Plant and divide rhubarb crowns

When to do it

Within Rhubarb’s local window; divide established plants in a suitable dormant or low-growth period.

What you need

• Healthy crown or mature clump
• Spade and clean knife
• Prepared soil

How to do it

1. Choose a well-drained permanent position with space for a broad leafy clump.
2. If dividing, lift a healthy mature crown and separate substantial pieces, each with sound roots and at least one strong bud. Discard rotten sections.
3. Plant so the crown tip is at or just above the surface, spacing plants roughly 75–90 cm apart. Water to settle and mulch around, not over, the crown.
4. Leave a new planting unharvested for its first growing season; take only a small harvest in the second if vigorous.
5. For an established plant, pull a mature stalk gently from its base, leaving plenty of leaves. Remove and discard leaves from the kitchen harvest; rhubarb leaves are not edible.

What success looks like

• The crown stays firm and produces strong new leaves.

Watch out for

• Burying the crown under wet mulch.
• Harvesting most stalks from a young division.

Plant guides using this technique

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