Rhubarb 'Timperley Early' is one of the earliest varieties that you can grow. It has a delicious flavour with red and pink stems.
I can be harvested as early as March. Timperley early has a good disease resistance and produces stalks almost 2ft long. We usuallly recommend that you don't harvest rhubarb the first yearr but with this variety you can harvest a few stems and harvest more in the second year.
How to care for rhubarb
Rhubarb loves and open, sunny corner with free draining fertile soil. Rhubarb needs a cold period before they start to put on growth. When planting, prepare the ground well by removing weeds and dig in composted manure. Plant them about 1 meter apart making sure the dormant buds are just below the surface of the soil.
It is important that the first year stalks are not harvested as this will adversly affect the plants growth.
If you want an early (usually more tender) crop of rhubarb, you can 'force' some early varieties - 'Timperley Early' is the best for this. Simply cover a healthy crown in mid-winter with a terracotta pot or tall bucket. This can be insulated (which will speed up the process even more), by packing some straw or compost around the outside of the lower part of the pot. The shoots will soon appear and these should be harvested within 2 - 4 weeks. A crown that has been forced, should be allowed to produce its crop naturally in the following year.
What to know
- Pot size: 3 Litre
- Eventual plant height and spread: 1m x 60cm
- Plant in full sun or partial shade.
- Will do fine in any soil.
- Does not like water logged soil.
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