Poor Growth of Rhubarb

My rhubarb plants are over 20 years old. They always produced a bumper crop until recently. The stems are now spindly. I tried fertilizer but it just doesn’t seem to help. Are the plants too old? Should they be replaced?

Rhubarb can live much longer than your plants and still produce an abundance of stout tasty stems. A lack of sunlight can cause spindly growth and poor productivity. Look around your garden to see if any trees have matured, buildings been added or other shade producing landscape feature are reducing the amount of sunlight reaching your plants. If so, move your plants to a sunnier location early next spring. Over crowding can also result in poor growth. Digging and dividing your mature stand of rhubarb early next spring can give the plants more room to grow. Move extra divisions to another sunny part of the garden or share with friends.

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