[3759allen]

how much rhubarb should i harvest at a time? should i pull all that are big enough at one time, or pull little and often?

they are one year old crowns so not exactly well established, although they do look strong and healthy i don't want over do it and set the crown back.

from what i read last year i will stop pulling in july for the crown to gain strength.

thanks in advance

[Nikkithefoot]

To be perfectly honest you shouldn't pull any this year. Having said that a handful of stems (4-5 ) shouldn't do it too much harm. It should be allowed to grow to be strong over the longer term. A good rhubarb plant can last for years (20+) if it is well looked after.

I had a crown which I grew from seed, eventually split it when it was 10, now the' baby' crowns, being themselves 10, have grown on and require splitting next winter.

[3759allen]

thanks for the reply.

i don't think i can resist pulling a few stalks, it's too tempting standing there at the end of the garden.

it grew really well in it's first year. and this year it has already produced far more crop than last year (prob over twice the amount of growth on top of the soil).

compared to last year it looks so much more healthy, so hopefully it is doing well under the soil too.

i'll try and resist temptation as much as i can and only pull a couple of stalks at a time if i really can't resist.

[Ema]

I've also got some 1 year old crowns, they were quite large to start with, the plants are now huge. I mulched them quite heavily with poop over winter. I've had a handful of stalks off them so far this year and will keep taking a handful each month at this rate.

[RaptorUK]

I took over a half plot Allotment in November last year and I found 2 huge clumps of Rhubarb.  I divided these and now have 2 sets of 4 plants . . .  I'll be harvesting none this year so the plants have the best chance of recovering and building healthy stores of energy for next year.

[3759allen]

i also mulched mine over the winter and scattered some BFB around them. they seem to be loving it atm.