Rhubarb in Autumn: What to Do Now for Next Year’s Harvest | Care & Dividing Tips

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Hey, let's grow. Grab your [music]
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gloves. It's time to grow. Seeds and
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flowers. Watch [music] them go from the
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garden to the manment again.
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You're listening [music] to gardening
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with Ben. Hey, let's go
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with Ben.
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Hey up everybody and welcome back to
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Gardening with Ben on what has been an
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epic wet weekend. But yes, I hope you
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haven't had much damage down at the a
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lotments or in the garden. I know the
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rain is going to continue through today
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and tomorrow and possibly into Tuesday
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as well. Hopefully, it's a lot brighter
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for when I'm back down at the a lotment
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on Tuesday and Wednesday. And hopefully
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we can get a lot done down there because
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I've still got loads that I need to be
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getting done through the autumn winter
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period. But like I always say is that if
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if it's raining outside, I'll be in my
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poly tunnel or in my shed doing other
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work. So there's always plenty for me to
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be doing down there on the a lotment and
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getting it all ready and set ready for
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next year. But today we are talking
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rhubarb. Yes, rhubarb. Rhub. Rhub. Who
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loves rhubarb? I know I certainly do in
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a rhubarb crumble. I grow the rhubarb.
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Give it my mom and she cooks me all the
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rhubarb crumbles. I think I've got it
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sorted, haven't I? Definitely when it
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comes to growing rhubarb.
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So today we're going to be talking about
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looking after your rhubarb in autumn.
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What to clear away, when to divide it,
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and when to mulch it. So yeah, I know
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quite a few people ask questions about
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rhubarb. And obviously, it's a good time
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to plant rhubarb at this time of year as
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well, as rhubarb is dormant at this time
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of year, which means that it's it's
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alive, but it's not doing anything.
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It'll just sit there and do nothing
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until next year. Now, and planting it
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now obviously is good because the ground
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is wet, so it gets roots and it gets
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growing and gets established. However,
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when you do plant rhubarb, don't pick it
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for its first year. I know it'll be
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tempting when you're seeing the rhubarb
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growing on it, but don't pick it for the
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first year. It needs to get settled into
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the ground for a year before you start
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picking it or you can take all the
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energy from it and you won't get very
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good rhubarb growing. So what we're
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going to talk about is those things
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about what what to clear away, when to
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divide it, and when to mulch it. So if
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your rhubarb looks tired or started
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disappearing, don't immediately think
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that something is wrong with your
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rhubarb. Like I said, about end of
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August, it starts to die back. It starts
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to go into hibernation. It starts to go
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back into dormcancy. And then it'll
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start again when the warmer weather
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starts growing. So if it starts going
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yellow, it starts flopping, it starts
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dying back, don't be worried whatsoever
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because it is perfectly normal. So my
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rhubarb looks a mess at the moment and
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I've got it on my job list to get
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sorted. So, let me tell you what we need
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to do and I will do it myself as well.
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So, like I said, rhubarb dies back above
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the ground in autumn, but the crown
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remains underground. It stays at the
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beat of it. It just goes into
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hibernation. It's sat there waiting for
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the warmer weather to start coming
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again. So, what you need to do is leave
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the healthy green leaves attached while
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they're still working. They are helping
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to build the plant reserves to make it
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stay alive throughout the winter period.
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And when they die back, the crown will
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hold on to all the nutrition and the
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energy. And then it will have a big
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burst of energy in the springtime and
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come back.
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Once the foilage has died back, the
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rhubarb leaves and the rhubarb,
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carefully remove it. Don't just pull it
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off. Just carefully remove it. It should
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just come off the plant. It wouldn't
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need pulling off. It'll just detach
4:08
itself by itself when you just pull it
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nice and easy. But different plants may
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die back at different times. So, only do
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what your plant is telling you to do.
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Don't rush in and just start pulling it
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all off. Just let it die back naturally
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so that the energy goes back into the
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crown. So once you've started taking all
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the leaves away that have died back,
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what you need to do next is that you
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need to start
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removing all the weeds around the crown
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carefully. Trying not to damage the
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crown. You'll get weeds popping up
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throughout the crown and around the
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crown, but try and remove the weeds nice
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and easily. I've grown mine through
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black matting so that it tries to
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prevent the weeds from growing around
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it, which does a good job. It it works
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pretty well. Um, but I do get some um,
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brambles sneaking their way through the
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gaps in the black membrane at the side
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of the crown. So, I have to carefully
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snip them off and cut them back and
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hopefully they'll last for another year.
