Rhubarb

Does anyone know whether rhubarb grows well in containers? Having recently paid �£1.99 for 3 smallish sticks i wonder whether it's worth growing my own

 

It's definitely worth it, but you'll need a large diameter pot because they quickly grow fairly big. Most people get fed up because it produces so much, and mine is only just above the ground although it has a cover over, so I don't get the very early shoots that are in the shops now. It's very good frozen or preserved for winter with a few strawberries or raspberries- pies and crumbles all winter....

 

Hi Dabbit,
you could grow in a pot, but as Liz says they do get big, the crown gets very woody, and grows deep into the ground so a pot is not really suitable, but not unheard of. if grown in a pot it will only last a short time as the crowns do prefer a cooler enviroment,and during the summer, in a pot will not be suitable.
having designed and planted different types of areas I have found that a good place to plant it, besides the veg garden, is at the back of a herbaceous border where it will give height and interest, and also supply you with stems for the wonderful 'crumble'.
If you want to force the stems for an early crop, it would be best to plant 2 crowns so you can force one, and rest the other each year.
happy growing
Paul

 

There used to be quite a bit of rhubarb grown commercially round about here (Rhubarb and ginger jam - yum!) and I found some that had escaped from a field into a roadside verge and ditch. I harvested it with a sycle, filled the back seat of the car and had enough for 4 gallons of rhubarb wine made from pure juice with no added water! (Put the sticks through a wooden mangle, do not allow juce to contact any metal, treat the juice with fineley divided chalk to kill the oxalic acid but leave the malaic acid - add yeast and sugar; ferment, rack and bottle as normal - refreshing wine and delicious especially if you get a secondary malaic acid fermentation and that prizewinning pettilance)

Years ago I also removed some old plants from my dad's garden - it was a pick-axe job. :eek: Beware it will take over if it gets a hold.

I always smirk when I see the sickly supermarket stuff and the prices they charge - it's a (very tasty) weed!

[ 19. February 2006, 10:53 PM: Message edited by: frogesque ]

 

not many people in this area still do their washing with a wooden mangle, will a spin dryer work just as well?
i still have my cycle to get around on , but tend to use my sickle for rhubarb harvesting al fresco! :D

[ 21. February 2006, 02:13 AM: Message edited by: The Lady Gardener ]

 

Right so a pot wouldn't be such a good idea then due to the crown, I do have a small piece of land at the back of my garden which might be more suitable...Are they hard to maintain in the ground (I'm disabled hence why I container grown)

 

no plant is tougher than rhubarb imo, stick em anywhre and wait for results, if you insist on mollycoddling them with a bit of compost or rotted manure they will respond in kind

[ 21. February 2006, 07:15 PM: Message edited by: The Lady Gardener ]

 

Well, Lady G, I planted a rhubarb in my veg plot about three years ago (bought at great expense from the local GC) and I've yet to have one single stick from it! One grows (pathetically!)then the next doesn't come until the first has almost faded away. I've tried everything but no use - guess it just doesn't like where I've put it.

 

its a diseased plant......... its got rhubarb crumble :D

[ 22. February 2006, 07:28 AM: Message edited by: The Lady Gardener ]

 

:D @ LG Mum's old wooden mangle sat in the garden as a feature

Rhubarb likes a deep soil with good nitrogen and humus content. It is also important not to harvest it in the first year and only lightly in the second year while the root system establishes. Forcing can be done in 3rd and later years.

 

My boys go crazy for Rhubarb Crumble (I hate the stuff!!! Yeuckkkk!!!! Errgggghhhh!!!!! with avengence!!)(but could go with the wine though.... ) and have often thought about growing it. We gave Grandad some to grow for them, but it died.
So what you are saying is that if you buy or aquire a crown, it won't produce anything for 3 years?? Perhaps that is where Grandad has gone wrong, expecting a result straight away?

 

Try adding some ground almonds in the crumble mixture, or half large porridge oats for a crunchy texture. Add a few rasberries or strawberries to the rhubarb, and use some Sweet Cicely to remove bitterness.
I found this site about growing rhubarb:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1105/rhubarb.asp
I aways divide the crowns when they get crowded, which accounts for why mine are happy in pots...

 

I loooove rhubarb, in crumble, jam, stewed, anything! That's why I dream of having a plant!

 

Hi, not sure about the other experinces but I bought a crown of rhubarb last year from a garden centre and grew it in a pot on my balcony (did not have a garden at the time) and it grew fantastically well and I got at least 3 crumbles out of it in one summer, so maybe it likes the sunshine as it certainly got plenty of that on my balcony. I just had to keep watering it so that it did not dry out, so it may be worth giving it a try?

 

have a four yearold crown, last year Monkey World could have used it to house some of thier charges,great to shelter under when it rains, am thinking of putting my tv and armchair in the middle when she who tells me what to do is on the rampage,(how many crumbles to a stalk, lol) but have to say not in a pot, good luck. paul