Planting Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a cool season vegetable in the Polygonaceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
Transplant young plants outdoors 2–4 weeks before your last frost — Rhubarb tolerates cool conditions and benefits from an early start.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Rhubarb room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 36 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 48 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 0.08 |
| Planting depth | 2 inches |
| Sun requirement | Full sun |
Plan a square-foot bed with Rhubarb →
Calculate plants in a bed for Rhubarb →
Days to Maturity
Rhubarb reaches maturity in 365–730 days from sowing.
Rhubarb is ready to harvest after about 548 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season vegetable, Rhubarb does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Rhubarb needs full sun — give it at least six hours of direct light a day for the best growth and flavor. Sow seed about 2 inches deep, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Rhubarb belongs to the Polygonaceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Rhubarb is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
See Rhubarb in the full planting calendar for your ZIP →
Plan crop rotation for Polygonaceae →
Companion Plants
Pairing Rhubarb with the right neighbors can improve growth and deter pests; a few combinations are best avoided.
Grows well with: Cabbage, Broccoli
Check Rhubarb with other crops in your garden →
Growing Notes
Perennial; planted from crowns. Only stalks are edible.
Related Crops
Other crops you might grow alongside or instead of Rhubarb.
In the same family
Rhubarb is in the Polygonaceae family. Other Polygonaceae crops in the Gardenable database:
Documented companions
These crops are listed as good growing partners for Rhubarb:
Similar growing requirements
Crops with similar season and time to maturity — useful if you want a diverse garden on a similar schedule: