Note: Rhubarb leaves are toxic, so never eat them. The stalks are awesome, so eat them as much as possible. One cup of chopped rhubarb stalks contains 13 percent of your daily value of vitamin C and a whopping 68 percent of your DV of vitamin K. It also contains significant calcium, manganese and potassium.
Rhubarb may be low-maintenance, but it does require food and water. Make sure your rhubarb does not dry out during hot weather. As the years go by, your soil may lose some of its water-holding capability, in which case you should dig the rhubarb up in the spring, amend the soil, divide, and re-transplant.
Food and Water, Please
Each spring work one cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer into the soil around each plant, down to a depth of about six inches. Use a small spade or your fingers so you don't disturb the roots.
As with most perennials, a good watering right at first frost will do wonders to preserve the roots through the winter.
After first or second frost but before snow, clean the leftover leaves away from the plant. Top dress with well-rotted manure in a nice 3-inch layer. Extend the top dressing in a circle approximately the diameter of the full-grown summer crown. Add 6 inches of straw mulch and let it rest through the winter.
Mulch is your friend! That said established rhubarb will hardly feel the competition. Mulching in this case would depend on how well your soil holds water and how many weeds grow up around the rhubarb.
Harvesting
The harvesting period for rhubarb extends throughout the spring and early summer until June or July. The leafstalks have maximum color, flavor, and tenderness in early spring.
Rhubarb should not be heavily harvested until the third year after planting. However, a limited number of leafstalks may be pulled the second year.
Plants will produce flower stalks each season and these should be cut as soon as they appear.
Cut the leaves off the harvested stalks because they are toxic. Throw leaves in the compost pile and they will lose their toxicity and become wonderful compost for your next transplants.
We recommend the Valentine variety because we've found it to be productive and delicious. There are several varieties, so plant one of each and do a test yourself about which one you like best. Now there's a yummy test!
For another article on Transplanting and First Year's Care of rhubarb, or to learn all about the fascinating subject of compost, check my Author Profile. Thanks for stopping by!
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