When can you actually harvest rhubarb?
The official time for this begins in April, but the best way to check whether your own plant in the garden is ready is to look at the leaves.
Rhubarb comes in different varieties, some have green stems, some red.
But the color does not provide any information about whether the plant is ready to be picked.
Depending on the region and weather conditions, the harvest time can also be postponed.
Instead, you should keep a close eye on the plant in the garden - leaves, stems and flower heads provide information.
When you can harvest rhubarb, you can tell by the leaves
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A fully developed rhubarb leaf and smooth stalks are good harvest signs.
©Panthermedia/Imago
Those who have cultivated their rhubarb can often look forward to the first harvest earlier, but the rhubarb season in home gardens usually does not start until the end of April or the beginning of May.
This can also be seen in the plant: as soon as the rhubarb starts to flower, the first signs of harvest are there.
However, there are young and older shoots on every plant, so random picking is not advisable unless you want a very acidic product on your plate.
You can see from the leaf whether the spear you have chosen is already ready for harvest: when it has fully unfolded and spread wide without the leaf still being curled, the best time has come.
In addition, the rods should be as smooth as possible and no longer have a wavy surface.
But the stem must not get too old either, otherwise it will become woody.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter of our partner 24garten.de.
If you only planted the rhubarb in the previous year, you should also give it some time to recharge your batteries.
It is actually only harvested from the second, better from the third year.
In order not to weaken the rhubarb plants, don't harvest too much at once - half of the stalks should always be left standing.
From June 24th (St. John's Day) rhubarb is traditionally no longer picked.
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Proper harvesting method is important
One of the common harvesting mistakes is to cut off the stalk with a knife.
However, doing so can rot the cut surfaces of the remaining plant or introduce pathogens, so use your hands to twist the stem out vigorously as close to the base as possible.
It is best to break off the flower bases, as they slow down the growth of the stems.
Incidentally, you do not have to dispose of the rhubarb leaves in the compost, because they are a good natural fertilizer as manure or extract.
List of rubrics: © Panthermedia/Imago