Rhubarb is considered as one of the very few perennial vegetables around. Growers are opting to grow rhubarb during cool climates. This is when it is most easy to care for and to plant rhubarb.

Rhubarbs make delectable mouthwatering dishes like cobblers, muffins and pies. In fact, well-fed clumps can last for 20 years or eve more.

To grow rhubarb, materials you’ll need include fertilizers, compost makers, garden spades and garden trowels as well as shovels, mulch and seeds. You will also need plants.

Step 1 – If you can find any, go for started rhubarb plants. There are also catalogs and nurseries that offer divisions or crowns. Keep in mind that rhubarbs are rarely planted from seed. Just keep the crowns inside a cool place until you can already plant them.

Step 2 – It is best to grow rhubarb during early spring season or when you can already work on the ground. In areas with mild climates, it is better to plant rhubarb in the fall.

Step 3 – Plant the rhubarb in an area where you won’t disturb it for a very long time. Make sure the soil in this area is well-drained and fertile. When planted in heavy clay, it will rot before it sprouts.

Select a site under full sunlight but it can also grow in areas with partial shade. It can tolerate soil with 5.3 to 6.8 pH.

Step 4 – Make sure the planting bed is well prepared. Add lots of organic matter and dig deeply.

Step 5 – When digging a trench, it should be 2 feet across and it is deep enough to plant more than a single crown. However, for single plants, dig the hole about 2 ft. in diameter and with similar depth. Afterwards, partially refill the hole or trench using 50-50 mixture comprising of well-rotted manure or compost and soil.

Step 6 – Make spaces of at least 3 feet for each plant. Then, make a mound of soil before you set the crown in and spread its roots down on the mound’s sides. For the remainder of the soil, add them in so that its buds are about 2 inches underneath the surface. Then, firm it lightly. In sandy soil, set the crowns deeper.

Step 7 – Heavily mulch the area with grass clippings, compost and shredded leaves, especially when the initial shoots emerge. Ensure that the new plants are getting an inch of water a week.

Step 8 – Remove the seed stalks when they appear. Remember, when the plant begins producing them it will stop producing leaf stalks. These usually start forming late summer. They appear round, thick and tall – very different from the edible ones.

Step 9 – Use well-rotted manure or compost to top-dress the beds in late autumn. This is after your plants have died back. Then, top dress in spring and fall thereafter.

Step 10 – Avoid harvesting rhubarb during the initial year. However, keep its flower stalks clipped off. On the 2nd year, harvest some petioles that would reach a finger’s thick but still leave some on the plant. On the 3rd year onwards, harvest as many of these finger-sized petioles as you can.