Last edited by shiny on November 12, 2026. View history
How to sow rhubarb: Transplant crowns or direct seed indoors
Sun requirement for rhubarb: Plant in Full Sun
Rhubarb is a perennial herbaceous plant in USDA Zones 4-8. It cannot be harvested from in the first year of planting. It has large green leaves that are poisonous and thick, red-green stalks that are edible raw or cooked. It's stalks have a strong, tart taste and are commonly used in strawberry-rhubarb pies.
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For rhubarb, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 870 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your rhubarb will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
by shiny,
Found this old book in a back country second hand store. It was published in 1960, it was part of a series of "know how" books.
inside is every kind of wine. I think the author was in the UK, and many of the plants are the same ones introduced here and thrive in our New Zealand climate…
by shiny,
painted mountain corn
boysenberries
peas
rhubarb
by maco,
There's a plant next to my driveway that a friend says is rhubarb. He says it's normal that if you let it overgrow, the stalks go brown instead of bright red. It's about as tall as me at this point. Can I still cook the stalks, even though they're far past ripe? …
by maco,
I just got a house, and the front garden has a bunch of things that I don't recognize. Since mulberry, grape, and rhubarb have been identified in that bed, I wouldn't be surprised to find these are also edibles. I just don't know w…
by oakandsage,
My raspberry are flowering!
Anyone whose english pea plants yield spherical peas must be a saint. I only get spherical peas if I miss a pod. In the evening I sit out in the garden and eat peas until there is nothing worth eating left on the plant. Then I am done…
raspberries
peas
asparagus
chard
kale
melons
rhubarb
carrots
dill
basils
squash
cherries
nectarines
apples
pomegranates
blueberries
by Skud,
I've got some rhubarb seedlings which I hope to plant out in containers. Does anyone have much experience with this? Any particular tips? I know rhubarb's meant to be a heavy feeder so I'm wondering particularly how to keep it happy in that regard. I've also hear…
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 60 to 330 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Rheum rhaponticum
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Caryophyllidae Polygonales Polygonaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -15 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Resources outside Growstuff.
Rhubarb
Photos
trishf42 harvested 10.