Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A quick search here reveals 15 pages of hits of people successfully growing rhubarb in their systems. I haven't read them all. Before I go and dig up a crown from my garden here to take into the system at work is there anything I need to be aware of? I know rhubarb leaves are toxic to eat (but my bloody chooks seem to eat them anyway with no ill effects over the last 4 years), so are the plants likely to leach anything into the water? What do you do with the crowns in winter when they die right back to nothing (well... they do here in a Tassie winter anyway)?

I've never had a problem with rhubarb.... and I've never had it "die back" even in winter... well here in NSW anyway...

Yeah... when the temps get down to -7 or -8 and I get half an inch of ice over things with on and off snow they die back to crowns. I cover them with pea straw in the winter to help protect the crowns.

If it was -7 or -8.... I'd be dieing back... and would want a bloody beanie to protect my crown....

Or a plane ticket out of there....

The summers make up for it Long hot days and mild nights... Winters are cold and wet with really short days.

Looking at transplanting a crown into our system. Looks like they grow well. Ours in the garden is having a hard time so will move some and see how it goes?

Anyone got any idea how long it takes for rhubarb to start turning red? Mine seems to be taking forever..

I found the stalks get redder over time.
My first crop were all green, second had red spots on the stalk, now onto my third and they have a red base that slowly starts going green towards the leaf.
Don't worry about the colour anyway, taste is the same, and that's all that matters

The only thing to be aware of is that it will probably take over your grow bed

Maybe you could make a small greenhouse for your grow bed to keep the frost off?

Some plants stay green all the time- it still tastes just fine though, I've had a couple of crowns in the dirt garden for about 3 years and they are still mostly green, just a hint of red on the lower stems.

Thanks dudes

Yea it is taking over an entire GB although everything that I grow now is really just for chewing 'ates' till I leave. Now that I know I can harvest some rhubarb I can finally make that crumble Ive been waiting for.... woop woop!

hi all,

my rhubarb plant is in a small bucket sized pot (about ten liters).

i drilled a hole in the side, gave it the smallest trickle of water needed and it has grown to a full size plant with pups in a season from a piece of root stock i got from Aldi.

i would suggest getting the smallest pump and running a separate line to a rhubarb plant (or several). it will save on growing media. as long as you have a main bed for the bacteria/water ratio.

i'm glad that others have eaten the green stalks and are fine. i haven't touched my plant. although ive harvested most of it now as the cold weather has started to set in and it hasn't being doing so well.

a note on the pot: i used a 10L pot as part of an experiment but it really has bowed out on the sides. next season it will have a bigger pot. i think 20L should be sufficeint.