Juicy and sour rhubarb stalks are mainly used in home baking and preserves.We appreciate them in particular for their characteristic taste, which results from the high content of fruit acids: apple, lemon and oxalic.
With an average consumption, oxalic acid does not have a harmful effect on our he alth, but remember that if consumed in excess, it can lead to decalcification of the body.Rhubarb is a perennial plant, therefore it is grown for several or even several years in the same place.In order to rejuvenate it, you should divide the old carps into smaller ones in autumn and plant them in a new position.The seedlings obtained in this way (preferably from 5-6-year-old plants) can be used in the fall or spring, with the fall period being more favorable for them.
The plants, planted in late September or early October, will have time to take root and start growing earlier the following year.However, in regions with harsh winters, it is recommended to plant rootstocks in the spring to reduce the risk of the plants freezing over. Rhubarb is most often propagated vegetatively (by dividing carp), but young plants can also be obtained by sowing seeds.
Unfortunately, this method of cultivation is characterized by a significant diversity of plants, because they do not repeat the characteristics of the parent plants well.Young annuals should be selected before planting them permanently.Depending on variety and abundance of soil, spacing from 1x1m to 1.5x1.5m.
Rhubarb is usually harvested in the second year of cultivation, but the harvest should not take longer than 3-4 weeks. You can collect 2-3 outermost leaves at a time, but you can harvest them no more than twice a week, so as not to weaken the plants too much.In the following years, the number of petioles obtained may increase, but after 10-12 years of cultivation, petioles become smaller - then the rhubarb cultivation should be re-established.
The most important care treatments in the cultivation of rhubarb is weeding the site in the first year, before the plants do not produce a large amount of biomass.In older specimens, the inflorescence shoots appearing in May should be removed, because they significantly weaken the plant productivity - you can break them off or cut them at the root.
What is the harm to rhubarb?
As rhubarb is grown more and more in gardens and allotments, it is important to know how to protect it from diseases and pests.In addition to fungi, one of the main problems in growing rhubarb is care errors.
It reacts with reddening of the leaves to excess water, while the leaves of plants grown in low-pH soil appear stains of various shapes and colors.Its symptom is initially dark discoloration at the base of the shoot and on the roots, which then turns into wet rot.
Rhubarb can also infect diseases caused by fungi. The most dangerous are ascochytosis and anthracnose.In the case of the former, characteristic reddish spots with a dark border appear on the leaves.Over time, the inside of the stain dries up and then crumbles. Symptoms of anthracnose are watery spots on the leaves and petioles, which lead to leaf dieback. Prevention of rhubarb diseases is to avoid thickening of plants in the beds and to remove infected plant organs.
