Rhubarb

[pompeydude]

Hello,
sort of a newbie here, I've lurked for a while but only posted twice.
2 of my 4 established  crowns have produced these sort of pod thingies that are growing up from the middle of the crown. well one has opened today and it looks like a flower is about to emerge.
so my question is,  will it still be edible, will they seed and then die..... etc, etc,  I know nothing ????

Phill  ??? ??? ??? ???

[pompeydude]

[Merry Tiller]

Chop it off and whack it in the compo bin, it's not edible and drains goodness from the rest of your plant

[gavin.]

I've read somewhere that if it flowers you should cut them off. I presume that this prevents the rhubarb wasting energy on producing seed.

[Merry Tiller]

Chop it off and whack it in the compo bin, it's not edible and drains goodness from the rest of your plant

[pompeydude]

Thanks for the replys.
i'll shall do it first thing.
i'm in holiday mode, i'm off for 3 weeks Yippee !!!!!   ;D ;D
just 9 hours to go   >:( >:(

[flossie]

One of the "sages" on our allotment side recommended that the rhubarb should be split up if it had attempted to flower?   Is this true?


When do other people split rhubarb up?

(He pulled the flower stub out and put it on my compost heap)

[Merry Tiller]

It's true that a rhubarb plant will flower when it's mature and established and that is a good sign that it's time to split the clump but it's a little late in the year now, wait till it's died back in autumn/winter

[Curryandchips]

I appreciate knowing this about rhubarb too, as one of mine has sent up a flower stem ... I will mark it with a cane for splitting in the autumn ...

[MollyBloom]

My rhubarb seems to be bucking the trend, then, as it set a flower this year and I grew it from seed only last spring! I cut the flower off but the stem is still growing, complete with a normal leaf on top. Everything else looks fine, so I;m leaving it to see what happens next...

[Robert_Brenchley]

It won't do anything without the flower.

[jennym]

Mine have flowered several times in the past - you don't have to split them up if you don't want to - I haven't and they are perfectly ok. Sometimes plants flower because they are stressed, but agree that it is a sign that they are pretty mature so can split if want to.

[Rhys]

My rhubarb seems to be bucking the trend, then, as it set a flower this year and I grew it from seed only last spring! I cut the flower off but the stem is still growing, complete with a normal leaf on top. Everything else looks fine, so I;m leaving it to see what happens next...

If you grew your rhubarb from seed using 'Victoria' - don't worry, this variety tends to flower.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I get loads of flowers, and I don't split. I just twist the bud off, and often leave the stem with the leaves on it.

[amanda21]

Mine were bits given to me from a friend and only planted in January/Feb so are not "estalished" and yet they have still flowered? I've chopped them off so hopefully all okay

[Mrs Ava]

Ahhh, something in the air then as every clump on our site has flowers coming.  I yanked mine off and slung them on the compost heap, most others have done the same.  One fella hasn't tho, so I am kinda interested to see what happens really....can't say I have ever seen bubby flowering!

[Robert_Brenchley]

You get these big greeny plumes of flowers. The plant still flourishes, but a bit of energy is diverted from the leaves. I'm not sure how much difference it really makes.

[Merry Tiller]

Won't make much difference to a decent sized plant

[derbex]

How long can you force them for each season? Mines been going for a month+ now and some of the stems are looking pretty thin.

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's probably time to let it rest. Don't force that root again next year.

[David R]

must be something setting them all off this year, most on my lotty have started to flower.