I am muttering unintelligibly (see note below) in the background of my mind because I am trying to figure out how to care for Rhubarb roots until I can plant them in the fall. I found a package of 2 roots at HD with the flowering bulbs and seed potatoes. I have learned the hard way so many times, if you see something and want it, buy it then or it will be gone when you go back and the package was less than $4. After coming home I did some searching and found that because we do not have gentle enough summers to keep Rhubarb alive from year to year it is not a perennial, but it can be grown as an annual, usually started from seed in Sept to hopefully produce a crop in late winter/early spring...before hot weather sets in. So my question is....can I successfully keep the roots in the bottom of the refrigerator for the 6+ months so it can be planted in the early Fall? If not, then I will return the package and get more Daylilies instead Aforementioned note....Rhubarb Rhubarb has been said by background actors in old time radio programs, TV shows and movies to resemble the voices of an angry crowd or just general conversations.
I have no real idea...my OPINION is that I would think that 6 more months in the fridge/dormant state is asking a lot of the roots. I would be hesitant to expect them to survive this long, but "nothing ventured nothing gained".
At first I scanned this post and quickly noted the words Rhubarb and annual. My mind quickly went to thinking about 5 plants snoozing away in one of the only sunny areas of the garden and Rhubarb pie or lack thereof. Re-reading again assured me that we would have a second year crop and another rhubarb pie. A sigh of relief for the only spring edible in our flower garden. Texas summers seem to be taking a toll on some of the fun things us northerners take for granted. As for Rhubarb Rhubarb, when conflict erupts on the baseball field the term rhubarb, popularized by Dodgers announcer Red Barber, seems to be borrowed from the radio usage. I have several vintage radio broadcasts from the 30's and 40's I will have to listen to the background for arguments or crowd noise. I always listen with my eyes closed. I find myself whisked back 60 years to Sunday evenings and the next episode of........... Jerry P.S. Some internet poking produced a morsel of Texas information for those so inclined to coax a rhubarb plant or two into producing enough for a pie. From Texas A&M, Rhubarb, Texas Style: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/trav ... _Style.pdf
This is probably a horrible idea, and returning them to HD is probably a better one, but have you thought of growing them as a houseplant/potted plant. Enjoy the foliage and harvest a few stems. When it gets too hot then you could then put the roots into cold storage. Just a thought. Good luck whatever you decide.
My first thought was to pot the roots up as well. But Rhubarb is a heavy feeder and I'm not sure how happy it would be in a pot.
If I potted them up as houseplants and they did grow, then when it gets too hot put them in cold storage...what's the difference between that and putting them in the fridge now to wait until fall for planting? Remembering that we do not have any 'cold storage' available other than the fridge. Would it be just a matter of a shorter time period to be in cold storage...or the fact that they would have put out some growth and that would help them survive in cold storage? Would the fridge be too cold for storage. I think I will get some seeds and try this method suggested on the Texas Gardener website.... http://www.texasgardener.com/pastissues ... ubarb.html But I just might plant up one root and stick the other one in the fridge....to see what happens. And yes, Jerry, this appears to be the beginning of an experiment
Why? I mean why wait till fall? Plant those roots as soon as the soil un-freezes. This rank member of the buckwheat family is tougher than you think. Even if it does like a little afternoon shade in a zone 7 plantation.
What's this freezing soil you mention? Our typical winters don't have enough cold to create more than a thin sheet of ice on the birdbath. A little afternoon shade is zone 7b/8a is still in the 95-110 temperature range.
If I might be so bold. Plant in a sheltered location (sheltered for heat not cold) with afternoon shade. Water liberally during dry spells. Feed copiously. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Planting out rhubarb root while its dorrmant is probably a good idea. I'm trying to take the end of the argument that rhubarb doesn't care if plant-out is at the begining or end of dormancy. IMO rhubarb is much more sensitive to a hot sun than it is to cold. Mulch it thickly and water it copiously.
Jerry, the article you found is the exact same one I found, same author and content, just located on different websites. That's where I got the information about starting seeds in late summer and planting them outside to grow through the winter. Everyone's suggestions sound like they would work in a location further north of me, wish I lived in a location further north of me . Thanks for your input, maybe someone in a cooler climate will have their questions answered too. Except for a possible cold snap around the first of March, winter is over here. Spring for us means daytime temperatures in the 70-90 degree range and summer is normally 90-110 degrees. Summer nighttime temps don't usually get down below 70 and a good portion of summer they do not get lower than 80 degrees. If I was to plant the roots in spring, the heat of our summer combined with fungal rot organisms would kill them as they apparently have for others who have tried to grow Rhubarb during the summer here. Now that I think about it, since Rhubarb needs cold temperatures to thrive, it would probably not be a good idea to put the roots in the fridge or they could start growing in there and they wouldn't be able to survive if I had to plant them out then. Fatbaldguy, during our summer simple shade is no protection from the heat. You might feel a 5-10 degree difference...but that's not much when the temperature is hovering around 100+. Coppice, planting in or out of dormancy is not my question. But I now realize that keeping them in the fridge might encourage them to break dormancy, so that's not good. And yes they are sensitive to heat, hence my original question. Our watering restrictions have been tightened for the next several months. I can only water my garden two days a week and with a combination of heat and low humidity moisture will be sucked out of plants and the ground fairly rapidly...another reason the roots will not survive in the ground through summer here. Getting back to my original questions though, would the roots remain viable if they spent 6 months in the refrigerator? Or should I return them to the store and get more daylillies? I think I will return them and order seeds to start in late August. So I guess there will be no experiment afterall...until fall when I try to grow them Texas style
Thanks for giving the "piece for thought" Toni. I think you are right about the rhubarb growing in the cool of the frig instead of staying dormant. Grow lights in a frig??? Although it is cool summers here where I live rhubarb does sometimes go dormant during the summer because of our lack of rain for extended periods. Never really thought too much about it except that it looks so bad then. Guess blueberries are out for you also...but we can't grow melons of any sort. Sure miss the sweetness of a ripe off the vine Texas cantalope.
There are some varieties of blueberries that do very well in our area. Blueberry Hill Farms is one our favorite places to go in June to pick blueberries. The Pecos Cantaloupes are really, really good aren't they?
