Despite the fact that this useful garden plant (Buckwheat family) has been cultivated in our country since ancient times, many of our readers do not know what rhubarb is.
For the first time, a great Russian scientist-geographer, traveler N. M. Przhevalsky from Southeast Asia brought the cultivated plant to Russia. Later, the plant was discovered in the Far East, in Siberia, in the Caucasus.
What is rhubarb?
The correct culinary classification of this plant is quite difficult to give. Juicy petioles of its leaves should probably be attributed to leafy greens, although they taste very much like apples. And they are used in cooking just like fruits: for making toppings for pies, compotes, preserves.
The value of this plant also lies in the fact that it ripens in early spring, when fruit and berry crops are still blooming in our gardens. Cultivated plant varieties have a delicate taste of petioles, are characterized by early maturity and productivity.
But back to the main question of our article: what is rhubarb and why do gardeners grow it on their sites for decades? This is a herbaceous perennial plant (buckwheat family) with a powerful developed root. It consists of a short oblong rhizome and large roots.
The stem is tall and powerful, reaching a height of three meters, covered with red spots. The leaves of rhubarb, located at the roots, are very large, with numerous plates. On the stem, the leaves are smaller. Rhubarb begins to bloom in early June with pink or white flowers. Fruits (brown nuts) ripen in two weeks.
Its aboveground part dies in the winter, but the rhizome can live on one site for decades. Under natural conditions, rhubarb grows in China in Tibet, the Far East, in the foothills of Central and South Asia, in the Caucasus.
A bit of history
Rhubarb was cultivated several millennia ago, and came to Europe from the Middle Ages from China. Caravans carried the dried roots of the plant, which they called the "yellow root." They were used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases. In addition, the roots were used as a natural dye.
Nowadays, rhubarb is grown to produce tasty and healthy petioles, especially popular in European countries for healing rhizomes, and is also used as a beautiful ornamental plant in landscape design.
Rhubarb Harvesting
With proper care and proper planting, rhubarb builds up leaf mass until fall, however it is a seasonal product. Petioles of the earliest varieties are eaten from the beginning of regrowth to mid-June, later varieties can be used until mid-July. Then they become sinewy, tough, tasteless, besides organic acids accumulate in them.
Rhubarb lovers can harvest petioles in the form of marmalade, compote, marinade, jam.
Beneficial features
Rhubarb is rich in mineral and pectin substances, vitamins. This is a dietary product in which there is practically no fat. Rhubarb has a slight diuretic effect, increases the secretory activity of the stomach, improves blood composition. Rhubarb is useful for improving skin condition.
Types of Rhubarb
Nowadays, in cultivated gardens and orchards, both cultivated varietal forms of plants and wild, species are found. The latter are attractive with decorative, unpretentious care.
- Medicinal rhubarb. It is huge in size: the leaves of the plant reach one and a half meters in length, and flower stalks exceed human growth.
- Noble rhubarb. The plant forms a tall "cob", consisting of large corrugated leaf plates.
- Rhubarb rhubarb. His second name is Tangug. This species is interesting with highly dissected bright leaves and raspberry flowers that are crowned with tall peduncles.
- Vegetable rhubarb. This species is recommended as a garden plant. Cultivars of this species have juicy and thick petioles, with a pleasant taste, and they do not coarse for a long time.
Rhubarb: varieties (most popular)
Today there are more than a hundred varieties of this plant, however, not all of them have spread in Russia.
- Variety Victoria is one of the earliest and most fruitful. It has a great taste. The length of the petioles does not exceed 60 centimeters. According to gardeners, the variety Victoria has a drawback - too abundant flowering.
- Moskovsky-42 is one of the earliest varieties with high productivity and excellent taste. The petioles are seventy centimeters long, and their thickness is more than three centimeters. Petioles are smooth, painted green and have a red stripe at the base.
- Ogrsky-13 is a high-yielding mid-season variety. It develops well and forms petioles in the shade. The pulp of thick and long petioles is very tender and juicy. Two generative shoots are formed on the plant.
- Coarse - grained is a very early variety, which forms a powerful rosette of leaves, with dark red petioles. Their length is not more than 60 cm and a width of 2.5 cm. They have a pleasant taste and delicate pulp.
- Gigantic - this variety belongs to the late ones, which pleases with the harvest, when the early varieties have already bloomed and coarsened. Petioles are huge, up to one meter long with a thickness of up to four centimeters, red.
Rhubarb planting
You can choose almost any place for planting a plant - it also feels great in partial shade, near farm buildings, between trees. Rhubarb is frost and drought tolerant because it has a powerful root system. But it is preferable if the soil under the bush is neutral, slightly clayey, so that the moisture that rhubarb needs is better retained. Its landing is carried out after a good preliminary digging of the site, organic and complex fertilizers, ash are introduced into it.
It is advisable to plant rhubarb seeds in winter immediately in a permanent place. They will germinate in the spring, as soon as a stable plus temperature is established. Sprouts are not afraid of short-term frosts to -7 ° C.
On one site, rhubarb can grow for decades. But over time, it thickens, the leaves become much smaller, the petioles lose their juiciness and sweetness. Therefore, vegetable varieties are preferably planted every ten years. This is a long time, so when planting a bush should be provided with nutrients for many years.
What you need to know when planting rhubarb?
Planting implies the presence of quite large planting pits, almost the same as under fruit seedlings: a depth of at least 50 cm. They are filled with fertile soil and humus. Superphosphate and a handful of ash must be added to each pit.
Care
After harvesting, the bush is fed, sprinkling a bucket of humus with mineral fertilizers under it. In spring, the soil under the bush is only loosened, watered if necessary. In the spring, only decorative species can be fed, since their leaves and cuttings do not go into food.
Rhubarb is unpretentious in leaving and easily tolerates small errors of agricultural technology. Caring for this plant is quite simple, a novice gardener can cope with it. It involves the following activities:
- loosening of soil in the spring, after its heating;
- Autumn digging of the soil, up to 30 cm deep;
- harvesting with breaking off, rather than pruning petioles;
- pruning of the aerial parts of the plant during the onset of frosty days.
Top dressing
Plant care includes feeding, based on:
- in the autumn, at least eight kilograms of organic fertilizer per square meter (peat compost or manure);
- in the spring make 30 grams of ammonium nitrate, which should be supplemented with potassium salt and superphosphate;
- once a season it is necessary to add the following composition under the bush: for ten liters of water, add a teaspoon (with a slide) of urea, a tablespoon of nitrophosphate and 500 grams of mullein.
Breeding
So, we found out what rhubarb is and how to grow it on a personal plot. It remains to talk about how it can be propagated if you need more healthy and tasty petioles.
Rhubarb is propagated by seed and vegetatively. The second option involves the division of an adult bush (no more than five years old). This method is not recommended during flowering.
The division of the bush is carried out in spring or early autumn (before frost). Divide the dug bush into several parts. For planting, a healthy root with two to three large apical buds, which are buried no more than two centimeters, is suitable.
If you prefer the propagation of rhubarb seeds, then they should be soaked in water for ten hours. To collect seeds from your bush, leave the most developed peduncle from a three-year-old plant. After the inflorescences become brown, the seeds can be collected and dried.