Rhubarb plant

[VAMOM2003]

I have had a rhubarb plant for almost 10 years but it has not come back this spring.
I am in Northern Virginia and we had a tough, snowy winter.

I know they are very hardy, but could all the snow melt have caused it to rot. Its in an area where its well drained..

Anyone else experienced this?

[BrianSkilton]

I had rhubarb growing in a pot (forgot to plant it) and we got two - three feet of snow and it came up in the small pot it was in. So I wouldn't think the snow would have affected it too much. I have heard Rhubarb can live up to 15 years if well kept. Hmm, not sure, it may have been at the end of its cycle? Sorry I can't be much help, someone else know what could have happened?

[Gary350]

It may be too early for your Rhubarb to come up. I seem to remember my Grandmother use to make Rhubarb pie about June they lived in Illinois 50 miles West of Evansville Indiana. I remember the plants would come up pretty quick from the time we saw them coming out of the ground we were eating pie about 4 weeks later.

My Grandparents had Rhubarb from the time I was 4 years old until I was 32 years old when they both died. My cousin the new owners of the property still has Rhubarb so that makes the plants 56 years old. My Grandfather said he planted the roots very deep it gets very cold in Illinios where they lived and he wanted the roots deep enough so the ground would not freeze the to roots. He told me the roots were 18" deep but the first year he covered the roots with 6" of soil. Each year if covered them a couple more inches. After about 5 years they were covered with 18" of soil.

I tried to grow Rhubarb in Tennessee but it never lives. I bought plants again last year watered them all summer and they died before winter came. It may be too hot in TN for Rhubarb.

[rainbowgardener]

I wouldn't think it was the snow unless where they are was not very well drained (but you said it was). We had way more snow than usual also this winter, but my rhubarb came back just fine. But they are planted on a slope, so very well drained.

But I doubt that it is too early. Mine are fully leafed out and pretty big already and I'm north of you and my rhubarb plants are in part shade.

So I don't know why your rhubarb didn't come back, but it definitely should have by now, and it probably wasn't the snow.

Gary - did you have your rhubarb in full sun? They really don't like full sun, especially in hot climates. Try again in a shadier area!

[Gary350]

I wouldn't think it was the snow unless where they are was not very well drained (but you said it was). We had way more snow than usual also this winter, but my rhubarb came back just fine. But they are planted on a slope, so very well drained.

But I doubt that it is too early. Mine are fully leafed out and pretty big already and I'm north of you and my rhubarb plants are in part shade.

So I don't know why your rhubarb didn't come back, but it definitely should have by now, and it probably wasn't the snow.

Gary - did you have your rhubarb in full sun? They really don't like full sun, especially in hot climates. Try again in a shadier area!

My grandparents had their garden on the west side of the barn lot it was full sun all day but Illinois temperature was seldom over 95 degrees. Winters were cold and lots of snow.

In Tennessee I planted my rhubarb plants according to the direction on the package. That was 25 years ago so I don't recall much about that. I remember digging about a foot deep to plant to roots. My plants were in full sun from about 11 pm until 5 pm. I had a 35 ft tall row of trees on east and west side of the garden so the sun had to be up at a high angle for the garden to get full sun. My plants came up the first year. Instructions said not to harvest the plants so I didn't. Plants did not come up the second year. My garden soil was clay and I had not worked it very long so it didn't have much compost yet. The soil was very dry in July and August it use to dry out and get cracks 1/2 inch wide several inches deep. The whole yard looked like a spider web of cracks. I could pick up dirt clods the size of bricks in the yard. It was pretty bad soil. I had the city dump 3 garbage trucks full of leaves every fall for several years I was trying to add organic material to the soil and it was getting better but still a long way from good soil.

[VAMOM2003]

Thanks for all the comments.

I got a new plant this weekend at a local garden plant sale.

Summers here in Virginia are very hot and the rhubarb was planted in a location where it got shade from mid day sun.

From talking to gardeners at the plant sale, the fact that the plant was in the shade made the snowmelt even longer and the ground was saturated longer.

Its a catch 22 because I can't put the new plant in a location where the summer sun will just kill it.

I will just hope that this last winter's record snow fall won't become a regular occurrence!