Dead Rhubarb - What happened?

[AkionTotocha]

I bought a Timperly Early Rhubarb from B&Q in about March. It was a potted crown with two leaves growing from it but very small - the biggest leaf was about 12 inches from crown to leaf tip.

Now, it was very healthy and the stalks were strong. But the ground was solid so I couldn't even dig the soil to plant it.

So it waited in it's pot in the conservatory, but then started to wilt. So I watered it, and it didn't change condition. My dad suggested that perhaps the warmth was making it droop, so it went outside for a while and still it was all droopy.

In a final effort to try and save it, I planted it in a hole with compost and chicken pellets, but as I was planting it, it... fell apart? All the leaves (Including one that was partially submerged in the crown part) fell out, leaving a miserable brown lump in the soil. It's not shown any other signs of life since - so I've accepted that it's probably 'moved on to the other side'

But what I want to know is: Where did it all go wrong?

[rustylady]

Did it dry out completely before you watered it?

[WendyC]

It sounds like overwatering to me and the crown rotted.

[Bigmallly]

It's not shown any other signs of life since - so I've accepted that it's probably 'moved on to the other side'

Accept nothing from Rhubarb AT, if there was to be one immortal plant then Rhubarb would be a strong contender.

[alldigging]

I had two I planted out fail to thrive. I've dug them up and the root seems intact so I've shoved it in a pile of muck where it can do as it wants.

[mrbadexample]

I also think it sounds like overwatering and rotting. You could possibly save it, if it's big enough, by digging it up and trimming off all the mushy brown bits. Then replant and hope.

[AkionTotocha]

Well I will certainly be digging it up, then. But it's good to know what I did wrong so I can know what to avoid

[boatsman]

My rhubarb plant is growing OK but I get a lot of spindly shoots coming off that soon die and dry up. I have top dressed with bio compost and after watering the plant seems OK. The plant is about three years old and I haven't yet harvested any stalks. I wanted to divide the crown last winter but didn't want to take the risk of killing it. I've noticed that in hot weather the plant tends to droop but after a good watering it's OK again. Any advice anyone?

[rustylady]

My rhubarb plant is growing OK but I get a lot of spindly shoots coming off that soon die and dry up. I have top dressed with bio compost and after watering the plant seems OK. The plant is about three years old and I haven't yet harvested any stalks. I wanted to divide the crown last winter but didn't want to take the risk of killing it. I've noticed that in hot weather the plant tends to droop but after a good watering it's OK again. Any advice anyone?

Is it in the ground or in a pot?

[boatsman]

It was originally in a pot when I received it but for the last eighteen months it's been it the ground. The soil is clayey so when I planted it I dug a much larger hole (around, not deeper) and filled in around the plant with potting mix and biocompost. The plant is connected to a watering system of drippers and is covered around the base with a mulch of small pieces of porous volcanic rock which prevents water loss from evaporation.

[FB.]

I posted the following on an apple tree thread regarding crown and root rot symptoms - and it should mostly apply to any plant which is prone to rots (which includes fruit trees, rhubarb, strawberries):

Smallish leaves.
Slightly sparse leaves.
Relatively poor growth.
Purple areas near veins of leaves in autumn.
Unusually large amount of blossom (bolting) in spring.
Trees (plants) wilt easily in summer.
Highly coloured fruit.

Quite often, the plant arrived carrying the disease and it was a matter of when - not if - the plant would eventually succumb. Don't buy any further plants from a supplier once you know their products are potentially diseased.

However, even previously healthy plants can become infected from wind-blown fungal spores and rain splash - especially in heavy soils, but also in dry soils which are irrigated more than once per week for more than an hour constant watering; it's as much to do with prolonged water flow through the soil as it is the absolute amount of water.
A long sprinkler run is worse than a heavy downpour which drains away after half an hour.

Planting crowns (rhubarb or strawberry) too deep can also encourage rots, as can mulching too close to the base of the plant (since compost mulches tend to get saturated and hold water which encourages fungal root rots).