Baby Rhubarb...

....sowed some rhubarb seed about a week to 10 days ago and here are the little chaps; coming along nicely...

I grew some last year and they made good sized plants (they needed 2-3lt pots) by the end of the summer.

These will be to increase our stock and give to friends and family...

 

If you grow it from seed, compared to growing it from a crown, how much difference does it make in terms of when its ready for first harvest?

 

Even though they'll be decent sized plants by the end of the summer I won't pick anything from them until next year; they need time to get established first..

 

So if they'll be ready for next year, then I guess that's the same as growing them from a crown. I understand crowns grown ones should be left alone for the first year, so same really.

I just wondered if seed grown ones maybe need an extra year or anything.

That being the case (although I may well be too late now?) I might have a go at some rhubarb.

 

£2 a crown at Home Base, £1 if stalks have been snapped

Jack McH

 

Saw some crowns for a quid down town today. I was tempted, but then I remembered that right now I have no containers for them to go in, and I'm not letting rhubarb loose in open soil. Years ago my dad stopped growing it having classified it as an invasive weed

 

Well I have had the same patch down the back garden for err err 1971 42 years, and it has only doubled from six half inch sized sticks per crown to ten 1.5" sticks per crown, and the spread is from half a square meter to a square meter
I have done nothing too it other than crop it and give it away to people at work, Ourselves we have the odd rhubarb crumble and such, kids dipping sticks into sugar
The bakers at work plead for more and bring me Rhubarb pies, they say it has more flavour than the shop bought pink stuff

Now having said all that, this year in my "now a gardener scheme" I accidentaly dug all this cork type stuff up and binned it,
So I have bought new from Home Base two full price and two at a £1 as the stalks had been picked, after three weeks all four plants are the same. half inch thick and about one foot high

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Well I have had the same patch down the back garden for err err 1971 42 years, and it has only doubled from six half inch sized sticks per crown to ten 1.5" sticks per crown, and the spread is from half a square meter to a square meter
I have done nothing too it other than crop it and give it away to people at work, Ourselves we have the odd rhubarb crumble and such, kids dipping sticks into sugar
The bakers at work plead for more and bring me Rhubarb pies, they say it has more flavour than the shop bought pink stuff

Now having said all that, this year in my "now a gardener scheme" I accidentaly dug all this cork type stuff up and binned it,
So I have bought new from Home Base two full price and two at a £1 as the stalks had been picked, after three weeks all four plants are the same. half inch thick and about one foot high

Jack McHammocklashing