Rhubarb
Tom Kovats
explosively. The middle one, both this year & last, has produced a humongous
green "bloom" (which eventually will make hundreds of seeds). The 2 on the
sides are big but don't bloom. Are there female and male rhubarb plants? Or
are there just CEOs and subordinates?
We are at 45.5 degrees north latitude. It is only May. Should we leave
this bloom alone all summer, or is it better (for the plant) for us to detach
it at some point?
Tom Kovats (Montreal, Quebec)
kov...@vax2.concordia.ca
Barry Carlson
According to all the books that I have seen, if you want eating rhubarb you
are supposed to clip off the seed stalk at the base of the plant as soon as
it appears. Theoretically the only reason to let it flower is if you want
rhubarb seed which nobody much does because it is slow to grow and the
varieties cross-pollinate so you can't count on plants from seed being as
good as the parent plant. That is why everyone goes with root divisions. I
know just what you mean about the "homongous" bloom. I couldn't resist
letting one of my plants flower this year just because I was interested to
see how high that seed stalk was going to grow. Would you believe 5 feet
high and rising? A very impressive sight. I finally cut it because it was
threatening to spread seed everywhere and be a nuisance.
As to why some plants bloom and others don't -or won't for several years and
then do- I think this just has to do with all those factors that make any
perennial (like an iris for example) decide to bloom or not...in other words,
the age of the plant, amount of sunlight, how happy the plant is with soil
conditions and so on.
-Moira Carlson
Libby Goldstein
To harvest rhubarb, pull the stalks, remove the larger part of the leaf leaving the base which somehow allows the stalk to keep longer post harvest. I use the
leaves to mulch the rhubarb.
I also leave a fair number of stalks on the plant to feed the roots. However,
I do harvest in both fall and spring and use most of the fall harvest to make rhubarb chutney.
Libby
Andrew Miller
>In response to Tom Kovats:kov...@vax2.concordia.ca
>
>this bloom alone all summer, or is it better (for the plant) for us to detach
>it at some point?
>
>According to all the books that I have seen, if you want eating rhubarb you
>are supposed to clip off the seed stalk at the base of the plant as soon as
Emphasize "at the base of the plant". If you just cut off the
flower, the stalk keeps growing up... up... up....
> ..... I couldn't resist
>letting one of my plants flower this year just because I was interested to
>see how high that seed stalk was going to grow. Would you believe 5 feet
>high and rising? A very impressive sight. I finally cut it because it was
>threatening to spread seed everywhere and be a nuisance.
>
I guess you could harvest and use this long stalk, but I'm not sure
what kind of flavor it would have.
- Andrew -
BTW: Can someone re-post/send the recipe for "aphid spray" that was made from
rhubarb leaves? Thanks.
Stewart Kramer
>then do- I think this just has to do with all those factors that make any
>perennial (like an iris for example) decide to bloom or not...in other words,
>the age of the plant, amount of sunlight, how happy the plant is with soil
>conditions and so on.
Note that the plant in question is the middle of one of three plants, so it
may be aware that it can't spread very far. In that situation, the only way
it can spread is by going to seed, right?
Many "fussy" perennials only bloom when they get crowded.
---
Stewart Kramer
David Adams
| I guess you could harvest and use this long stalk, but I'm not sure
|what kind of flavor it would have.
|
It tastes just like rhubarb of course. ;^) (I speak from experience--but
then I am one of a very few people who actually enjoys chewing on raw rhubarb.)
---
--David C. Adams Statistician Cray Research Inc. dad...@cray.com
-Sourdough and Ham- N0WWN
Old Sourdoughs never die! They just ferment away.