rhubarb and potato questions

[Cornbelt]

Rhubarb question:  We have a clump of rhubarb that keeps dying. Moved it (again) last night hoping a change would be good, but the roots are rotting. Soil wasn't wet. Could this be a critter, or...?
 
Potato question: Thought we might have some new potatos, but no luck; all tops and roots, but no taters. Looked under several plants and nothing, except on a volunteer plant from last yr. How long does it take them to grow a couple nubs ?

[steg]

Rhubarb---Take out the worst looking clump, and dissect the roots, if their is a critter in there you'll find it,and if their was all you were doing was giving it a ride to a new location by transplanting it, if it is a critter a good dose of Seven should cure it, may have to repeat the dosage later on, if it isn't a critter I don't know, I'm not familliar with the plant in itself.

Potatoes---did they flower yet? I think your jumping the gun on them, take one plant and use it as yor standard for testing. CAREFULLY remove the soil from the plant on opposite sides of the row, and you can check the progress of the plant, replacing the soil CAREFULLY when you are finished........steg

[Cornbelt]

Thanks. I'll check the taters in another month, maybe they will have bloomed out by then and started concentrating on roots instead of seeds.
   The rhubarb we trimed the bad roots out, but didn't see anything . If it dies, I'll hit up the neighbor lady for another start. She has sand while we've got clay. She not only grows better rhubarb, but her gooseberries are prolific. We've given up on gooseberries here. Maybe rhubarb prefers sand too.

[steg]

It's tough to grow anything in clay, needs lots of compost to bring it around, that's what I started with when I moved here thirty years ago, I used to haul in truckloads of anything that would compost, and it didn't take all that long to turn it into a nice loam, stay away from using hay as a mulch, use straw instead, I still have wierd weeds coming up after the hay was used twenty years ago. The same goes for manures horse and cow, compost them for a season to kill the grain in it, after all it's designed to pass through the animal and get replanted in a pile of fertilizer..............steg

[Bob Riebe]

Rhubarb needs a lot of moisture but not wet soil; it needs an acidic humus to do best; if you really want Rhubarb, dig a hole approx. three feet deep, and sixteen inches wide, make sure the bottom is loose and then put in bagged potting soil, and sand with some black dirt.
Fertilize it with acidic fertilizer, I use Rose alternately with regular liquid, use some root boost and granular for starting.

Do NOT pick any rhubarb for the first year, and make it two if you want it to not die.

[steg]

Thanks for the info Bob, I didn't know any of that...............steg

[JBlk]

You might be one of those people who just can't grow rubarb.My Grandfather thought that was the greatest crop that ever was given to man, but he couldn't grow it.He farmed all of his life and grew huge garden that fed his family, but no rubarb.Try having your Wife plant the next crop and see what happens.

[Cornbelt]

Good ideas all. And I might sneak a clump in the Better Half's flower bed. No doubt it would get more attention that way.