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Uh, cut back and then they'll probably
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grow back next year again. But yeah,
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avoid damaging any growing buds as well
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on your rhubarb crowns. If you as soon
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as it gets a bit warmer, it'll start
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growing again. But then as soon as cold
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weather comes, it'll die back again.
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It'll keep doing that until it gets to a
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nice warm temperature for it to start
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growing again. So carefully remove the
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weeds from around the crown when doing
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so. So avoid
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eating any rhubarb leaves because they
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are poisonous. So, don't eat any rhubarb
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leaves, but they can go on your compost
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heap and they break down really, really
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well and they're good on compost heaps.
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So, don't eat the rhubarb leaves. Just
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put them on the compost heap.
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The only edible part of the rhubarb is
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the stalk. So, like I said, the leaves
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are poisonous, but the stalk is edible.
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But you won't be eating it at this time
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of year now. It'll be dying back. So,
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yeah,
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I've got to clear around all my rhubabb.
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We've got to get it all tided. Uh that's
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one job that I do over the autumn
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period. I always let it die back
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naturally and then I clear it all and I
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start to prepare it for growing next
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year because we want lots of rhubarb
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crumble next year.
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So established rhubarb does not need any
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winter pro protection. It's very hardy.
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It'll normally last pretty well. Mine's
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lasted through snow, through ice,
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through cold weather. It is a strong
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plant, rhubarb, and it should stay alive
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throughout the winter period. So, you
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shouldn't need to worry about it. And
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cold is part of its natural growing
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cycle. Like I said, it dies off the
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leaves and stores the energy in the
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crown and then it comes back year after
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year.
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Make sure you check that whether water
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collects around your plant after it's
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rained. Waterlogged conditions can cause
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rotting of the crown. So, don't let them
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stay water logged. Make sure that it's
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got good drainage around it. And make
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sure that it runs away from the crown
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because you don't want it to rot. They
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are very easy to break the roots on a
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crown. When you're digging them up, if
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you've ever dug one up, they do snap off
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pretty easily, so be careful with water
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logging the crown.
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Always keep the crown visible rather
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than burying it beneath garden waste. If
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you are mulching it, which you're not
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mulching around this time, we need to
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wait until springtime before we mulch
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it. Make sure that the crown is visible
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at all time. The same goes for when
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you're putting manure on it. Don't put
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manure on the crown because it will burn
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it and it will rot it. So, we won't be
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doing that till springtime, like I said,
8:00
but be careful when putting manure
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around the crown.
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So, when is the time to mulch? Like I've
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just said, the main time for mulching
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your rhubarb is early spring, around
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February or March, depending on the
8:17
conditions of the weather. So, use
8:20
well-rotted manure or garden compost
8:22
when manuring uh mulching your rhubarb.
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I've never manured my rhubarb and it's
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still doing really well, but this year I
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am going to manure it. We've got some
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manure ready, rotting down, ready to put
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around the crowns and hopefully get some
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great rhubarb next year. Obviously,
8:41
manure adds nutrition back into the soil
8:44
and it's great for building up great
8:47
plants. Spread it roughly about 5 to C 5
8:51
to 7 cm around the plant, leaving the
8:54
crown with emerging buds uncovered. Like
8:57
I said, manure can rot the crown, so be
9:00
careful when putting it around it.
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Mulching helps conserve soil moisture
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and suppress weeds. Rhubarb likes a lot
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of water. Even though um talked about it
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rotting the crown, it does drink a lot
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of water because when you think about
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it, rhubarb is mainly made up of water.
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So, especially when it gets hot weather,
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you do need to keep them well watered
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rhubarb.
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But for now, we're concentrating on the
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autumn tidying and we'll return to
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mulching in early springtime. And we'll
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talk about that when it gets round to
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springtime. So, I'll definitely put be
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putting some manure around mine and
9:39
hopefully getting some great rhubarb
9:41
next year down at the plot.
