PERENNIALS > RHUBARB > HARVESTING
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RHUBARB GUIDES
Companion PlantsContainer GrowingFeedingForcingHarvestingOverwinteringPruningSplittingThin StalksVarietiesYellow Leaves
Rhubarb is a great perennial crop to grow in your garden – it will fly high in a sunny location , with moist yet well - drained land .
These are mostly low - upkeep plants and , when grown in the right spot , will require lilliputian aid and care .
The primary job each class , once plants are established , will be harvesting your craw .
Here ’s what you need to know about harvesting rhubarb plant :
come up more detail on this below .
When To Start Harvesting Rhubarb
If you have only just planted your rhubarb , you should hold off harvest home entirely for the first class .
This will allow the plants to establish well before they are counteract by harvest home .
In the second twelvemonth after implant , you could reap , but should be discreet in doing so .
Harvest just a few stalk this class , and permit the plant to full maturate before you get into a regular harvest routine in subsequent years .
The specific time of year when you set about to reap rhubarb will count on whether or not you have decided to draw your rhubarb plant plant .
When To HarvestForcedRhubarb
pull rhubarb simply means covering the rhubarb summit to exclude sunshine .
This encourages earlier maturation ( typically just about 3 weeks before rhubarb that was not forced ) and mother marvellous pale stem .
Forcing rhubarb will play forward your harvest home and some debate that it will ameliorate the flavour of the pieplant stems .
However , it should be noted that forcing rhubarb does affect future ontogeny of the flora to a degree – so this is only something you should consider doing with goodly and mature , fully - established specimens .
Also , it is not a good idea to force the same rhubarb flora for sequent years , since this may bring down the plant ’s vigour too dramatically .
If you have settle to force a rhubarb plant plant to harvest , you will usually do so in late winter , so that you could reap in spring .
you’re able to start the process as shortly as November/ December , but it is normally done in January / February .
To force rhubarb , around this time , you will simply find something to compensate over the growing flora to exclude sunlight .
You might use a special rhubarb force jar , a industrial plant great deal , an old bank identification number , or another reclaimed container .
After you have excluded light from the turn stems for 8 weeks , you should be able-bodied to remove the book binding and harvest .
you may harvest the pale long stems when they have grown 20 to 30 cm tall , and harvest them earlier than those that have not been forced – perhaps even from as early as January , but typically from ahead of time in March .
The benefit of this is that the yield arrives during what was historically called the ‘ hungry spread ’ .
This was the period when winter stores start to run low , and spring sown crop were not yet ready to harvest .
When To Start Harvesting Non-Forced Rhubarb
Rhubarb that has not been forced will typically be harvested around 3 weeks to a month later than that which has been forced .
Usually , rhubarb stems grow of course in your garden will be ready to glean from late March or other April .
How Long Can You Harvest Rhubarb For?
Typically , rhubarb is harvest only over the spring – until July at the former .
The rhubarb will be absolutely comestible and taste ripe still after this clock time , but you should mostly arrest harvesting in July in social club to avoid weakening the industrial plant .
Hold off harvest once summer arrives and you’re able to continue to savor harvesting from a salubrious plant each saltation over a number of years .
If cared for correctly , these plants can populate for 20 years .
How Much Can You Harvest From One Rhubarb Plant?
Once a pieplant plant is matured , typically from its third year after plant , you could harvest up to a third , or even half of the stems from each industrial plant .
Just make certain that you leave some of the plant to uphold on in active growth .
That way , it will continue to provide you with a bountiful yield for a routine of years to occur .
How To Harvest Rhubarb
When harvest home , only take hold of each stalk at its base .
seek to gently ease it out of the ground . Aim to fend off cutting or snapping it off if potential .
Cut off the leaves ( which arenotedible ) and site these into your composting system or use them as a mulch .
you may then take the stems and wash them to apply them in your kitchen .
After harvest from a mature plant , replenish the mulch of some homemade compost or other constituent material around the rhubarb plant plant to give it the nutrients it requires .
“ With the right varieties , it is possible to have 3 season of Rhubarb harvesting in one year , ” say Dan Ori , a Horticultural Consultant .
So , ensure you give your plants a opportunity to recover well before the following year ’s harvest time .
