Garden And Gardener

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Spring Planting Rhubarb – order now

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Rhubard at Thompson & Morgan! if you don’t plant it in the spring you can buy it for planting in the autumn too.
Spring planting offers offer good value! Rhubarb is a very hardy, frost-resistant vegetable that is uised in pies and crumbles and can even be used in jams!
It has a deep root system so will require lots of preparation to the soil! It will grow best in a fertile, partially shaded, free-draining soil. Add in as much well rotted compost or manure as you can to the soil and dig it really deeply. The plant stays in the same places for many years and so needs to have well prepared soil.

The plants you get are called crowns and look like a segment of a plant – and that’s basically what they are. They can be grown from seed if you have the patience to wait an extra year before you have the crown size plants to put in their final positions. Once you have a rhubarb plant you can cut off sections yourself and spread them out to get a bigger area of plants – do this division in the winter and use a sharp spade to cut the crowns up.
Plant the plants about 75 cm – 120 cm apart according to the type. The plants grow quite big and have long stalks and leaves.
During the autumn as leaves die down you can add a layer of manure or compost around the plants to feed them up.
If you get any strange long stems that turn into flowers then cut them off as soon as you recognise them!

Rhubarb : Champagne - Spring Planting 3 crowns

Rhubarb : Champagne – Spring Planting 3 crowns £8.99
One year crowns from seed. Early variety, which can be forced to give early, pinkish tinged stems. Stems have a darker red base and colour if not forced.

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