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When do you need to divide your rhubarb?
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I get a lot of people asking me about
9:49
this. When do you need to divide your
9:51
rhubarb? You don't need to divide it
9:53
every year. especially not for very few
9:56
years like 5 years at least. Only
9:59
consider it when the established C clump
10:01
becomes crowded or loses a figure which
10:05
means that it's losing it's not
10:07
producing as well. So if it gets too
10:10
crowded with too many rhubarb growing
10:13
sometimes it's good to split them up and
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divide them and
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replant them. But if you do split them
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and divide them again, don't pick them
10:23
in the first year. Let them get
10:25
established again and then pick them the
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year after. Now, I started off with
10:30
about five plants and I've now got about
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20 rhubarb plants. Yes, 20 rhubarb
10:36
plants. You probably think, how how does
10:37
he need 20 rhubarb plants? With the
10:40
amount of rhubarb crumble that I go
10:41
through from summer all the way through
10:43
to winter because you can freeze it, it
10:46
lasts me forever and I'm just living on
10:48
rhubarb crumble. absolutely love it. But
10:52
um it's so expensive to buy rhubarb.
10:54
Have you noticed in the shops how much
10:55
it costs? It's like a couple of pound
10:57
just for a couple of sticks. So if you
10:59
can get growing your own rhubarb, why
11:02
not save yourself a hell of a lot of
11:03
money with rhubarb crumble. [snorts]
11:06
So only divide the rhubarb when it is
11:09
dormant between autumn and early
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springtime. The best month to divide
11:14
your rhubarb has to be November. That is
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probably when it's most at its
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dormcancy. So, November is a good month
11:22
for dividing it. That's if you are
11:25
thinking about dividing the rhubarb
11:26
yourself. So, lift the clump and
11:30
separate it into sections, each with a
11:32
healthy root, at least one growing bud
11:36
on each section. So, what I usually do
11:39
is I carefully lift it up. And honestly,
11:41
the roots will go down very far on a
11:44
rhubarb. They're really long and they do
11:47
break quite easy. So, be careful when
11:49
lifting it. And yeah, just dig it out,
11:54
put it on the surface, and then I'd
11:56
probably split it into four, something
11:57
like that, and see how you get on. Then
12:00
replant it straight away. Water it back
12:02
into the ground. Make sure that the
12:05
roots in there very well and that the
12:07
crown's just above the soil. And yeah,
12:11
you'll have some great rhubarb in years
12:13
to come. And then obviously when it gets
12:15
to springtime, give them some manure and
12:18
hopefully that will give it a kick in
12:20
growing for the year ahead. Discard any
12:23
rotten sections and replant the healthy
12:25
divisions as fast as possible. Don't let
12:28
them dry out. Get them back planted
12:30
straight away and hopefully you'll get
12:32
some great rhubarb growing. So yeah, I I
12:36
don't know if I need to divide mine or
12:38
not. I'm still getting great crops from
12:41
them. So I don't think I'm going to
12:42
divide mine this year. We're going to
12:44
leave them for a bit and possibly we
12:46
might concentrate on doing up the
12:48
rhubarb area. Maybe next year. I've got
12:50
enough on this year with my plot. So
12:53
next year I might do up my rhubarb
12:55
section. It's been the same now for
12:57
about 15 years. I like I said I dug them
13:02
all up. I divided them all. I put black
13:04
membrane down. I planted the crowns in
13:07
holes in between the black membrane. And
13:10
I put wood chip around them all. and it
13:12
keeps it weed-free, keeps it moist,
13:15
keeps it drained, and it's absolutely
13:18
fantastic. So, it does really, really
13:20
well my rhubarb.
13:22
So, if you are new to planting rhubarb,
13:25
if it's your first ever rhubarb crown
13:26
that you're planting, you need to choose
13:29
a sunny spot that's got fertile soil
13:32
that drains well. Like I said, they
13:33
don't like to be stood in water because
13:35
that can rot the crown. And make sure
13:38
you clear any perennial weeds around
13:40
them before planting. So make sure you
13:42
dig it over and clear it all completely.
