Gardeners have plenty to keep them busy in the middle of summer as it is now peak harvesting season, but you may be pleased to learn that rhubarb is one crop you needn’t concern yourself with. Mertie Mae, a gardening expert and founder of Horticulture Talk, is encouraging gardeners to stop harvesting their rhubarb in July and leave the plant undisturbed if they want it to continue thriving.
She said: “Allowing the plant to grow for the rest of the summer will give it the sugars and nutrients needed to get it through the winter and allow it to produce well the next year.”
Rhubarb will continue to produce stalks during summer, but persistent harvesting means the plant won’t have sufficient time to recuperate before the cold weather descends in autumn.
View 3 ImagesIf you keep harvesting rhubarb then it will be much weaker and might not grow back next year(Image: Getty)
Rhubarb returns each year thanks to a plant component called rhizomes, which stores the sugars and nutrients the plant requires to endure cold temperatures and regenerate in spring.
The stalks support the leaves for photosynthesis, and if left alone now, the plant will begin converting energy into additional sugar and nutrients to sustain itself through winter, reports the Express.
Continuously picking the rhubarb stalks will leave the plant considerably depleted of energy, causing it stress and disrupting its natural growth cycle.
It becomes far less likely to produce stalks the following year, and any crop it does yield will be thin, small and potentially bitter. In certain instances, the plant may also be far too feeble to endure winter, and it might fail to return the following spring.
View 3 ImagesGardeners will be thrilled to hear that the best way to keep rhubarb healthy is to just leave it alone so you can spend your summer relaxing instead(Image: Getty)
July also tends to be an exceptionally dry period for plants, which places rhubarb under considerable strain, meaning any stalks developing at this time of year won’t be nearly as succulent or flavoursome as before.
Mertie Mae said: “The lower amount of available water and the lower amount of sugar (because the reserve from the previous year has been used in spring) make the stalks thin and of a poorer quality.”
If you’re keen to maintain a healthy rhubarb plant, all that’s required is to leave it alone and allow it to grow naturally.
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Continue removing any flowers from the rhubarb whenever you spot them, as this can divert energy away from the roots and prevent the plant from building up its reserves ahead of winter.
Be sure to keep watering it at least once a week and whenever the soil feels parched, as it needs every bit of assistance it can get throughout the hot, sunny months.
Leaving rhubarb undisturbed to die back and tend to itself will reward you with a flourishing plant come next spring, one that’ll produce thick, red stalks for you to savour.