My little rhubarb seedlings hardened off in a large pot are dramatically increasing their leaf size, though to my eye they still don't resemble large rhubarb leaves.
Should I consider transplanting them into a small bed, and then in the fall when it is cooler individually transplanting them with proper spacing?
This year I'm going to do some sort of shade cloth or lath or screen shade for last year's rhubarb plants which really didn't like the July/August afternoon NV sun, and the same for this year's little started from seed rhubarb. (The large first year rhubarb plants from last year already had a taste of heat and hot sun this year, as our May temperatures were recordsetting highs.)
rhubarb seedlings
Gosh Tashak , I dont think any of us desert gardeners have tried to grow rhubarb. I havent. But as in all desert conditions, I would protect any thing that is not a tough desert plant. The shade cloth is a great idea. I could never get any shade cloth to stay put. It made a great wind sail! I get a bitter taste , from some veggies , due to the hot dry air. Turnips especially. I just thought I would put in my 2 cents here seein how this post has gone unanswered.
Rhubarb prefers partial shape in cool humusy soil. So plan on thick mulch around plant and may be some misting to go with the shade cloth or lattice.
Marshseed and Michelle, we'll see very soon when wind comes up lol if my three-sided old sheet shade enclosure (W, S, and E)turns into a windsail or not by the new rhubarb seedlings. 4:30 PST update: not quite a windsail, mainly because the 6' x 3' old cotton sheeting is anchored by rocks (didn't want it blowing across someone's windshield) but I definitely should have dug deeper for the sticks, which are doing a teepee slant in the now past 20 mph usual SW wind..
I have zucchini plants encompassing one of last year's Rhubarb, and just did a stout stick (old poplar wood anchored by rocks and yarn) trellis for transplant of future climbing stuff along one side of the largest last year's rhubarb.
Compost straw everywhere, rocks around the basins. Anything that likes it humid is out of luck here, but guess I'll know in another year or so if all this stuff works.
PS. Something in the tomato patch has devoured leaves of newly transplanted tomatillos--time to sic the cat on the chukars? Everything else there is untouched, and transplanted tomatillo in another location in its own basin is okay. .Chukars make an easy scapegoat since I actually saw one of them pluck up the two leaves of my tiny little yucca in another basin.
This message was edited Monday, Jul 9th 6:10 PM
This message was edited Monday, Jul 9th 7:48 PM
My goodness!!! What a lot of work! Well now the winds here would STILL take that for a RIDE! No matter what I do! You should have seen me just trying to keep my staked baby trees from being blown over the first year!I out there wrestling them from being blown over! hammering in stakes and attaching them with pantyhose. Trying to save them . I even had to take off some of the tops to make them not so top heavy. Have you ever seen a swingset go flying!? and Hammocks are really a treat to see flying through the air!!!
Time to rethink wind barriers, folks. We don't have to make a solid barrier because the wind will just pass over or around with much more turbulence. Better is a combination of "depth and porosity and height."
Two or three layers of wind-resisters are better than one because the wind energy is more absorbed.
A porous or broken barrier will reduce turbulent air flow and wind velocity better than a solid barrier which just redirects the energy (to oversimplify.)
A low barrier forces air up and over in turbulent flow. Stand at the leeside wall of your house and start walking down wind until you feel the strong wind. See how far from the house you walked and how tall the house is. That will give you some idea about wind-shadow effect of a barrier.
Many folks try to be too protective of new trees that often were raised with a stake and cannot survive without staking because the trunk has no strength that comes from movement. In time, if properly restaked, the tree trunk will grow stronger. I use a combination of stakes and guy wires tying the stakes to the ground. That way the tree can move between the stakes but the stakes are anchored to the earth in a secure fashion.
I hear ya Marshseed! I am talking , the TREE WAS BLOWING DOWN! To the ground! Going to go roots up! I wasnt being overprotective. Hee hee. Well I under stand what you are saying. It helps build the strength of the tree. I also know the proper way to sling the tree. In more that one direction. And testing the wind. I was just teasing Sis a little. But for the gardeners who dont already know this ,it is all a very helpful conversation. She knows exactly what I am going thru. Yeah Sis , in all directions at 40 to 60 sometimes 80 mile gusts! I heard there was a Tornado in Joshua Tree, My grandmother said she saw a video of it on a New Mexico TV news show. There a was a few years back here the whole area had insurance adjusters out to assess the damage from a very bad wind storm. We received 1200. for our roof repairs. Now we have supplies on hand , shingles. and nails and so on for the repairs. After a paticulary bad windstorm we check our roofs, regularly.
Interim update on rhubarb seedlings: We had one week this month of lovely highs of only mid80's temperature, and are now back to high 90's/100s. Rhubarb seedling leaves were less than dime-sized when transplanted, and now are quarter-to-half-dollar size.
Always forget to take my ironing spray bottle to garden since I haven't ironed in months, so I've been spraying the old sheet with hose when I water them--lol, probably gives them at most 5-10 minutes of humidity! They get minimal shade (filtered, maybe one hour a day) from neighbor's tree, and in hotter weather I've starting teepeeing the stick/sheet arrangement over them, usually between 1-5 PM if I'm home then. Anyway, leaves are much bigger and more numerous; I don't know what is working but whatever it is, I'm grateful to it.
And last year's two rhubarb plants seem to enjoy the company of yellow summer squash bushes growing around them in circles; those squash are producing now.
Wonder if the same things would work with seed-started asparagus? Shall have to start some more and try.
This summer's transplanted rhubarb seedlings from seed now have leaves the size of the palm of my hand. Guess they like being covered with the damp old white sheet (supported by sticks) around one PM or 2 PM each day (if I'm home then).
Temps here are back in 90's/low 100's. It's been hazy and smoky the last few days due to the fires, including the Blue Canyon CA one. I'm trying to keep up with the watering in case that fire gets the power line to Reno--I don't know if that would affect our water district way out here, but just in case it would affect the pumping action of the local district's water wells, I'd like to be prepared. Going out to fill some more containers.
When my rhubarb made seeds this year I wondered about planting them. Guess I'll go see if there are any left to save or if the birds got them.
On the subject of windbreaks (maybe should be a new thread?) Yeah, I will do it that way. See Windbreaks.
Rhubarb seedling leaves are handsize (palm and finger length together) long now, and higher. I've had to change to taller sticks to drape the cotton sheet (shade cloth) over them during the hotter part of the afternoon.
Incidentally I've begun doing the same scrap sheet shadecloth thing for the newly transplanted leafy greens (spinach,water spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, etc.) that aren't sheltered by large leafed vines like Italian squash. It seems to be working for them too, better than the straw, as they aren't shriveling up as some of them did last year. And the ground under the afternoon shadecloth isn't drying out as fast, either, even though we're back to high 90s/100 for at least six hours or more daily.