13:45
Make sure that it's weed-free, dug over,
13:47
and really good. Allow roughly a meter
13:51
between plants. Rhubarb needs room. It
13:54
needs the water from around it. So don't
13:56
let it compete against any other plants.
13:59
It needs the water to help produce great
14:02
rhubarb. And the leaves can grow massive
14:04
on them. So make sure there's plenty of
14:07
room between the plants when growing
14:08
rhubarb. Keep the growing point around
14:11
the soil level when burying it deeply.
14:14
So make sure that the crown is just on
14:16
top of the soil so that it sits nicely
14:19
for the rhubarb to grow through.
14:22
Like I said, November is the best time
14:24
to plant a rhubarb crown. It's ideal.
14:28
It's dormant. It can get established. It
14:30
can get seated. And then in springtime
14:33
it will get growing and get growing
14:36
really well. Again, don't harvest in the
14:39
first growing season. Pick it lightly in
14:42
the second so that the plant can
14:43
establish and then you're good to go.
14:46
But whenever you're harvesting off the
14:47
rhubarb, make sure that you only leave
14:50
that you only harvest half of it at a
14:53
time. Don't harvest it at all as it can
14:56
upset the plant and you might get some
14:59
bad crops from it. So only harvest half
15:02
half of it at a time so that there's
15:03
still some rhubarb on it when you're
15:05
harvesting on it.
15:09
So what about forcing rhubarb? There's
15:12
quite a few people that force rhubarb.
15:15
And forcing it means that you put like a
15:18
big plant pot around it, but it's pretty
15:21
dark underneath it. As you know, people
15:24
grow rhubarb in caves and stuff like
15:26
that. And forcing means excluding the
15:29
light to encourage an earlier crop of
15:31
pale tender stalks. You can't do it
15:34
through winter time, but early on in
15:36
springtime, you can force it. I wouldn't
15:39
advise it. I don't do it myself. And
15:42
it's usually started around January
15:44
using a tall light proof bucket or
15:46
rhubarb forcer. And yeah, only if you're
15:50
ever going to be forcing a plant, only
15:52
force a strong established plant, not a
15:55
newly planted or a freshly divided
15:57
crown, as that can upset the plant as
16:00
well. So after picking the four stalks,
16:03
uncover the plant and leave it to
16:05
recover without harvesting any further
16:08
from that plant that year. So yeah, it
16:11
can upset the plant when forcing it.
16:13
Like you pick the stalks, but then
16:15
you've got to let it recover again. So
16:18
don't I I wouldn't advise forcing if I
16:20
was you. I'd just leave it to be
16:22
natural. And don't force the same crown
16:25
in consecutive years as well. So you can
16:28
just make them worse off with your force
16:31
plants. It's best off just to let it
16:33
grow naturally when you're growing your
16:35
rhubarb.
16:36
Um I wouldn't risk forcing it if I was
16:39
you or anyone. So rhubarb was the first
16:42
thing, one of the first things that I
16:43
planted on my a lotment when I first got
16:45
my plot 20 odd years ago. Yes, my crowns
16:48
have been in that long. They're doing
16:50
absolutely fantastic. And if you keep
16:53
looking after them, they'll keep
16:54
producing. And like I said, every 5
16:57
years or so, possibly divide them. So if
17:01
you look after the plant, the plant will
17:03
look after you and it'll produce you
17:05
some lovely rhubarb crumbles in the
17:07
years to come. So, I hope you found
17:10
those facts useful on
17:12
growing rhubarb. Um, remember, let the
17:16
leaves die naturally, tidy carefully,
17:19
check drainage, and mulch them in early
17:21
springtime. So, if you found this
17:24
useful, make sure that you do drop us a
17:26
follow. Stay up to date with all our
17:28
videos on YouTube and on our Facebook
17:30
page. Until next time everyone,
17:32
remember, keep smiling, keep shining,
17:35
and keep gardening with everyone.
17:37
Another [music] day, another sea.
17:42
A little sunshine is all we need. Keep
17:46
smiling,
17:47
keep shining. [music] Until then,
17:49
keeping gardening with
17:54
See [music] you tomorrow.

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Rhubarb in Autumn: What to Do Now for Next Year’s Harvest | Care & Dividing Tips

gardenandallotment.com