If you transplant your high-yielding rhubarb plant after it has been in the bed for seven years, this measure acts like a rejuvenation treatment. The following lines reveal what you should pay attention to so that the procedure is successful.
When and how should you transplant rhubarb?
Rhubarb should be transplanted after about seven years to recover the soil and rejuvenate the plant. Choose a sunny, protected location with nutrient-rich, slightly acidic soil. Transplant in early fall and harvest in the second year after transplanting.
Three arguments for a change of location
Although rhubarb is designed to last ten to fifteen years, the heavy feeder leaches out the bed soil prematurely. Experienced hobby gardeners therefore transplant the plant after an average of seven years. This measure has 3 advantages:
- the soil recovers under suitable crop rotation
- implementation also serves to multiply
- the rhubarb plant is rejuvenated by transplanting
As a rule, rhubarb has taken on a considerable volume in this phase. Transplanting and propagating go hand in hand for most hobby gardeners.
Choose the new location carefully
Relocating rhubarb requires a certain amount of forethought. After all, the plant will spend several years there and should continue to bring in a rich harvest. The following location conditions should at least be met:
- sunny, warm, sheltered location
- very nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil
- fresh, moist and well-drained
- slightly acidic pH between 5 and 6
Under no circumstances should you plant rhubarb where it has already been in the previous five years. Here the plaice has not yet recovered so early. This circumstance would undoubtedly be at the expense of he alth, vitality and crop yield.
How to implement rhubarb correctly – explained step by step
The best time to transplant rhubarb is in early fall. The soil is still warm enough for the plant to grow well before winter. Here's how to do it:
- Dig up the rhubarb over a large area and cut it into 1 kg pieces with a spade
- weed the bed at the new location and incorporate a good portion of compost
- Dig planting holes with twice the volume of the root ball
- the planting distance is at least 100 cm
Before you plant the rejuvenated rhubarb plants in the ground, create a drainage system made of gravel, grit or pottery shards at the bottom of the pit. After planting, the soil is compacted and watered generously. A thick mulch layer of compost follows.
Rhubarb needs to acclimatize after moving
Transplanting means pure stress for rhubarb. Therefore, give the plant some time to get used to it.
A first harvest is only advisable in the second year after transplanting. Prudent hobby gardeners also limit this season to the period from April to May. From the following year onwards, rhubarb thanks this foresight with a rich harvest of delicious sticks.
Tips & Tricks
You can easily determine the pH value in your garden yourself. Test sets (€14.00 on Amazon) are available for sale in every well-stocked hardware store or garden center. They work by means of a coloring reaction and require no prior chemical knowledge.