What Should Not Be Planted Near Rhubarb?

Rhubarb is an easy perennial vegetable to cultivate in your garden, taking several years to mature fully. Simply designate an area for it in your garden where its growth can thrive.

Some vegetables make good companions for rhubarb, while others should be placed further away as certain crops attract insects that could harm it. Rhubarb should always be planted on its own as certain plants attract aphids or insects that could damage it in any case.

Sunflowers and Thistles

Sunflowers and thistles can be troublesome to rhubarb plants because they attract pests that damage it. Rhubarb curculio weevils feed on sunflower and thistle seeds, so they could devour your rhubarb plants as well. Therefore, it’s wiser to place them further from where your plants are planted if possible; otherwise these flowers could block out sunlight necessary for its healthful development.

Chives make ideal companion plants for rhubarb gardens as they help deter curculio beetles and other insect pests from entering. Aromatic herbs such as sage, oregano and parsley also emit an aromatic scent which repels such pests; especially beneficial when grown in heavy clay soil where their aromatic scent helps aerate the soil.

Marigolds make ideal companion plants for rhubarb gardens as they repel many insect pests that damage it while helping suppress root-knot nematodes. Furthermore, their chemicals help promote robust rhubarb growth – so consider planting Marigolds around your patch so as to get maximum benefit from them!

Beans make an excellent complement for rhubarb plants, improving both their quality of produce as well as providing them with additional nutrition. Beans can even serve as an effective cover crop to prevent weed growth in areas surrounding rhubarb plants.

Melons and pumpkins make great companions for rhubarb gardens, although you should avoid planting it near black walnut trees because their production of juglone inhibits its growth. To maximize yield of your rhubarb garden, remove flower stalks as soon as they appear – they sap energy that could otherwise go towards roots or stem growth! Additionally, regularly mulch your bed using straw as this works well to ward off weeds and keep moisture levels up in the soil.

Cucumbers

Rhubarb is technically considered a vegetable, though its leaves should never be consumed as part of a meal. But its stalks are absolutely delectably tart and versatile in culinary applications – not to mention an excellent source of vitamin C! When planting cucumbers near rhubarb in your garden, be mindful that their root systems compete for nutrients and water with those of rhubarb roots; additionally, vines from cucumber plants could grow into it and cause damage to either its leaves or stalks.

Considering cultivating cucumbers in your garden? Start them indoors as seeds in August, transplanting them outdoors at eight weeks old, and harvest them between December and April if growing them in hot climes. Cucumbers make ideal companion plants to tomatoes, chives and garlic; in fact, cucumbers also help deter pests like ants from coming near them!

Though diversifying your garden’s vegetables is important, rhubarb should not be planted near these veggies as their presence will have a devastating impact on its sturdiness. Large taproots of these other plants can easily absorb too much moisture and deprive rhubarb of necessary moisture supply; additionally, their dense foliage can crowd out its more sturdy roots resulting in gradual decrease in its strength over time.

There are numerous vegetables that pair well with rhubarb and make great companion plants. Strawberries ripening around the same time make for ideal companion plants as their taste mimics that of the rhubarb fruit and can be consumed without harm. Asparagus provides another great companion plant as its deep taproots help suppress weeds while breaking up compacted soil and keeping excessive dryness at bay.

Mint, thyme, and sage are excellent companion plants for rhubarb. Their fragrant leaves emit an aroma which deters common vegetable pests like leaf beetles, ants, and aphids; furthermore they have an improving effect on soil by improving texture and adding organic matter. Dill is another fantastic companion plant as its aroma repels aphids while simultaneously drawing pollinators closer.

Pumpkins and Melons

Rhubarb plants often get a bad rap for being unfriendly with other vegetables and flowers in your garden, yet when chosen carefully they can provide valuable companion plants that enhance its growth, nutrition and pest resistance. Such companion plants could include brassicas, tomatoes, beans and alliums such as garlic onions or chives which help deter aphids, whiteflies and other pests that feed off its nutrients to thrive.

Rutabaga makes an ideal companion crop for rhubarb as it helps break up hard soil clumps and increase soil aeration in deeper layers where rhubarb roots tend to flourish. Plus, its presence helps deter snails and slugs that often plague this crop!

Cucumbers and pumpkins should not be planted near rhubarb as they can compete for available sunlight in your garden, drawing away its warmth to take up more of rhubarb’s sunlight than it deserves. Being phototropic plants themselves, cucumbers and pumpkins seek sunlight like other phototropic plants and may rise above rhubarb’s sunlight consumption; this could result in slower growth for it and weakening of its stems as a result of competition for sunlight from these two phototropic species.

Cucumbers and melons are heavy feeders that can deplete soil of key nutrients needed by rhubarb for healthy growth, as well as shade too heavily to allow full sunlight onto its leaves.

Furthermore, both seeds of these plants may feed a species of insect called the rhubarb curculio weevil which damages its stalks. Furthermore, their roots compete for limited nutrients available in soil. As a result, yield of both plants decreases significantly – to avoid this situation you should plant cucumbers and melons separately from rhubarb patches in your garden. Alternatively you could use fast-growing plants such as radishes to mark rows with slower growing vegetables like rhubarb while waiting for it to mature!

Tomatoes

As is the case with sunflowers and thistles, rhubarb is also susceptible to the curculio weevil, an insect which burrows its way into cylindrical stalks to lay eggs. Keep these two plants well apart to avoid drawing these pests towards each other.

Strawberry and bean plants make great companions for rhubarb in a vegetable garden, acting as living mulch to keep soil cool and damp, suppress weeds, bring nutrients to its roots and ripen at roughly the same time as it. Strawberries’ deep taproots loosen soil so rhubarb roots can develop deeper roots.

Beans fix nitrogen into the soil, providing vital nutrition to rhubarb plants that require plenty of it for their survival. In turn, rhubarb protects beans from being destroyed by aphids or black fly flies which could otherwise destroy these crops.

Garlic and onions make excellent companion plants for rhubarb because they help repel many of the same pests that plague it, such as weevils and aphids. Plus, their flavors enhance its nutritional profile!

Marigolds and tyme can also make great companion plants. Both produce an aroma that repels insects while simultaneously discouraging root-knot nematodes from spreading in your soil. Furthermore, you can till these into the ground around rhubarb to break down and rot away to deter these troublesome root nematodes.

Tyme releases chemicals to deter slugs and snails that may pose problems in a vegetable garden, while its scent also releases essential chemicals to decompose in compost piles, providing vital nutrients for rhubarb production.

Rhubarb is an annual vegetable that often sends up flower shoots during summer, necessitating removal in order to conserve energy for new stalk development. Once removed, cover its crown with well-rotted manure to restore lost nutrients and prevent fungal disease formation in your soil.