Rhubarb Flowering: What To Do When Rhubarb Bolts and Goes To Seed
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Your rhubarb has bolting and started flowering – learn what causes this and what to do about it.
It’s very early spring and you walk out to your rhubarb patch for the first time since last Fall and gasp: Your rhubarb has already bolted.
Usually when edible plants go to seed it’s the end of those plants, at least for that season. But when it happens to rhubarb there are three things you should know:
#1 Don’t panic. #2 Don’t throw in the towel on your rhubarb. #3 Everything’s going to be just fine.
In fact, discovering rhubarb seed pods and rhubarb flower stalks is perfectly normal.
Why is My Rhubarb Bolting?
There are a few reasons why your rhubarb plants may be bolting: Seed pods and flower stalks usually don’t grow on younger rhubarb plants but they are common on more mature plants that are at least 3 years old. Our rhubarb plants have been tended by one home owner after the other for the past 100 years! And we get several flower stalks per rhubarb plant. Dividing the crowns of mature plants every few years resets the maturity clock so to speak and reduces flowering.
Another factor that influences the growth of flower stalks is the variety of rhubarb. Some are more likely to flower than others. Old-fashioned varieties such as Victoria and MacDonald continuously produce seed pods whereas other varieties like Canada Red and Valentine are less likely to bolt. These and other modern varieties are bred to flower less often.
Heat can also cause rhubarb to bolt. Rhubarb does best in cool weather and if you’re having a particularly warm Spring it can cause the rhubarb to bolt. Be sure to give your rhubarb plant adequate water.
Other stressors can also cause rhubarb to bolt, such as insect or animal damage to the leaves or a lack of nutrients.
Still, even when all proper care and precautions are taken, it’s very natural for rhubarb plants to bolt.
What To Do When Rhubarb Bolts
Rhubarb flowers are pretty and it’s almost a shame to cut them down. Do you have to? No, they won’t actually harm the plant. Nor will they affect the flavor of the rhubarb.
But they will greatly limit your harvest.
The simple reason is that it takes a plant a lot of energy to produce flowers and seeds and that is energy is being diverted from producing the actual edible stalks. A rhubarb plant that is allowed to go to seed won’t yield as large of a harvest as it otherwise would have.
Ideally you really want to avoid letting your rhubarb plant even get to the point where there are flower stalks.
Initially these long shoots start off as a seed pod at the base of the plant. As soon as you notice these seed pods remove them.
To remove them use a sharp knife at cut them as close to the base of the plant as possible.
If they’re not removed the seeds pods will grow into a long stalk and flower at the top, diverting even more energy away from the production of edible stalks. Remove these flower stalks by cutting them with a sharp, clean knife as close to the base of the plant as possible. Flower stalks are harder to remove than regular stalks are by twisting and pulling so you’ll most likely need to use a knife to cut them.
I’ve heard the flower stalks are edible but remove and discard the flowers and leaves.
Aren’t those pretty?
Rhubarb flowers last a long time. Try putting them in a vase for a more exotic flower arrangement.
With your seed pods and flower stalks removed your rhubarb plant can now focus its energy and producing a delicious and healthy yield of edible rhubarb stalks. Continue checking your plant frequently for new seeds pods and promptly remove them.
Happy harvest!
Ready to eat some rhubarb? Check out these yummy recipes!
Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Oat and Buckwheat Waffles with Rhubarb Compote and Vanilla Cream
Article originally published on The Daring Gourmet April 1, 2016
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
This was very helpful, I have a rhubarb that must be very old as it has been here since we moved in twenty years ago. I tried to dig it up as it was in a bad spot iand it kept on growing, I hacked it, have run over it with the lawn mower to no avail it has thrived its enourmous…I completely ignore it and gave away tons of it this year. I have a freezer full of it. Muffins, pies and cakes,compotes… sigh ..even after it bolts it keeps producing…its overtaken my small garden!
Maybe I should pay attention to it and see if the opposite happens!!
The article refers to what are flower buds as seed pods. The plant has to flower before seed pods form.
