2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
While fruit trees and shrubs are just beginning to bloom and form tight ovaries, those who grow rhubarb in their garden harvest thick juicy petioles in May. It would seem that such a special thing can be prepared from these strange huge sticks? If you have never tasted rhubarb before, be sure to cook compote with it, make dumplings or bake a pie. Believe me, having tried it once, you will be glad that rhubarb is a perennial plant, and in the next 7-10 years it will give more than one harvest
Suitable area for growing rhubarb
Rhubarb is an unpretentious culture. It grows well in a shady area. In addition, it belongs to cold-resistant plants. Rhubarb is resistant to frost, and even in severe winters, its rhizome is left in the ground, and in the spring the buds will start to grow again.
However, it should be remembered that this is a perennial culture, and under favorable conditions it will grow in one place for a good ten years. Therefore, the place for it is chosen taking into account the preferences of the plant.
The best soil for rhubarb is loam with a slightly acidic reaction. On overly acidic soils, liming should be done to raise the pH level. In addition, in the warm season, he is comfortable in conditions of high humidity in the soil.
Fertilizers and feeding
Before planting, it is useful to fill the site with organic fertilizers. For this purpose, compost, humus or manure are used. They are recommended to be brought together with lime for the autumn digging of the soil. Of the mineral dressings for rhubarb to taste, urea, potassium chloride, superphosphate - these elements can be used to fill the site in the spring.
After planting, organic matter is reintroduced into the soil every three years. The first crop is harvested from the second year of planting, so it is useful to once again enrich the site with mineral fertilizing in the third year after sowing.
Rhubarb breeding methods
Rhubarb can be propagated in two ways: seed and vegetative - by dividing the rhizome. If your good neighbors in the country are growing rhubarb, do not hesitate to ask them to share the planting material, this will save you a lot of trouble with the seedlings. In addition, with vegetative propagation, the characteristics of the variety are better preserved, while with seed propagation you are not immune from surprises, since in this case there is a strong splitting of varietal traits.
Reproduction by dividing rhizomes is done in early spring. To do this, adult bushes are dug out of the ground and divided into planting material in such a way that 1-2 growth buds are located on each division. On average, 7-8 divisions can be obtained from one rhizome.
Landing is performed immediately. The planting material is tightly surrounded by earth. The hole is made shallow, so that the growth bud is covered with a layer of earth about 2 cm thick.
Maintenance measures include weeding, loosening row spacings, watering. It is important to remove the flower arrows from the rosettes in time. These stems deplete the plants, as it tries to devote its strength to the formation of seeds, while the gardener's task is to get juicy thick petioles. And with proper care, they can sometimes gain weight up to 1 kg or more.
Seed propagation is carried out in the spring and summer months. It is preferable in this case to propagate the plant through seedlings. The seedlings are transferred to the open ground when 3-4 true leaves appear. A sign of a strong seedling is a well-formed root with many lateral branches.
Harvest
When the petioles of the second year reach a length of about 25-30 cm and a thickness of at least 1.5 cm, this indicates that they have reached food ripeness. They should be broken off at the base as they grow. During the season, rhubarb gives several harvests. Months 1, 5 before the end of the growing season, the leaves stop collecting so that the plant has time to accumulate the necessary nutrients in the rhizome and can get stronger before the cold weather.
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