🍎 Rhubarb
Rheum rhabarbarum
fruits perennial vegetable (used as fruit)
☀️ Sun
full sun to partial shade
💧 Water
consistently moist; heavy feeder; mulch deeply
🗺️ Zones
3–8
🪴 Soil Type
deep rich loam, heavily amended with compost/manure
🧪 Soil pH
5.5–6.8 (slightly acidic)
📏 Spacing
3-4 ft apart (large perennial crown; 4 ft between rows)
📅 Days to Maturity
1-2 years (from crown division); harvest lightly in second year, fully from third year
🍴 Edible Parts
🍽️ ["Fruit"]
🤝 Companions (7)
🤝 Garlic / Onions
Repel aphids and slugs; garlic's antifungal properties protect rhubarb crowns from rot
🤝 Columbine (Aquilegia)
Attracts pollinators; tall airy foliage doesn't shade rhubarb's large leaves
🤝 All brassicas
Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid — a spray made from leaves repels cabbage white caterpillars and aphids on brassicas
Complementary root depths; rhubarb's large leaves provide cooling shade for strawberries in hot weather
🤝 Perpetual spinach / Chard
Similar growing conditions; different root zones; chard benefits from rhubarb pest protection
Nutrient accumulator nearby; chop-and-drop feeds heavy-feeding rhubarb
🤝 Clover
Nitrogen source; living mulch between plants
⚠️ Keep Apart (4)
⚠️ Legumes (beans, peas)
Rhubarb's oxalic acid root exudates may inhibit legume growth; keep separated
⚠️ Sunflowers
Allelopathic properties of sunflower roots inhibit rhubarb; heavy nutrient competition
⚠️ Cucurbits
Differing water needs (rhubarb likes wet, squash likes moderate); space competition
⚠️ Walnut trees
Juglone sensitivity
💊 Medicinal Uses
Contains anthraquinones (rhein, emodin) with laxative properties in the root; oxalates and anthocyanins in stalks. Root (Rheum officinale) is a major TCM purgative and digestive remedy. Stalks are culinary only — leaves are TOXIC (high oxalates). Traditional European remedy for constipation, liver disorders, and as a blood tonic. Anthraquinones give strong purgative effect.