Takes a hard frost. A perennial for zones 3 to 7. Plant out 2 to 4 weeks before your last frost; plant in fall up to 6 weeks before your first fall frost. First harvest 1 to 2 years from planting.
Photo: “Hanbury Hall Gardens - rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum)” by DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.
Put in your ZIP code to see when to start, plant and harvest rhubarb where you live, from your own frost dates.
PlantSet in the groundWeek 0
EstablishRoots take holdWeek 2–6
DormantRests over winterWeek 26–32
Spring shootsNew shoots come upWeek 48–52
HarvestReady to pickWeek 52–56
Let growLeave the rest to growWeek 60–64Rhubarb stays for 15 years or more. Pick a sunny, well-drained spot out of the way of yearly tilling.
Plant dormant crowns in early spring, or in early fall. Set buds no more than 1 to 2 inches below the surface.
Allow about 3 feet by 3 feet for each plant. Feed with compost or balanced fertilizer each spring.
Give about an inch of water a week. Mulch to hold moisture and keep weeds down, mainly in the first two years.
Do not harvest the first year. Take only a few stalks the second year. Harvest fully from the third year.
Pull stalks with a twist when 10 to 15 inches long. Take no more than half the stalks at once. Leaves are toxic.
Cut off flower stalks as soon as they appear. Stop picking when new stalks come up thin, often by late June.
What you'll see: Holes and dark, oozing spots on rhubarb stalks, made by a long-snouted weevil dusted rusty yellow.
What you'll see: A shoot wilts and falls over, and a striped caterpillar with a purple band is boring inside the stalk.
What you'll see: The crown at the soil line turns brown and soft or dry. The plant yellows, wilts, or fails to come back in spring.
What you'll see: Round brown, tan or purple spots on leaves, sometimes with rings or a dark edge. The centers may drop out, leaving holes.
Bee caution: Don't spray open flowers. Spray in the late evening, when bees aren't flying.
What you'll see: Plants yellow, wilt and die back even though the soil is wet. Roots are brown, soft and few, and bean seedlings may rot at the soil line.
Read and follow the product label: it is the law. It sets the rate, the crops it is for, and the days between spraying and picking. Products registered vary by state; for organic growing, look for products allowed under the USDA National Organic Program (OMRI Listed). We name active ingredients, not brands or rates.
Growing more than you can eat? Sell it at a farm stand. TallyTill takes cards and keeps count of what sells, and the Stand plan is free.
Get started with TallyTill for freePlanting dates and growing facts checked against these university extension and USDA pages:
Growth-stage drawings: TallyTill.
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