Sweet Rhubarb Varieties & How To Grow Rhubarb

Rubarb are easy to grow and though they are not a fruit then can be used like fruit or berries in pies and sauces. They originate from Siberia and are also known as the pie plant. If you want a specific type of rhubarb for your garden, buy divisions from a reputable source. Rhubarb grown from seed will not be the same as the parent plant and not the variety advertised for sale (it's a scam). Rhubarb seeds sprout easily and in 2024 many rhubarb sprouted and grew well in an new irrigated bed. I consider them something like ground cherries and pull them out when there are too many but after I pull the weeds. I bought one "live plant" which didn't make it and it is better to buy the root divisions in the spring or in person at a nursery. Rhubarb does require a lot of water but a few plants will yield a bountiful harvest, and probably 3-4 clumps more than enough for the average family. Rhubarb prefers acidic soil but in my experience they are tolerant of higher pH. Do not plant rhubarb crowns too deep as they can get crown rot. Rhubarb flower stalks draw energy from the plant, do not produce much cooking material and should be cut or broken off near the base. This stimulates the production of more crowns to the sides which in turn produce stalks again. Do not eat rhubarb leaves as they contain high levels of oxalic acid, the leaves are considered poisonous. Weak rhubarb plants may need to be protected as grasshoppers can totally strip the leaves.

Victoria is an easy type to grow that has greenish stalks and frequently puts out flower stalks. In 2018 I planted 6 Victoria Rhubarb starts 5' apart in 1' watering basins and they grew for 2 years without harvesting. I then transplanted to 32" x 22' beds filled with peat moss and 16-16-16 fertilizer mixed in well and drippers spaced every 18" inches. That same year they grew like mad and I got 3 harvests and we made dried rhubarb fruit leather. The next spring I divided the remaining 5 into 25 divisions and using the same beds and I was able to get 4 harvests and couldn't give it away fast enough.

I have planted several newer varieties that are supposed to be "sweeter", redder, and produce fewer flowers. Redder varieties are more popular because many people think that the redder varieties are sweeter though there is no factual basis for this belief. I found one vendor that intermittently sells German Wine Rhubarb and who sent me a horrible looking dried out stump that looked totally dead. I put it in a pot for a couple weeks and a few shoots came out and divided that into 9 starts. After 2 years 5 have survived which I moved to a plastic lined bed where they can get more water, aside from heavy grasshopper damage they are doing well.

In late August 2023 I moved my "special" rhuarb including German Wine, Glaskin's Perpetual, Cherry Red, and Chipman's Canada Red to the new plastic lined bed. Chipman's died back in 2023 but luckily resprouted in 2024. Glaskin's in particular took off and was huge in 3 weeks. They do appreciate fertilizer, water, and cool fall temperatures. These "special" varieties seem to be easier to maintain as they seem to take longer to make flower stalks. One thing I noticed in 2024 that as salts accumulate in the plastic lined bed the rhubarb isn't doing as well and rhubarb may be senstive to high levels of CACO3 salt.

Seed

In 2024 we replanted one of our blackberry beds with figs and had many rhuarb sprout from seed. These are from the Victoria rhubarb nearby and having too many I just removed them.

Rhubarb Varieties

• Victoria Rhubarb (vigorous, red-green, easily makes flower stalks)
• Glaskin's Perpetual Rhubarb (very vigorous with mostly green stalks)
• German Wine (purportedly sweetest variety but very hard to find)
• Cherry Red (red stalks)
• Crimson Red (red stalks)
• Chipmans Canada Red (red stalks)

How to Use Rhubarb

Some people just clean the rhubarb, dip the end in some sugar, and it it raw. Another simple way is to make a thick or thin sauce. For thick sauce chop rhubarb into 1 inch or smaller lengths and add 1/4 cup of sugar for every 1 cup of chopped rhubarb, no water needed just let them sit to express their own juices. Use as pie filling by itself, or mixed with apple pie filling, or let the juices come out of the rhubarb and cook on very low heat till soft. Take care as unthinned sauce will burn easily. This mixture can be blended and made into a thin layer in a dehydrator to make rhubarb "fruit" leather with or without other fruit such as apples. To make thinner sauce add about 1/2 a cup of water before cooking. Thinner sauce is good to accompany meat, can be used as a jam, or with anything that would benefit from a sweet and sour side condiment.