I recently purchased a rhubard root that I purchased from my local plant shop. It was one of those that are in little plastic bags of earth sealed with a cardboard label at the top. After opening it I was presented with loads of earth and what looked like a clump and damp cardboard. Not really knowing what I was doing I pulled this 'cardboard' apart looking for some kind of root but found nothing, the whole thing just fell apart in my hand. I am guessing that clump of cardboard WAS the rhunbard, is that right??
I feel a little ripped off and certainly will not purchased these packaged roots again.

Grub wrote:
I recently purchased a rhubard root that I purchased from my local
plant shop. It was one of those that are in little plastic bags of
earth sealed with a cardboard label at the top. After opening it I was
presented with loads of earth and what looked like a clump and damp
cardboard. Not really knowing what I was doing I pulled this
'cardboard' apart looking for some kind of root but found nothing,
the whole thing just fell apart in my hand. I am guessing that clump
of cardboard WAS the rhunbard, is that right??


Probably

I feel a little ripped off and certainly will not purchased these
packaged roots again.

Like any living thing you buy it may be in good condition or not so good
depending on how old it is and how it has been stored. Next time pick
through them and choose the best looking one. A viable rhubarb crown would
generally look and feel like a small woody clump with the remains of old
shoots on the top (or it may have little new shoots emerging) and roots on
the bottom. My guess is that the one you got was attacked by fungus in the
bag that destroyed the crown.

David

Thanks David.

I finally have a fresh, still alive, root but now need a little advice about growing it. I've heard soo many different conflicting instructions I'm totally confused! I'm pretty sure now that I shouldn't touch it for a year but I've read all about this forcing business and in the Mirror today they have written that it only grows pink if it IS forced.

Need a rhubarb expert to clarify for me! :s

Grub wrote:
Thanks David.

I finally have a fresh, still alive, root but now need a little advice
about growing it. I've heard soo many different conflicting
instructions I'm totally confused! I'm pretty sure now that I
shouldn't touch it for a year but I've read all about this forcing
business and in the Mirror today they have written that it only grows
pink if it IS forced.

Need a rhubarb expert to clarify for me! :s

I don't know anything about forcing or what that may have to do with
rhubarb. Grow it like other vegetables, full sun if possible, plenty of
manure and/or compost, water when dry etc. Plant it now. You can cut at
any time of year just make sure you leave the roots alone and leave a few
stems and leaves so that it can keep growing, cut the older stems and leave
the younger ones to grow bigger, it is fairly tough. When the clump is
large you can divide it and grow more clumps.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Grub wrote:
Thanks David.

I finally have a fresh, still alive, root but now need a little advice
about growing it. I've heard soo many different conflicting
instructions I'm totally confused! I'm pretty sure now that I
shouldn't touch it for a year but I've read all about this forcing
business and in the Mirror today they have written that it only grows
pink if it IS forced.

Need a rhubarb expert to clarify for me! :s

I don't know anything about forcing or what that may have to do with
rhubarb.

The Brits are into forced rhubarb. Not sure why they bother.

Grub, rhubarb can be, and is, pink regardless of whether it's forced or
not - the colour of the stem has more to do the plant than it is with
whether it's forced or not. eg, you can have a plant that always produced
greenish stems or you can have a plant that always produces wonderfully rich
red stems all of the time. David and I would both grow our plants in the
same way - never forced, lots of poop and in an open sunny position in
clumps separated about ever 3 years if we're good or when we get roudn to it
if we're not. The rule about not cutting it in the first year of growth is
to make sure that the plant has time to get well and truly established and
you don't ahrvest it to death. Always leave some stems and leaves on the
plant so it can use these to feed itself.

Grow it like other vegetables, full sun if possible, plenty of
manure and/or compost, water when dry etc. Plant it now. You can cut at
any time of year just make sure you leave the roots alone and leave a few
stems and leaves so that it can keep growing, cut the older stems and
leave the younger ones to grow bigger, it is fairly tough. When the clump
is large you can divide it and grow more clumps.

Yup.

In article ,
Grub wrote:

Thanks David.

I finally have a fresh, still alive, root but now need a little advice
about growing it. I've heard soo many different conflicting instructions
I'm totally confused! I'm pretty sure now that I shouldn't touch it for
a year but I've read all about this forcing business and in the Mirror
today they have written that it only grows pink if it IS forced.

Need a rhubarb expert to clarify for me! :s

Pink?? Usually the stems are red.

Put it in soil, just to cover, mulch it, fish emulsion it, water it
regularly, and watch it grow. They'll take a lot of neglect.

Bush's 3rd term: Obama
--
- Billy
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
http://wn.com/black_panther_party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug

Billy wrote:
In article ,
Grub wrote:

Thanks David.

I finally have a fresh, still alive, root but now need a little
advice about growing it. I've heard soo many different conflicting
instructions I'm totally confused! I'm pretty sure now that I
shouldn't touch it for a year but I've read all about this forcing
business and in the Mirror today they have written that it only
grows pink if it IS forced.

Need a rhubarb expert to clarify for me! :s

Pink?? Usually the stems are red.


There are different cultivars, I have two, one quite red, one mainly green
with touches of red. The latter looks horrible when cooked but tastes just
as good.

D

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
Grub wrote:

Thanks David.

I finally have a fresh, still alive, root but now need a little
advice about growing it. I've heard soo many different conflicting
instructions I'm totally confused! I'm pretty sure now that I
shouldn't touch it for a year but I've read all about this forcing
business and in the Mirror today they have written that it only
grows pink if it IS forced.

Need a rhubarb expert to clarify for me! :s

Pink?? Usually the stems are red.


There are different cultivars, I have two, one quite red, one mainly green
with touches of red. The latter looks horrible when cooked but tastes just
as good.

D

I guess I've led a sheltered existance. All the rhubarb I've ever seen
has been red. Go figure. Looked at rhubarb "Victoria"
http://www.victoryseeds.com/rhubarb_victoria.html
That's just plain wrong (from my experience).
--
- Billy
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
http://wn.com/black_panther_party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug

Thanks for all the detailed advice.

The aphorism about not acid it in the aboriginal year of advance is to accomplish abiding that the bulb has time to get able-bodied and absolutely accustomed and you don't ahrvest it to death. Always leave some stems and leaves on the nplant so it can use these to augment itself.