A rhubarb plant for £2 was too good an offer to pass up, don’t you think? We were passing by the gardening stall on the market (which at this time of year is always full of seedling plants for those who were too lazy or too late to start their own) when we spotted them tucked away in a corner.
Normally we’d pass by the seedlings without even a sideways glance, but something like a potted rhubarb is different. This is a plant that will grow year on year and provide us with more and more fruit the longer we leave it.
A bean plant, on the other hand, will be gone by the end of the season, and besides, it’s a bit late to be starting with seedlings just now.
We already have two rhubarbs, but one of them has never been happy. Twice now it’s grown a couple of shoots that have since disappeared, so I bought one to replace it and happily took it home on the bike.
They’re not difficult to plant, enjoying semi-shade and regularly watered soil. They also need to be kept out of reach of the chickens, despite being planted behind their coop, as the leaves are poisonous.
Digging up what I assumed to be its dead predecessor, though, I found some signs of life below the soil. The root itself had been hollowed out by woodlice, but the top of it was sprouting a little yellow leaf on a tiny, perfect stalk. Far too small to eat, but an amazing achievement when you consider it was growing in total darkness.
It would have been a shame to bin it, so I moved it to another position, reburied it (with the stalk above the ground) and gave it a good watering, then covered it with a plant pot to try and force some growth.
If it takes, we’ll have three productive rhubarb plants by this time next year, and with its propensity for spreading, it should only get better in the years to come.
The rhubarb shoot we thought was dead
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Nik,
Congrats on the new rhubarb. Every time I thought mine was starting this year, the bunnies would eat it down. In fact, I’ve had a lot of trouble with bunnies this year. Do you have them out there (I’m in the “Pacific Northwest” – Washington State, USA)? If so, I’m curious if you know if they can fit through cyclone fencing. It’s the only way left that I can figure they’re getting in. Ugh.
Take Care,
Cyndi
When we first got our place two years ago the former owner pointed to the moved lawn and told us there were rhubarb plants. He had just run them over with the lawn mover a couple of times. We stopped cutitng the grass at this spot and soon we had small bulbs in the grass at five places. Now, after two years, they are large plants giving plenty. So, they really are survivors. We have taken away all the grass and give them fertiliser and ashes from the fireplace.