[HevO22]

hi

I planted some rhubarb last year. Its doing well this year but in the centre has grown a really thick shoot. Can any one tell me if this is normal as im a novice rhubarb grower!

thank you
hev

[mumofstig]

If it starts to grow straight up, instead of making a leaf then cut it off because it's a flower stem and they weaken the root, if you let them flower

[HevO22]

thank  you i will be cutting it off 

[Kristen]

Does removing the flowers on Rhubarb really make a difference do you think?

I was reading Christo Lloyd on the subject recently, and he said he always left his on as he thought it made little difference.

Mine bleed like a stuck pig when I take the flowers off (bleed = moisture being pushed up by roots then oozes out)

I wonder about just snapping off the flower head, as soon as it forms, instead of the whole flower stem?

[stompy]

The old guys on my old site used to just snap th flower head off as they said the plant would re absorbe the goodness back from the stem.

[mumofstig]

It must take a lot of moisture/goodness to keep the huge rhubarb flower stalk upright?  so I'd always take them out...............old habits die hard

[DD.]

I use them for sickle practice!

[Lardman]

Mine insists on flowering continually, and I noticed its started again this year.

Previously I've cut the flowers at the base as soon as I noticed them, but I think I'll leave them this year and see if it makes a difference.

I think Perpetual in Glaskins Perpetual means constantly flowering !  

[Salmo]

Does anyone know what induces rhubarb to send up flower stems. A hot or wet Summer, a hard Winter or just the variety?

Is rhubarb grown from seed is more likely to flower than a lump of root transplanted.

[Kristen]

I have about 20 in 5" pots that were grown from seed last spring. They are obviously in far too small a pot, and they are all flowering vigorously. I expect that is because they feel stressed in the small pots ... so maybe stress is related?

[prakash_mib]

I saw couple of rhubarb at our site which started flowering already 
was it that dry and hot march?

[Nikkithefoot]

The rhubarb that I grew from seed tried to flower every year for the first 5 or 6 years. It hasn't done so for the last 4 and I split the crowns a couple of years ago. I can only conclude from my experience that it is young plants which try to flower, but I'm sure someone here will prove me wrong 

[Elcie]

I noticed flowers forming on mine today so I took them straight off as figured they would be the same as most allotment things and zap the energy.  It will be my first year tasting some of it this year as I grew it from seed in 2009.  Can't wait!

[Beetroot queen]

All three of mine had flower buds on today, no longer may I add

Always take mine off and it seems to work. 

[Trillium]

I snap off the whole flowering stalk at the base and avoid any 'weeping'. If you don't remove the whole stalk then it usually tries to send out another flower shoot out of the same stalk.

Occasionally I've had to remove up to 8 separate flowering stalks from one large plant. I do this soon as I see it starting to form rather than wait until it opens. I get so much rhubarb that I can give away lots so I'd say removing flowers does help.