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Preparing Your Rhubarb for Winter

Gardening Guide: Remarkable Rhubarb

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Preparing Your Rhubarb for Winter

By Norann Oleson

Cold-hardy rhubarb plan in snow

Cold-hardy rhubarb plan in snow

Rhubarb needs about 500 hours of temperatures below 40 degrees F in order to enter dormancy to muster its energy to produce new buds in the spring; if you hear gardeners talking about chill hours, that’s what this is. Rhubarb is a very cold-hardy plant; it can deal with temperatures as low as -20 degrees F. After your first hard frost, remove the last remaining stalks on the plant and add them to the compost pile. Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost, leaves, or straw over your plants to keep the roots from drying out. One benefit of using compost is that it will slowly release some nutrients into the soil over the winter, and your rhubarb certainly won’t mind that.

In the spring, carefully remove any remaining material to give your rhubarb room to bud and grow. If you’ve used compost as your insulator, you’re likely to find there’s not a whole lot of compost left. But still, be careful to completely remove any material from around the base of the plant. Once the last frost has passed, you want to avoid having any mulch-like material near the stems and crown to avoid crown or root rot.

How do you prepare your rhubarb for winter? What type of insulator do you use? Let us know your tips for keeping rhubarb healthy through the cold winter months.

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rhubarb, the compost, using compost

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Curator’s Corner
  • Introduction
  • Types of Rhubarb
  • Growing Rhubarb from Seeds or Crowns/Splits/Sets/Divisions
  • Sun and Soil Requirements for Growing Rhubarb
  • Planting Rhubarb in the Ground or in Raised Beds
  • Growing Rhubarb in Containers
  • Watering, Weeding, and Fertilizing your Rhubarb Plants
  • Harvesting your Rhubarb
  • Storing and Preserving Your Rhubarb
  • Preparing Your Rhubarb for Winter
  • Dividing Rhubarb
  • Forcing Rhubarb
  • Dealing with Rhubarb Diseases
  • Dealing with Rhubarb Pests
  • Essential Tools and Equipment for Growing and Enjoying Rhubarb
  • Plant Profiles

  • Canada Red Rhubarb
  • KangaRhu Rhubarb
  • Crimson Red Rhubarb
  • Sunrise Rhubarb
  • Riverside Giant Rhubarb
  • Victoria Rhubarb
  • Recipes

  • Rustic Rhubarb Salsa
  • Rhubarb Tea
  • Rhubarb Comfort Crumble
  • Rhubarb Sauce Your Way
  • Rhubarb Fool
  • Classic Rhubarb Pie
  • Additional Articles

  • Nutrition Facts about Rhubarb
  • Health Benefits and Home Remedies of Rhubarb
  • Resources about Rhubarb
  • Rhubarb Glossary
  • Related Articles

  • Dividing Rhubarb: Splitting, Transplanting, and Methods for Moving

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