For years I have tried to grow rhubarb in Tennessee. The problem is it gets root in the summer if we get much rain. The best success I have had was growing it on a sandy location that had great drainage. Unfortunately we have had a very wet August and it all died. To replant in the same location is a death sentence at least with out treating the soil. I’m hesitant to use a fungicide if the plant absorbs it unless it is considered save for human consumption.
Has anyone had experience in this or root rot fungicides in general.
Plant on sloping ground or in a raised bed. I don’t like it, so don’t raise it.
But mom has some. Grandma had it for decades.
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Blueberry,
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I’m in a raised bed and on sloping ground.
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unfortunitely its a cold weather crop. grows great in ground with our heavy clay soil but does die back some when it stays in the 80’s awhile. theres a new heat tolerant cultivar bred in Australia that supposedly can handle the heat. maybe be the ticket for you. do a search on here. a few members are growing it. i think its gurneys offering it.
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Commercially grown here (Portland, Oregon) in wet winter, dry summer with some heat (20 to 30 days of 90+ with rare 100s and moderate to low summer humidity). When I bought the house 30+ years ago, it came with two rhubarb plants that are still going strong in level ground and heavy soil. Not sure why it is fussy for growers back East.
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maybe its the humid summers or amount of hot days that does it in. above z6 , east coast it struggles but in z3/4 its a very vigorous grower. even more so than my hybrid comfrey. my brother in CT cant keep it alive for very long either.
As I said before, mom has some (for 30+ years), and grandma had some for years and years…50 and more…so I have not observed troubles in zone 6 in Kentucky concerning rhubarb. Not sure about the issue raised here.
I don’t care for it, but I’ve observed it in gardens for 50-something years.
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Blueberry,
Maybe your mother’s variety has better fungal resistance than most. Once dormant I would love to get a root of it. I’m happy to cover costs or provide scion or whatever.
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maybe cultivar then? i grow canada red and a unnamed variety that was brought here by my great grandfather from Quebec in the early 1900’s so not exactly a warm weather type if there is such a thing.