RHUBARB BASICS: Different varieties vary in levels of sourness, and WE CAN HELP YOU…. fibrousness and colors and ranges from green to To identify plants red. There is NO correlation between flavor and Diagnose common insect and disease problems color. Find answers to your gardening questions Provide soil test kits You can see us at many local events: Growing Rhubarb is hardy in USDA Zone 4 but can also be Local Farmers Markets grown in Zone 3 if sheltered (near a house Chisago County Fair foundation for example). Generally only 1 adult Almelund Threshing Show Rhubarb plant is needed for a family. Only the stalks are Chisago Lakes Home and Garden Show In Chisago County edible by humans. The leaves are considered toxic. Spring Gardening Expo An all day gardening event held in March: Classes on a variety of horticultural topics Rhuhbarb can be grown from seed or by dividing a Info booth staffed by Master Gardeners large adult plant. Tended plants may live up to 15 Local businesses display and sell merchandise years. It is adaptable to many soil types as long as you mix it with a healthy amount of compost. Soil Bare root plant sale pH is not important to this vegetable plant. Each spring the Master Gardeners offer for sale several varieties of fruit and vegetable plants as bare root Rhubarb is considered a “heavy feeder” meaning stock. These varieties are University recommended for the plant will take in large amounts of nutrients our area and are often hard to find at local nurseries. from the soil to create the large leaves and stalks. Order forms are available in January PLANTING: Voice Mail Line 651-277-0151 Find a a http://www3.extension.umn.edu/county/chisago location in full sun “Friend” us on Facebook about 3x3 feet in size. Chisago County Extension Office Dig up the Our office is located at the Ag Service Building in North Branch at 38814 Third Avenue. area to a Chisago County depth of 2 feet. Add plenty of composted manure to increase organic matter, improve drainage and Master Gardener to supply nutrients. It is best to prepare the area a day or two in advance so the soil/compost can settle before planting the rhubarb. http://www3.extension.umn.edu/county/chisago WHEN PLANTING: SET THE CROWN (BASE WHERE THE STALKS START FROM) LEVEL WITH THE GROUND. WATER WELL AFTER PLANTING. The University of Minnesota Extension shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. COMMON PROBLEMS: PLANT MAINTENANCE: The mission of the University of INSECTS: WATERING: Minnesota Master Gardener Insect pests are generally not a problem on Proper watering will enhance good production. program: “Use research-based rhubarb. Rhubarb curculio, a dark-colored, Soak the soil thouroughly to a depth of at least horticultural knowledge and snouted beetle about ½- ¾ inch long, can bore one inch weekly during the growing season. practices to deliver educational holes in the crown and stalks. Stalk borers may FERTALIZING: cause similar problems. Control them by removing Make it an annual practice to supplement the outreach and project-based efforts curly dock-a weed that is the normal host for soil around the rhubarb each spring with either that inspire change and promote rhubarb curculio, and nearby grassy weeds. compost or a balanced commercial fertilizer. healthy people, healthy communities and a healthy planet.” WEED CONTROL: DISEASES: During the first year or two, while the plant is Planting establishing itself, keep weeds controlled by HARVESTING: rhubarb in a hand pulling or shallow hoeing. Keep any tool Wait until the second year (season) (or 3rd sunny, well- away from the plant itself. Once rhubarb season if started from seed) before harvesting drained site is becomes established, it can generally compete any stalks from the rhubarb. This eagerly important to against weeds on its own. awaited spring vegetable can be picked as soon avoid DIVIDING: as the stalks reach their full length. This varies infection by The rhubarb plant produces the next year’s by variety (ranging from 12 – 24 inches in soil-dwelling pathogens. In a wet year or a poorly buds at the outer edges of its crown. Each year length). You may harvest as many stalks as you drained site, root-rotting fungi can invade the the plant becomes wider and the center of the like until the end of June. From July onward, the plant. Start over in a new spot if this happens. plant may not produce new stalks. Rhubarb can plant needs the stalks and leaves to build energy benefit from division every few years. Because reserves for the winter and next year. There are two leaf spot diseases that commonly rhubarb makes such nutritional demands on the To pick occur on rhubarb in Minnesota. These can easily soil, it may be worth moving the plant to a new rhubarb, hold be managed through selective harvesting of site every so often. infected stalks combined with removing and the stalk destroying all leaves after the first hard frost in firmly near fall. the base, pull and twist Viruses occasionally infect rhubarb, causing (using a knife abnormal growth, loss of vigor, or unusual leaf to cut the coloration. It is best to remove the whole plant stalks is not recommended, since it could carry from the garden and start over. disease from plant to plant). Once you have pulled the stalk, immediatedly cut off the leaves and discard/compost them For assistance in diagnosing unknown problems, (keeping the leaves on the stalk can speed visit the University of Minnesota Extension Early in spring, just as the new growth is wilting). diagnostic site: “What’s wrong with my plant?” starting, use a clean, sharp shovel to cut the When a seed stalk emerges from the plant, cut http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose plant in half or thirds. Remove the divisions to a it off as soon as you notice it. Allowing the plant /plant/ newly prepared planting site, give them away or to flower and seed uses up energy dispose of them. unnecessarily. .