Susu,
Wouldn’t buy rhubarb from a supermarket whenever you want to make an apple pie cheaper and less headache?
P.S. this suggestion is from someone who cares NOT for rhubarb or apple pie with rhubarb 
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Definitely cheaper and less headache. But same goes for most of the fruit growing. Still we insist on growing our own!
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Near my work is a community garden that I noticed had rhubarb growing in it. Since I have never had success here in TN I asked the manager of the garden what is the secret to success. She had no idea, the plot had been abandoned, and she wanted it gone. I noticed the garden was sandy, very unusual for TN. I got a plot in that garden and moved the rhubarb to it. It has grown great all summer and I plan on harvesting this spring. All said, in southern climates I feel you need incredibly good drainage and no fresh organic matter. It’s all about the roots health.
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i planted my 4 patches of 2 varieties in extremely hard clay/ rocky soil with no amending. water doesn’t pond there but doesn’t soak in for at least 10min. and all my patches grow like crazy. i occasionally give them a few shovels full of compost around them in the spring but thats it. i even ran the snowblower over my big patch last winter and it grew as usual. patches on abandoned farms still grow in 3ft. grass with no one tending them . it grows in any and all soil types here. its got to be you folks hot summers that do them in. anything over 80f and they start to wilt badly. my patch near the raspberries grew 3ft. 2 in wide stalks all summer long. that patch has 4in. of wood chips around it and the rhubarb loved it! its about as carefree a plant as I’ve ever grown. i give away probably 50lbs of it every summer because i can’t even put a dent in what i got.
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Rhubarb from the store around here usually isn’t very good quality and is very expensive. I like to pick it right before I use it.
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yep. it wilts pretty quickly once cut.
Susu i tried buying rhubarb from a few sources to only have it die on me also. Finally found someone that had a local one and it was extremely easy and thrived this year (Even though j beetles devoured it) I used it as a trap plant for my j beetle bucket. Maybe you can find a heirloom one around locally?
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id be willing to share some root cuttings if you want to try them. try putting them in a spot that gets afternoon shade. pm me next early may and ill dig some for you. i have victoria and crimson red. crimson red is much more vigorous. victoria came from my grandfathers garden and is the most common rhubarb around here.
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I’ve tried the Starkrimson and the Canadian red varieties from Stark and haven’t had any luck so far at my place in Michigan. In spring 2018 I planted 4 of the Starkrimson and nothing ever came up. Spring 2019 dug up the area where they were planted and there was no sign of them. Planted 4 replacement Starkrimsons and 2 Canadian reds. 2 of the Starkrimsons sent up a couple tiny leaves that never got any bigger than a couple 1/2" diameter leaves laying on the ground and eventually died. The rest never did anything again. I’m a bit disappointed because Rhubarb grows well in my area of Michigan.
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Yeah i bought rhubarb from like 3 different sources each year and they all mysteriously died after growing and being healthy upon dissection it seemed to have some strange root disease. Which seems ridiculous since it grows great here also and we are extremely dry so root rots are not common but since all seemed to die about 2 months after planting and sprouting up healthy its the diagnosis i came up with.
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I’ve killed a number of rhubarb starts.
This year I mulched the heck out of my barely surviving start and it has grown like a weed…
Also in Michigan\
Scott
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very strange you guys are having such a hard time growing this stuff. i wish i had better advice to give. northern maine has some of the worst soil to grow in and it thrives on utter neglect here. maybe some kind of root fungus or parasite we don’t have here?
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It’s our warm soil. The roots rot. That’s why fresh organic material and poor draining soil is leathel.
I feel my plants all came infected. They need extra water here but definitely thrive in a wet spot (we are very dry) with some mottled light (tons of sun)
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Just wanted to add that all the rhubarb I planted this spring died, third year in a row. I have tried different locations but no luck.
None the less, I will try again next year.
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I’m not feeling as bad anymore. Clearly I’m not the only one killing rhubarb year after year 
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i don’t think its poor draining soil thats a issue. mine is about as bad as it gets for drainage and they do fine. its got to be a infection of some sort.
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Apparently cool soil has advantages for some things. You have to work pretty hard to kill rhubarb up here, too. Just comes back every year about like the mosquitoes.
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I wasn’t clear; poor drainage and cool soil is fine, poor drainage and warm soil is leathel. Also in warm soil you have to be careful with organic matter, it will promote fungus and root rot.
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I planted rhubarb from a couple nurseries that has done poorly or died, although some old-fashioned ones I have moved with us twice over the last 50 years and which are growing in another location are doing fine. There might be something to that about being infected. I thought maybe the new stuff had gotten herbicide drift from the adjacent corn field. It is heavily mulched with arborist mulch, but just doesn’t grow much, plus a couple plants died.
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