Rhubarb is traditionally harvested by June 21st. After that, you must continue to care for and nurture your rhubarb plants.
No vegetable garden without rhubarb. This is not least due to the fact that rhubarb is an extremely easy-care vegetable. While carrots, radishes and the like are annuals, rhubarb ensures increasing yields year after year - provided it is properly cared for after harvest. Find out here what you have to consider.
How is rhubarb harvested?
The rhubarb harvest traditionally ends on June 21st. You pull the strongest poles directly out of the ground. Because rhubarb is not cut off. The rest of the stick would otherwise rot on the rootstock. In addition, rhubarb is not completely harvested. About half of the spears should remain on the plant to ensure photosynthesis.
The rhubarb plant needs the foliage to store energy reserves for the following garden year. However, remove the leaves from the harvested poles and work them into the soil. In this way, the plant can benefit from additional nutrients, which can be absorbed directly through the roots.
By the way:
After harvesting, rhubarb loses a lot of moisture. Therefore, process the vegetables as fresh as possible. However, rhubarb will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. You can even freeze the chopped rhubarb and use it for cakes or desserts in winter.
Does rhubarb need to be fertilized after harvest?
In order for the rhubarb to recover as quickly as possible after harvesting, it needs numerous nutrients. Because rhubarb is one of the heavy consumers and therefore needs sufficient nutrients anyway. Plants that are harvested regularly therefore require a high dose of nutrients.
Before budding, the plant is supplied with mature compost and horn shavings. For example, three to five liters of compost mixed with around 100 grams of horn shavings have proven effective. This dose is enough for one square meter. Immediately after harvesting, you can fertilize the rhubarb with the following:
- Vegetable fertilizer
- Compost
- Plant manure (e.g. nettle manure)
- Leaves and sections of rhubarb
What happens to the flower stalks?
Admittedly, rhubarb does have attractive flowers. However, if you want to see your fill of it, you endanger the harvest result. The development of the flower stalks costs the rhubarb a lot of energy. However, this is urgently needed to create reserves for the winter. If you do not want to propagate your rhubarb from seeds, you should cut out the flower stalks. If this is done early, the plant is protected.
Is rhubarb cut after harvest?
As already mentioned, not all of the rhubarb should be harvested. After harvest, it is common for rhubarb stalks to be trimmed close to the ground. However, it is better for the plant if the fresh shoots are not cut off.
But what you can remove in the fall are the dead and withered stems. If you fail to do this, you can also cut off the stems in spring. But then there is a greater risk that you will damage the new shoots.
When can rhubarb be transplanted?
After harvesting in autumn or the following spring, the rhubarb can change location. However, rhubarb can also remain in the same location for a maximum of ten years. Older plants should be transplanted. You can then leave the stems and leaves on the bed so that the nutrients can be distributed in the soil.