Splitting Rhubarb
All about Splitting Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a fantastic fruit to grow in the allotment or the garden as you can get great crops from it if you look after it well. Keeping it well watered when it is growing and feeding it at the beginning of the year will help you get an abundance of crops. The best thing about it is you can actually freeze rhubarb once you have cooked it so it does not take up so much space in the freezer. Here in this article we are going to explain about splitting rhubarb. We will tell you when the best time is to split rhubarb and how to split rhubarb.
Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book
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You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.
Why do you need to split rhubarb?
This is a great question why would you need to split rhubarb if your plant is doing well and producing crops each year? After around 7 years if you don’t split your rhubarb it will not produce as many sticks and the root becomes old and wooden. Splitting the rhubarb root gives the plant a kick and gives it a new lease of life.
Rhubarb is very easy to look after. Lots and lots of water will help the plant gain momentum. What will you be having your rhubarb in will it crumbles, pie or even gin?
When do you split Rhubarb roots?
The most ideal time that you need to split your rhubarb is just around Spring time just before the rhubarb wakes up from it’s winter hibernation and starts producing its shoots. Do it just as the soil starts to warm back up from the wintry days and when it is manageable.
How to split rhubarb crowns
Rhubarb crowns are pretty easy to split and divide the best way is to get your self a standard spade and dig round the root. Carefully ease up the crown, the roots will go down quite far. There is every chance the roots will snap when the crown is lifted as the roots are pretty brittle.
Once you have taken the rhubarb crown out of the ground you can get your spade and spilt the crown into multiple pieces the best way is to have around 3 buds per each section. This is one way of getting more plants in the garden or allotment for free.
Once you have sorted your rhubarb sections out and split it up nicely you need to replant it straight away so that the roots do not dry out. When you replant the sliced up sections they need to be spaced far enough apart so that the clumps are not to near each other. This give the plant room to expand into new big clump.
Water the roots or crowns in well into the soil. You are best not picking from the crown in the first year let the roots take hold in the ground and let the crown settle into it’s new home. Just leave any sticks on it that grow and cut off any flowering stems.
The Spring after just as the crowns are waking back up from the winter break you can put some well rotted manure round the crowns to feed them but not not put the manure on the crown as this can rot it and kill the crown which means you have lost all the work you have put in.
You will be able to pick delicious rhubarb from your new crowns in the second year. It may take a few years for the plants to produce heavy crops but if you keep them well watered and fed you will son be giving it away and be sick of the sight of crumbles and pies.
We hope you have found these tips useful. You can find out where to purchase rhubarb crowns here if you need any. Find out how to grow rhubarb in pots here. If you want to know about how to force rhubarb you can find out our tips here.
