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Author Topic: Rhubarb - disease or variety?  (Read 2200 times)

SafeHaven

  • Joined Mar 2017
Rhubarb - disease or variety?
« on: April 24, 2018, 10:00:34 am »
This is my first spring on my property and so am discovering things that I wouldn’t have seen when I moved here in the autumn, including this rhubarb plant. It’s quite small and has pink tinged leaves. I was wondering if this pink tinge was indicative of the type of rhubarb it is... or if it’s s sign of some kind of disease? Any rhubarb afficionados out there?

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Rhubarb - disease or variety?
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2018, 10:33:39 pm »
Are you sure it is rhubarb? The leaves don't look exactly like my rhubarb leaves.

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Rhubarb - disease or variety?
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2018, 05:17:49 am »
An internet search yields info on 'rhubarb red leaf disease'. Google that for images and a few look similar.

<<the plant probably is infected with bacteria called Erwinia rhapontici. This is one of two conditions called red leaf, and in this case, the name is well earned. The entire leaf begins to turn red and the crown and the roots of the plant end up rotting. While seeing frilly red leaves might look pretty at first, it is a sign that the plant is severely infected. The only treatment for rhubarb infected with Erwinia is removal and destruction. You will not be able to plant rhubarb in the same spot again, and you will need to control insects in the area to avoid spreading the bacteria to other rhubarb plants.>>

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Rhubarb - disease or variety?
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2018, 09:20:57 pm »
Yup .. we love rhubarb  took the trouble of researching it many years ago to get successful crops .

Nice one PGK.
 Most people don't do this  but it helps in keeping your rhubarb healthy .

Split three year old crown in half in the autumn of the third year a few weeks before your average first frost date .
Plant the split off halves in deep well manured holes making sure that you actually put the crown upwards ( surprising how many put them I upside down  ) & put a three inch thick loose covering of quality compost & well rotted manure over the top.  Don't compress it as it needs to be free draining over winter .

 Don't think of growing your rhubarb on the same spot for the next four years at least .

 Give the crown an autumnal feed of a three inch covering of compost & well composted manure each year & another one  in the spring in early march before the leaves & stalks emerge. 

 Growing a disease resistant Rhubarb from seed is a doddle.  six or seven years or so ago  I brought 24 Champagne variety  seeds in a packet that cost me £ 1.75 .

Every one was sown in individual 4 inch dia plant pots , they struck in about 15 days and gave me a quality plant,  I had difficulty in giving the excess plants away .
I potted the plants on by using the pot they were in to make the hole in the compost in bigger pots then gently  knocking the plants out & inserting them in the bigger hole in the bigger pots then back filling firmly .

 I think I did four re-pots till the plants were eventually in 10 inch dia tubs that were about a foot deep . They were planted out in the last few frost free days of the autumn as previously described & covered in a three inch thick over wintering mulch .
« Last Edit: April 30, 2018, 09:37:40 pm by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

DavidandCollette

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Rhubarb - disease or variety?
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2018, 01:04:35 pm »
Champagne rhubarb makes a fantastic slightly sparkling wine, but don't be tempted to drink too much. Ask me how I know!

 

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