Rhubarb in Spain

[Graye]

We have some friends visiting us in France at the moment. They normally live slightly inland from Malaga in southern Spain where the temerpatures are extremely hot in summer and can be really cold (snow and frost) in winter. They live on a very fertile plain which is just over 500m asl.

They want to grow both rhubarb and swedes for thier own consumption (amazing what you miss when you are an ex-pat!) and have in fact tried swedes already without success. I think we have established they can grow rhubarb by adjusting the growing season, planting the seeds in September. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for seed types etc? And any ideas on the swede growing?

[1810ss]

It will not grow well. Rhubarb plants grown from seed need 2 -3 years to establish before you can harvest anything, and they need a winter chilling to make them go dormant and grow properly in spring. If this doesn't happen they will keep growing and just get weaker. Most rhubarb is grown in the more northern parts of the UK- they like cooler wetter growing seasons. Those plants that are grwon in forcing sheds are crowns that have been lifted from outside in early Spring, and then put in to the sheds. They are usually useless after this and are thrown away. AFAIK there are no wamer climate cultivars.

It's basically the same sort of problem with Swede- they just aren't adapted to growing in warmer climates.

Greg

[Graye]

Thanks for that, I'll pass the information on. I do know the winters there are sometimes quite spectacularly cold so they may be able to con the plants a little with the right approach, but who knows. On the other hand I though parsnips were hard to grow here in southern France but I went to visit a neighbour (English) yesterday in our village and saw rows of really sturdy parnsip plants, looking ready to harvest. She told me they are English seeds, planted out in February. She plans to pull them all up next month but trial pulls suggest very tender sweet parnsips are under there!

[Graye]

I've also got a rhubarb crown ( bought from a nursery in North Yorkshire) here which has managed to produce some quite decent shoots in its first year - much to my surprise. I left them all on the plant and am hoping for better things next spring!

[hedgewitch]

Oh how I crave for rhubarb.
It is one thing I've never seen in any of the markets or shops over here, except the frozen and tinned ( ) kind.

[Clara]

I have established mine from seed (I sowed them in Spring this year) and they are going just fine. We are also Inland southern spain, with similar conditions to your friends. We are at 1000m, and perhaps unusually we have lots of shade and water. I have planted them out in semi-shade in a part of our land where there are multiple underground springs. It is worth noting that it wasn't until after I got them out of the pots that they really started to grow. The tap root had reached the bottom of the pot even though the plants themselves were only a few cms high. I think that they should be quite a few feet deep by now and sucking up water.

Plenty of people grow it where I live (though only expat Germans and English from what I can tell!) but I too have never seen the fresh stuff for sale.

I guess it all depends on the type of land your friends have. It if it is dry and exposed, then I suspect it is a no-go.

[Graye]

Thanks for that, I'll pass the info on. They aren't too far from you at all, just slightly north of Antequera in Malaga province, probably no more than 70 miles. I would think the temperatures are very similar even though you are probably nearer to coast (45 miles for them). We were there for 7 years and the variations from winter to summer were extreme, 45 degree summers and -10 winters quite often. They garden in large wooden tubs as they only have a patio so the soil quality is pretty good (she buys plenty of fresh compost and begs cabra manure to keep it productive).

[Odsox]

I'm not sure that rhubarb would grow at all well in containers.
I had to dig some established plants out earlier this year and their main tap roots were at least six feet long.
That would have to be some container.

[possum]

It will not grow well. Rhubarb plants grown from seed need 2 -3 years to establish before you can harvest anything, and they need a winter chilling to make them go dormant and grow properly in spring. If this doesn't happen they will keep growing and just get weaker. Most rhubarb is grown in the more northern parts of the UK- they like cooler wetter growing seasons. Those plants that are grwon in forcing sheds are crowns that have been lifted from outside in early Spring, and then put in to the sheds. They are usually useless after this and are thrown away. AFAIK there are no wamer climate cultivars.

It's basically the same sort of problem with Swede- they just aren't adapted to growing in warmer climates.

Greg

Sorry, but it just is not true. Swede grows exceptionally well here (much better than it did in the UK) and my rhubarb is 100 times more productive than in the UK. We don't get much frost (about 3 half hearted attempts a year) and summer temperatures up to 40C

[contadino]

Sorry, but it just is not true. Swede grows exceptionally well here (much better than it did in the UK) and my rhubarb is 100 times more productive than in the UK. We don't get much frost (about 3 half hearted attempts a year) and summer temperatures up to 40C

That's great to hear. So what happens? Do you let it die back in the dry spell, and then feed it well in the growing season(s)? Or do you keep watering it in 40º heat? I ask because I have really struggled to get some going - it grows, chucks out a few medium-sized leaves, the the heat gets it and I just can't give it enough water. We have a bit of snow each winter, some frosts, but very short spring and autumns - it just changes from mid-40's to less than 10º within about a week (and vice versa). The crowns were grown from seed 18 months ago.

[hedgewitch]

I'm not sure that rhubarb would grow at all well in containers.

Having got into a Rhubarb conversation with an old boy who has grown Rhubarb for years, he informed me that it will grow perfectly well in pots. He's going to bring me out a crown the next time he comes over so I'm just gonna give it a go and see how it goes.
I will, of course, let you all know.

[possum]

Sorry, but it just is not true. Swede grows exceptionally well here (much better than it did in the UK) and my rhubarb is 100 times more productive than in the UK. We don't get much frost (about 3 half hearted attempts a year) and summer temperatures up to 40C

That's great to hear. So what happens? Do you let it die back in the dry spell, and then feed it well in the growing season(s)? Or do you keep watering it in 40º heat? I ask because I have really struggled to get some going - it grows, chucks out a few medium-sized leaves, the the heat gets it and I just can't give it enough water. We have a bit of snow each winter, some frosts, but very short spring and autumns - it just changes from mid-40's to less than 10º within about a week (and vice versa). The crowns were grown from seed 18 months ago.

It dies back in winter, but shoots away again in spring, it gets a lot of water, we have an irrigation system on a timer so it is watered morning and evening, the cool times of the day, that is about it, it hasn't even had any manure on it. We are not short of water, so do not have to worry about being miserly with it.