Help with rhubarb

Hi All

I inherited some well-established rhubarb plants when I moved to my house in January 2020. I don't know what variety they are but, over the past couple of summers I've had good crops. I think I probably started picking around the beginning of May this year and they're still producing plenty of sturdy stems. However, I've read that I should stop picking around the end of July to give the plant time to 'gather its strength' for the winter. I think that last year I picked some as late as middle of August with no obvious detrimental effect.

So, I guess the 2 questions I have are

1. when is the latest I should be picking? and
2. what should I do with the plants at the end of the season (i.e., in preparation for winter)?

Last year - around October - I had a gardener come in to get rid of an overgrown buddleia and he tidied up the rhubarb plants as well but I didn't really see what he did, other than to say that when he'd finished it looked as if he'd pulled all the stems, and suggested I cover the plants for the winter. I used an old dustbin and, if I recall, removed it around the end of January this year.

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

I have had rhubarb growing since my parents had some and have always understood that harvesting was OK up until September but should stop then so some energy goes back to the roots as you mentioned. I don't ever take off old shoots as I think it is better just to leave the last of any energy in them go back into the roots. When the leaves have died down I just cover the plants with a good mulch of farmyard manure to break down slowly over winter and give them nutrients for good growth next year. I've also read that it can be a good idea to divide the crowns every few years to rejuvenate them but mine are too big to dig up that easily so I just cut off a few sections some years to share with other gardeners and the plants seem to be doing well. If you want to get a piece to grow on then you need one with a piece of root and a piece that has a bud like shape that will grow into a shoot and leaf in the new plant.

Happy gardening!

 

Thanks @Macraignil

It seems to me that everyone has different opinions on how late we can harvest but at least the 'what to do at the end of the season' seems to be relatively consistent (I've asked this question on another forum and had similar responses).

 

Hi @shiney

As I inherited them I don't know how old they are but they do look fairly established - they looked after themselves over the 2019/20 winter when the house was, for the most part, unoccupied.

Looking at the stems this morning, it doesn't look to me as if picking maybe one more time would hurt; then I think I'll just let them be and put some compost on when they've 'died back' (if that's the right term)

Thanks everyone for their help/advice

 

When you pick don't take all the stems, so that a few are left on each crown.

It's old joke, do you put manure on your rhubarb?
Reply, no I normal have custard.

 

We usually don't pick them from July onwards. It's just common knowledge around here originating in older times, but we stick with it anyways.

Don't pick all of those tasty stems and let the plant recover before plucking again. Other than that, just ignore them. Rhubarb roots go deeep. Some say it's more than five meters, but I guess ours is lucky enough to find out groundwater to bee pretty shallow. And since we live in an agriculturally rich region, there always seems to be enough fertilizer in the water from all those farmers dumping their manure in the fields.

And regarding winter... Our plants survived a week at -20°C with as much as putting a don't into their growth. Also those big leaves are pretty effective in killing weeds. Slugs also don't like them. It's the perfect plant for gardening beginners.