[mrs mud]

The two rhubarb crowns I planted in March started off doing well but have gradually gone wilted and brown until eventually died back and vanished.  My neighbour has had exactly the same happen, we bought them at the same time from a good online supplier.  I wondered how others are getting on with their new rhubarb.  We have had very strong winds here, could that be the problem?

[mattwragg94]

i planted 2 young crowns at the beggining of the year - only 1 has survived. Did you plant your crowns so that the top of them is slightly above the surface of the soil? because if you cover the crowns completely the crown will rot!

[allotmentann]

I bought three rhubarb crowns from a supposedly reputable supplier. They were delivered in the hot spell in March. All three were covered in blue green mould. I contacted the supplier who said they would be fine ( )! So reluctantly I planted them out. One is definitely dead, the other two are desperately sick. On the plus side they have promised to replace them in the autumn. On the minus side I ordered a lot from this supplier and with the exception of one item everything was very,very poor, incredibly small, dried out and sick. So I don't hold out much hope that the replacements will be any better.

[mrs mud]

Thanks for replies

I planted them just proud of the soil in differnt parts of the garden.  They both grew healthy looking stalks about 5 inches before turning brown and shrivelling away.  My neighbours was doing a lot better than mine, it had grown about a foot high but this last week his has also gone belly up.  

We bought them as a pack of three from a well known supplier, we wondered if it's us, the weather, or maybe they were bad to start with.

[allotmentann]

That is what is happening to my two remaining plants. They only acheived two or three inches before this started to happen. I wonder whether they are from the same online supplier?

[mrs mud]

That is what is happening to my two remaining plants. They only acheived two or three inches before this started to happen. I wonder whether they are from the same online supplier?

Ours arrived in a plastic bag, they were dry so we soaked them overnight and planted them the next day.  The weather was warm back in March and they got off to a good start but then with all the wind and cold nights I wonder if it's killed them

My neighbour is going to contact the supplier to tell them just in case it could be a bad batch of plants, if it's happened to lots of people maybe they will send replacements, it's worth a try at least, I'll let you know what they say

[mumofstig]

They may be fine underneath, rhubarb sometimes 'rests' during hot dry weather, but usually comes back when conditions are better.

[PAULW]

I moved a large crown last year only the matter of a couple of foot so far this year it is not happy only getting little thin sticks from it, it could be the weather we have had this year.

[Yorkie]

Paulw, yours is probably putting its energy into its roots this year, given its upheaval last year.