This beautiful plant has long been a favourite for us. We started with one rhubarb plant container and now have 6 plants in our vegetable beds.

Often people talk about Rhubarb leaves being toxic. The leaves contain oxalic acid which is a toxin and makes them inedible. The stalks are the edible part, which are green at the top and deep ruby at the bottom.

How to grow rhubarb - planting

I have never grown rhubarb from seed and just choose to buy them in punnets form the nursery. Choose a fun sun position and enrich your planting site with lots of compost. If you have clayey soil the plant will not thrive, so try to correct this before planting.

Long term care & harvesting

Keep the plant well watered and mulch with grass clippings of compost. When your plants are well estalished you can start cutting off the outer large leaves. Do not cut everything off, especially not the unfurled leaves. Your plants will enter a dormant stage in winter when you can dig in compost around them. After 4 years you can lift the crowns and only plant back the newer ones, discarding any old woody crowns.

Quick Notes

When to plant: Almost all year unless in a snow area.

How many plants: 6 - 8 plants.

How long to harvest: 5 - 10 weeks at the end of summer

Successive planting: None needed as this is a perennial.