Thank you for the info. I went back to my childhood farm and found six large rhubarb plants all with 3 or more large flowering stalks that had dried and were dropping seed. I harvested much of the rhubarb but found that the rhubarb had no smell to it at all. Some had a little scent at the middle of the stalk but not near the leaf or root end. It did not have the typical sweet, sour scent I love. Any ideas? Not sure what it willl taste like if I use it or if it is unsafe somehow. I am not sure if it had been harvested the last couple years.
Hi Shari, it’s perfectly safe, so that doesn’t need to be a concern. If it hasn’t been harvested the past couple of years the issue is likely that the crowns need to be split. I’ve noticed with my own rhubarb that if I let them keep growing without splitting them and they become overcrowded as a result, the flavor and quality of the rhubarb is greatly compromised.
Thank you for posting this. I have rhubarb planted in two spots. One in my garden and one behind the house where it gets full (hot) sun. The one in the warmer spot flowers. I was at a wedding and in a vase were long beautiful rhubarb stalks, so I kept those plants flowering and I wondered why that patch was not as thick as my garden. I make fresh rhubarb crisp every weekend. Can anyone recommend the best recipe for preserving rhubarb?
Rhubarb crisp is probably my most favorite way to enjoy rhubarb :) I have a ton of rhubarb in my garden as well that I want to preserve long-term and am planning on working on a strawberry-rhubarb dessert sauce for canning. I also want to experiment with a rhubarb BBQ sauce.
Tricia – Warwick RI
Thank you for all the posting on this subject. I grew up eating rhubarb on my grandparents farm. I was finally able to get 2 plants from a local gardener a few years back. It was very difficult to find. I just found the flowers on my plant this year (about 3 years old). I hadn’t known rhubarb would flower. After reading the many posts, I have since cut and arranged the flowers along with my lilacs in a vase. It makes a lovely flower arrangement. I’m hoping the rhubarb continues to grow healthier.
Wonderful, Tricia! Yes, removing those flowers will divert the energy back into growing the edible stalks.
Thank you for your wisdom relating to bolting rhubarb yes I love eating it and have always wanted to grow it dad always did brothers always did no one except me has ever seen one bolt I bought it in a nursery and for the first year I left it as that was the advice given don’t eat for the first year after that it bolted I then spl it and again it bolted this year I have seven shoots night mare
Not thinking about the phone for help all the gardeners I asked said they have never seen such a thing before I therefor Chavez decided on my own remedie I have ripped off everything down to the soil Next I covered it with farm yard poo (sorry it’s easier to spell than manonmuier ha ha) and peat compost
Will I ever see it again?
Hi, fortunately rhubarb is a pretty hardy plant and as long as the roots themselves weren’t disturbed it will probably be fine.
I had never had any luck in growing rhubarb, buying it and planting it year after year, only to watch it whither away until it was no more. My mom planted rhubarb and just ignored it and it grew waist high with thick stalks. Three years ago I planted some and watched it grow puny skinny stalks, turn yellow, and then it was gone, but the following spring it came back for the first time ever, so I decided to try chicken manure on one of my three plants and it grew better, bigger and greener with thicker stalks. This year I put manure on all the plants and they are doing much better but the biggest one has started to flower, which is why I came to this site. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the tips, Dale! We just got chickens for the first time this past weekend – 5 of them and will be adding a couple more. We’ll definitely be putting the manure to use in our garden :)
I planted two new plants last year. Both did very good and I didn’t harvest any stalks. We had a very warm spring SE South Dakota. Now both plants are flowering. One is advanced to the point stalks are 2’+. If I understand the info, I should cut this all out. Correct?
Hi Todd, the flowering stalks are 2′? If there’s a flower bud on the end of the stalk, yes, remove it. Any time there are flowers growing it diverts energy and growth away from the edible stalks to the flowers and you’ll want to remove them as soon as you see them beginning to grow.
We live in SE Mn and have never had any of our rhubarb bolt until this year. Walked out after we had snow to see how the plants faired and notice a very thick stalk, last week it was a couple of inches in diameter as well with a seed pod opening plus a few more starting. This was on a Canada Red. Cut it off.