[chrissie B]

well after longing for rhubarb in my garden I have it in spades now ive had some off and they were red there are some huge ones which are green can I use these now if green , I have 2 crowns growing together I thought one had died so I planted another and low and behold the dead one sprang to life ,so all I need to know is can I use the green stalks and can I dig up my rhubarb when it dies back in the winter ,
chrissie b

[BobE]

I was always told to stop picking at the end of July.
You can move and divide them Nov - Feb.

[Yorkie]

Not all varieties are red, some are green, so in principle they will be OK to eat - but as Bob said, you should stop picking about now in order to let the plant energy go back into its roots from the remaining leaves / stalks.

[3759allen]

sorry to hi jack the thread.

when do you pull the stalks/ leaves that you leave from july?

i planted 2 crowns earlier this year pulled a handful of stalks over a month ago and left alone since so hopefully the crown will grow in strength.

[BobE]

Let them die back.  During late autum they will flop over and look a mess.  Just clear them away to the compost heap.  The energy has gone back into the root.  Next season you will get a bigger plant. 

[mumofstig]

I pulled a few for a crumle today, as there were still masses of leaves on there.

I always pick a few more stalks later, to use with the windfall apples to make some of my gran's apple and rhubarb chutney 

[BobE]

I agree with MOS.  I will pull a few more tomorrow.  I will try to leave just under half on the plant.  Thats never gone wrong for me.
(Ok I have a neigbour who takes stalks until the middle of August and his plants seem fine.  Im not certain that the times are critical.  Especially as my season this year was at least three weeks late.)
So, take a look at the plant, if it looks happy then take some more stems.  Gardening is not an exact science.

[3759allen]

think i'll leave mine with all it's leaves until they die back as they are new crowns. then go along with everyone else.

silly as it sounds i didn't even realise they die off over winter. another lesson learnt.

thanks all.

[Annen]

If you pick late it is quite often tough.  I made jam in September last year and it was as if I had put wet wood shavings in.  I ended up sieving the bits out to make it usable.

[BobE]

From about now the crown will start to take energy, presumably from the sun, via the leaves.  This will let the crown develop.  After about 8 years the crown will be so big that you will be able to dig it up, put a spade through it, get two or four big new crowns that you can plant (24 inches apart) You might be able to give one to a mate.  The process will repeat, Ive never had a crown die on me.  The splitting rejuvinates them.  When the crowns diameter is larger than your spade and a bit, then during the next winter divide and reorganise.
If you get too much you can make a demijon of wine with it. 

[chrissie B]

thanks everyone I am going to pick some today them a load next week , jam is off the menu as I redid my strawberry and it cought on the bottom , ive rescued it but its not as nice as it was, memo to self don't try to improve whent its ok to start ha ha , thanks again .
chrissie b

[Salmo]

From about the end of june rhubarb stops putting out new leaves. The old ones get very stringy and the oxalic acid builds up. If there is plenty of rain they may put out a few more new leaves which are OK, otherwise leave them alone

[BobE]

I thought the last pulls were the end of July?

[Agatha]

I judge on what the plant looks like - I stopped picking mine a couple of weeks ago as not much new growth.  Last year I picked into August as it was putting out loads of new shoots.  (I give mine a good mulch of compost or manure in early spring)

[mumofstig]

From about the end of june rhubarb stops putting out new leaves.

My rhubarb doesn't know what it's supposed to do then