What it is
Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is in the Polygonaceae (Knotweed) family. A tart perennial stalk for pies — challenging in Texas heat, best in cooler microclimates or as a cool-season trial.
How to grow it
It wants full sun to part shade, water it even, and give it rich, well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–6.8. Space plants about 36 in apart. Expect roughly Year 2+. Cool-climate perennial (tricky in TX).
How it's used
Rhubarb is used: cooked stalks (pies, sauce).
🔎 How to identify it
- Huge crinkled leaves
- Thick red/green stalks
- Crown-forming
Edibility
How to grow & propagate rhubarb
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate rhubarb
This family — sorrel, dock, buckwheat, rhubarb — grows easily from seed, and the perennial members (sorrel, rhubarb) clump up and can be divided in early spring. Buckwheat is so fast from seed it's used as a quick cover crop, flowering in about three weeks.
Growing rhubarb in Texas
Give it full sun to part shade and rich, well-drained soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
Keep moisture even, especially while it's young — deep, less-frequent soaks build better roots than a daily sprinkle.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly year 2+ before you're harvesting. Harvest at peak and keep harvesting — most vegetables produce harder the more you pick, and one left to over-mature tells the plant its job is done. The part you're after: stalks only.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.