Actors occasionally murmur “rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb” on stage – surprisingly neither to express how much they like to eat rhubarb nor to announce their intention to plant rhubarb in the courtyard of the theater. No, the actors pay homage to the interesting crop because they were instructed to perform “babble in the background” on stage. If you have more plans, e.g. B. Rheum rhabarbarum in the garden, the following article will provide you with some information.
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Almost forgotten rhubarb
The “foreign root”, the name is made up of rheum = root and barbarus = foreign, arrived in western Europe from its homeland in the Himalaya region via Russia as early as the 18th century, but from the early summer rhubarb compote with cream mostly only our grandparents can tell. They still enjoyed quite a bit of it – shortly before World War II, rhubarb was still being cultivated on an area of around 1,700 hectares in Germany. By the turn of the millennium, rhubarb was being grown on just 20 percent of this area.
It is therefore not surprising if younger people look at the magnificent Rheum rhabarbarum in the display of the market stall rather perplexed. If you also think that rhubarb is only good for making compotes or cakes, this article will give you other ideas. A rhubarb in the garden is worth it. It is almost unsurpassed in its low-maintenance cultivation. Rhubarb is a perennial herb belonging to the knotweed family. Anyone who knows the growth potential of the knotweed, also known as the “architect’s comfort”, can estimate what to expect from rhubarb in terms of willingness to grow.
cultivation
Rhubarb can be grown from seeds. You can also order rhubarb seeds online. However, it is not supposed to be that easy to grow rhubarb from seed into a vigorous plant. Most of the pupils should weaken quite a bit.
If you don’t feel like trying it yourself, just buy seedlings, from the local gardener or online. The stronger the rhubarb plants are, the sooner you can harvest. In the case of Rheum rhabarbarum from pots, however, it may not be until the second year after planting. You will usually get your own rhubarb faster if you find a neighbor who will give you a strong rhubarb: rhubarb can be propagated without any problems if the rootstock is dug up and cut in the middle with a sharp knife so that at least one shoot bud is on each section sits.
Rhubarb should be planted in nutrient-rich and well-drained soil. The pH should be between 5.5 and 7, i.e. slightly acidic to normal. The location may be sunny to semi-shady. If the rhubarb gets a lot of sun, it develops flowers too quickly. If he gets too little, he only develops weak stalks. You can plant the young plants in spring, before they sprout, or in autumn. You can’t harvest in the first year anyway. The main thing is that you do not plant a rhubarb vine when the buds are already budding. They start in March/April and continue into October. Planting distance is more important. The perennials can be quite large and should be planted one to one and a half meters apart.
The rhubarb stalks must be dug deep enough so that only the buds are visible above the soil surface. When you have planted the Rheum rhabarbarum in the ground, firmly trodden the ground and give the plants a fair amount of water to welcome them – that’s it.
The care of the rhubarb
Otherwise, the rhubarb is pleasingly undemanding. You just have to be aware that a plant with such vigour, of course, needs a lot of water. If you want to make watering a little easier, it is best to apply a layer of mulch between the plants in spring. The mulch helps retain moisture in the soil.
In the season in which it was planted, Rheum rhabarbarum is simply allowed to grow and develop. The aerial parts will die back in the fall. In the spring, the rhubarb will sprout again from its underground buds.
The heavy feeder rhubarb needs a lot of fertilizer, so you should mix compost into the soil several times in midsummer, and after harvesting the soil should be prepared nutritionally for the next year by fertilizing with compost/manure, bone or horn meal and possibly plant manure.
You should ensure adequate watering at all times. It should also always be carefully observed that the soil retains moisture well, but that there is no waterlogging.
The blossom
When your Rheum rhabarbarum develops a flowering spike in early summer, this spike is usually removed at a young age to increase yield. This can be done in April or May as soon as you can clearly see the shoot as an inflorescence sprout.
However, you might want to consider allowing a rhubarb bush to flower, even if it means you can bake one less cake. This flower offers an impressive spectacle: the inflorescence shoot of a rhubarb grows up to two meters high. It develops a sometimes arm-long and wonderfully voluminous flower spike, which is covered all over with small cream-colored flowers. Usually several inflorescences form on one perennial. The perennial adorns your garden with these flowers from June to August. The fruits are also quite decorative. Whole clusters of quite large, yellow to red-brown wing cases surround the mostly triangular fruits.
diseases and pests
If you cultivate several vegetables in your garden, you should remember when choosing the location that the Rheum rhabarbarum will occupy this space for quite a while. The rhubarb can (and should) stay in one place for up to eight years. Unless there is a serious illness.
