do as noisette suggests.
However the photo shows it in a fairly small space neaxt to a hedge. The hedge will compete with the rhubarb for both nutrients and water, rhubarb also gets pretty big when growing well. So you might want to find it another spot with less competition and more space.

 

Thanks for the quick replies everyone
I will leave it to see what happens. Hopefully, being a mature crown, it will withstand the over rich soil

 

Agree with others that its not the best spot for any plant so close to that large hedge.

If you cannot find a better spot, then suggest you steadily pour a couple of buckets of water around the Rhubarb to help wash the fertilizer lower down into the soil away from its new roots.

If you do not get some lush growth this year, think that will tell you it needs a better position.

Growing Rhubarb from seed will take a good few years to become a harvestable plant, thats why you usually buy a small plant or beg a root like yours.
Wilko and other stores have small pieces for a couple of pounds this time of year.

For future guidance, as a general rule, think almost all fertilizers only need about a handful per square yard/meter.

 

Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder why folks ask for advice on a forum and then totally ignore it when it's offered?

 

When being made redundant once I was told be a friendly personnel person, "because you dont like the answer your not listening".

Bloody right I wasn't.

 

Well that's put me off my rhubarb and custard this sunday!

 

We are getting close to that old rhubarb joke.

 

The, what do you put on your rhubarb......joke?

 

Oh you've already heard it.

 

Well, what do you put on rhubarb?

 

Well most of us use manure but apparently Harry uses custard.