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Notebook · Guide 1 October 2026 · Grow your own

Forcing and dividing rhubarb: tender pink stems weeks early

Cover a rhubarb crown in midwinter and you'll pull pale, sweet stems weeks ahead of the main crop. How to force without exhausting the plant, how to divide old crowns, and the harvesting rules.

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A rhubarb crown in a winter vegetable bed covered with a tall terracotta forcing jar with a lid.
1Cover a rhubarb crown in midwinter to force it.

Forced rhubarb — pale pink, tender, sweet stems in early spring — is one of the treats of the grow-your-own year, and it's done with nothing more than a bucket. The trade-off is that forcing takes a lot out of a plant, so it's a treat for strong, established crowns, and not one to repeat on the same plant every year.

In pictures

  1. A cutaway of the forcing jar showing pale pink, long, tender rhubarb stems with small yellowish leaves growing in darkness.
    2In the dark, stems grow pale, pink and tender.
  2. A rhubarb stalk being harvested by holding it at the base and pulling with a gentle twist, not cut.
    3Harvest by pulling with a gentle twist at the base — don't cut.
  3. An old rhubarb crown lifted and being sliced into sections with a spade, each section with a fat pink bud.
    4Divide old crowns so each piece has roots and a fat bud.

01At a glance

  • Force: in midwinter (January is typical), on healthy crowns at least three years old.
  • Harvest forced stems: roughly 4–8 weeks after covering.
  • Divide: mid-autumn to early spring, about every five years.
  • Never force the same crown in consecutive years.

02Forcing, step by step

  1. Choose a strong crown that's been in the ground for three years or more. Early varieties such as 'Timperley Early' are a good choice.
  2. Clear old leaves and debris from around the crown.
  3. Cover the whole crown with a forcing jar, a tall bucket, a bin or a large deep pot, blocking out all light.
  4. Wait. The stems grow pale and long in the dark.
  5. Pull when the stems are about 30cm long — usually around 4–8 weeks later.
  6. Uncover the plant once you've harvested, and let it recover for at least a year before forcing it again.

03Dividing an old crown

Older, congested crowns produce thinner stems. Divide them while dormant, between mid-autumn and early spring.

  1. Lift the whole clump with a spade.
  2. Slice it into sections with a spade, each with a piece of root and at least one fat growing bud.
  3. Replant the best sections straight away, with plenty of organic matter. Discard the old, woody centre.

04Harvesting rules (unforced plants)

  1. Year one: don't harvest. Let it establish.
  2. Year two: take just a few stems.
  3. Year three onwards: take up to a third of the stalks at a time.
  4. How: hold the stalk near the base and pull with a gentle twist — don't cut it.
  5. Stop by late June or early July so the plant can build up for next year.

05Safety

Only the stems are eaten — the leaves are not. See our rhubarb profile for its safety flags. The RHS notes faded leaves can go on the compost.

Save your money
A bucket works as well as a terracotta forcer.
Divide instead of buying. One old crown makes several new plants.

How we checked this

Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.

Sources: RHS — How to grow rhubarb · RHS — How to force rhubarb for early crops

Checked 1 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.