However, it is pleasing that you have to fight far fewer diseases or pests with the robust perennial than with many other cultures. If aphids, caterpillars or leaf beetles feed on your rhubarb, they usually don’t even manage to reduce the harvest.
Various root diseases could occur, e.g. B. Downy mildew or other leaf spot diseases. However, these usually only appear after the harvest on the now very old leaves and can therefore be ignored in relation to the currently existing plant mass. However, you should take a closer look at the soil in which the rhubarb grows. These root diseases are usually an indication of a less than optimal soil structure.
It only becomes critical when your rhubarb falls ill with rhubarb mosaic disease. A disease introduced by viruses on the parent plant or on nematodes that cannot be controlled directly. In this case, you would have to remove the affected rhubarb and wait at least 7 years before growing rhubarb again.
By the way, if you read that a cultivation break of 7 years should be made even after healthy Rheum rhabarbarum, someone has probably made a mistake. A break in cultivation of up to five years is recommended if a soil has borne rhubarb for years, but not longer.
Rhubarb Varieties
When it comes to rhubarb, you have a number of varieties to choose from, each with a different color of the stalk (inside and outside), development time, length and thickness of the individual stalks. The red-stemmed varieties are usually preferred today as they are particularly aromatic and not too acidic. Here is an overview of the most important varieties:
- “Elmsblitz” is characterized by low acidity and a lot of aroma and a reduced proportion of oxalic acid.
- “Frambozen Rood” develops long red stalks with green flesh early in the year and is said to produce very good yields.
- “Goliath” is a rather late variety with partly reddish and very strong stems that have green flesh on the inside.
- “Red Valentine” is a Canadian breed with very long red stems and red flesh, is said to develop a fine sour taste.
- “Rosara” is a rhubarb with a long tradition in cottage gardens, which has very long stems that are red on the outside and green on the inside.
- “The Sutton” includes several early to mid-early varieties with red-green stems and green flesh, some of which tend to crack longitudinally.
- “Van Kooten” can also be harvested very early, but is much more robust.
These were just a few varieties of “Rheum rhabarbarum”. The “Rheum rhaponticum”, the rhapontic rhubarb (also Bulgarian rhubarb or Siberian rhubarb) is interesting for naturopaths. Preparations for the side-effect-free treatment of menopausal symptoms are obtained from it. If you don’t want to choose between harvesting and flowering, plant a “Rheum palmatum var. tanguticum” or crown rhubarb or ornamental Siberian rhubarb right away.
rhubarb harvest
With normal Rheum rhabarbarum, however, the focus is now on the harvest. It is possible in open ground from the second year after planting. With self-sown rhubarb, it should take up to five years before a harvest is really worthwhile.
Traditionally, rhubarb is only harvested until St. John’s Day, June 24th. The Rheum rhabarbarum likes it when it can mature in peace. A later harvest would certainly not bother this exceptionally robust plant. It’s more about human protection. The otherwise really healthy and very low-calorie rhubarb contains quite a lot of oxalic acid. The oxalic acid content increases as the plant matures. For healthy people, the oxalic acid in rhubarb harvested before St. John’s Day, in normal amounts, is not a concern. However, people with kidney / bile diseases, iron or calcium deficiency and children should avoid rhubarb that was harvested too late. Before eating rhubarb, these people should find out about
Wrap the rhubarb in a damp cloth and keep it in the fridge for a few days. In this way you may be able to “get through” the portion for the next cake. But since you certainly don’t feel like eating rhubarb exclusively for the next few weeks, even with a lower oxalic acid content, you should simply freeze the rest. It works very simply. You simply cut the sticks into small pieces and place them in freezer bags in portions.
Conclusion
Rhubarb is a grateful little plant to grow in your own garden, which you can use to make a lot more than compote or cake. How about rhubarb chips or rhubarb relish, rhubarb and vegetable stew or rhubarb and apricot salsa? If your rhubarb stalks are thriving far more luxuriantly than you ever thought you could, you could simply drink your Rheum rhabarbarum as a rhubarb punch or home-grown rhubarb juice.
