Growing Rhubarb in Southern Grayson County
By Krystl Philyaw
Grayson County Master Gardener
Do you want to grow Rhubarb in Texas? The standard answer I hear is, “you can’t grow Rhubarb in Texas, it is too hot.” Most of the information available references areas with a different climate than we have here. In those areas, Rhubarb is grown as a perennial. According to our friends at Texas A&M, you can grow Rhubarb here, but it is grown as an annual, not a perennial. This article from 2007 https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Rhubarb_Tx_Style2013.pdf will walk you through growing Rhubarb. I want to share my growing experience with you, providing monthly updates on my plants’ progress from sowing through to harvest next spring. Maybe next fall, you might want to try growing Rhubarb.
Join me on this adventure. I purchased Victoria Rhubarb seeds (one of the cultivars recommended in the article) from Eden Brothers. The seeds were sown indoors into 1×2 pots on August 23. I placed the pots under an upside-down clear plastic shoebox and set the box under a grow light. To my surprise, they emerged in 10 days. Woo hoo, making progress. After my plants had germinated, I learned it is better to start the seeds in a 3×3 pot, minimizing the disruption to the roots during an intermediate potting up. Oh well, they seem to be doing fine. The babies were potted up on September 11 and are now living outside on my east porch. On September 13, they were given a soaking in Garrett Juice (one tbsp per gallon of water). I poured the fluid into the holding tray under the pots. The pots were allowed to soak up the Garrett Juice from the bottom. Once the soil in the little pots was well moistened, the excess fluid was poured off and used on other plants. You do not want to leave plants soaking in a liquid; it could lead to root rot and the demise for your plants. September 28 is the target date to transplant the seedlings into the garden. Check back next month to see their progress.
Seedlings 9-17-20
Grayson County Master Gardeners Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Reach us by email at [email protected], by phone 903-813-4204, our web page txmg.org/grayson, or our Facebook group.