GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

19-06-2004, 06:03 PM

In article , says...

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I'd like to give a couple of clumps to my neighbor but have never moved
any.

Should it be done in very early spring ?

That would be ideal.

How much of a root clump has to go to insure survival ?

If you plant in a good soil with adequate moisture the stuff is very
forgiving. Nurseries dig up a mature plant and saw the crown into
several pieces, each with at least one crown and some root. They ship
that and you look at it and curse them.
With more care you dig deeply and get the long tap roots and then
divide so each piece has a crown and a tap root. With one like that
it is hard to fail. But it is fairly critical to not plant too deeply
(a bit like planting strawberries) or too high and even established
plantings can fail if the summer is too hot and dry. As with most
things a generous amount of organic matter in the soil is of great
benefit.
I was forced to move a crown when I put in a new outbuilding that
required some grading where it grew. That was in October and I was very
busy. I dug the crown and dumped it without soil in a bucket and placed
that in another outbuilding and forgot about it until I noticed in
April that the crown was sprouting. I had assumed it would be dead, but
it looked pretty good so I planted it. It is doing great. This is
Valentine Rhubarb in SW Virginia.

Thanks

Ma