Rhubarb is considered a perennial vegetable and they are great for pies, muffins, and more. The thing with rhubarb is that its roots cannot start growing if the soil isn’t at least 40 degrees F in temperature. It is pretty simple to grow in cooler climates. Ideally, for the most success, you want to plant rhubarb in the early spring..
Rhubarb is not normally planted using seeds because it can be very difficult or challenging to grow them. So if you want to grow
Now that you already know some facts about this perennial vegetable, it is now time to plant them and grow them. Below are the steps on how to grow rhubarb:
Choosing The Right Spot
Although rhubarb is fond of cooler climates and soil, they still require sunshine in order to grow healthy and with vigor. Therefore, if you are choosing a spot where you can grow them, make sure that the area has a lot of sunlight during the day. Also, you might want to allot 1 square yard of soil for every rhubarb plant that you want to grow to give them adequate space.
Preparing The Soil
Rhubarb grows best in soil that is mixed with compost/peat moss, or aged manure. If you want, you can also add commercial fertilizers. But if you want your rhubarb to be organic, you can omit the last step. Make sure to loosen the soil up to 12 inches deep. Create holes; but make sure the holes are bigger and wider compared to the crowns of your rhubarb. Cover the rhubarb plant with 2 inches of soil. Make sure that there are no air pockets inside, by pressing the soil with your palms. Water the soil to moisten it. Make sure to water your rhubarb every week.
Once your rhubarb has developed leaves, you can now put mulch on the soil. However, when it starts developing flowers, you might want to remove them, because flowers will just eat up too much energy of the plant.
It will take two years before you can actually harvest a good amount of rhubarb. To harvest it, you need to grab the stalk, twist, and pull. Usually, you only have to wait two years for the first harvest. But the succeeding harvest can happen 3 – 5 times for each season.
Just follow those simple steps on how to grow rhubarb and you will have a patch that continues to produce year after year. Rhubarb is delicious, sweet, and refreshing. It can be used in a lot of ways in the kitchen. That is why growing them is such a treat.
image courtesy of elizaIO/flickr
