Every summer my rhubarb wilts completely around mid to late June and
comes back again in the fall. I assumed it was the summer heat and
moved a clump early this spring from full sun to a spot that only gets
sun from morning through noon. It seemed to be thriving very well for
awhile, but now it's wilted and disappeared again this year. The
plants in my father's garden, where I got the start from, are still
large and full... as they have been throughout the summer every year
for many, many years. Any ideas what to check or do differently?

Craig Ayers
Muncie, IN

In article ,
(Craig Ayers) wrote:

Every summer my rhubarb wilts completely around mid to late June and
comes back again in the fall. I assumed it was the summer heat and
moved a clump early this spring from full sun to a spot that only gets
sun from morning through noon. It seemed to be thriving very well for
awhile, but now it's wilted and disappeared again this year. The
plants in my father's garden, where I got the start from, are still
large and full... as they have been throughout the summer every year
for many, many years. Any ideas what to check or do differently?

Craig Ayers
Muncie, IN

Gee. Hmm. Rhubarb needs cold winters, rich soil and water.

Okay, try this. Put deep mulch around the base of your plants, to keep the
roots cool. Put a bunch of cow poop, horse manure or whatever you can find
for free around the plant before you mulch, and water it in really good. Then
mulch. Use straw, leaves, whatever you have on hand for mulch. I think you
just need to protect the roots from the heat and the plants will do fine.

Try that and let us know if it helps. If it doesn't, I'll come up with another
bright idea ;-) If you can get lots of horse or cow poop, pile it on. That's
a good insulator for the crown and everytime it rains, your plants will get
fed.

I have about 60 rhubarb plants here. My MIL planted a few crowns in 1960.
I don't think napalm would kill them, at this point. We put loads of it in the
freezer for winter and make pies, bread, cakes and sauce all summer.

Jan
Homer, Alaska