Rhubarb Propagation and Transplanting | Soil Preparation After Harvest with Chicken Manure and Hydrated Lime Application

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 Good morning, everyone. Today, I will divide the harvested rhubarb plants and prepare the soil in a new planting bed. Thanks to your support, I have been able to harvest and ship rhubarb from 14 plants so far. I am truly grateful.

The current time is 5:00 AM. I am working quietly in the peaceful garden. There will be no harvesting work today.

First, after mowing weeds and turning over the soil several months ago, I mixed in a small amount of chicken manure, covered the area with agricultural agricultural plastic film for soil solarization, and prepared the new planting bed. Today, I removed the plastic film, applied chicken manure, covered it with soil, and then added another layer of chicken manure on top.

New planting bed after removing agricultural plastic film

Chicken manure used previously and this time

Now, it is time for the rhubarb transplanting work. Each plant is carefully planted while observing the condition of the roots and leaves, with approximately 1.5m spacing between each plant.

Rhubarb plant transplanting work

The transplanting work has been completed successfully.

Next is the soil preparation of the rhubarb bed after harvesting. Normally, this work should be done after checking the soil acidity with a pH test. This time, I will apply chicken manure and hydrated lime, but I would like to keep the amount moderate.

Thanks to your support, I was able to harvest and ship high-quality rhubarb from these 14 plants. Therefore, I prepared the soil around these 14 rhubarb plants. The materials used for this soil preparation were the remaining chicken manure and hydrated lime from the new planting bed.

Hydrated lime used for soil preparation

This is JA Farm Hydrated Lime 10kg. This application is a soil improvement process for rhubarb cultivation. By applying hydrated lime, slightly acidic soil is neutralized and adjusted into a condition where rhubarb can grow more easily. Rhubarb prefers soil conditions from slightly acidic to nearly neutral rather than extremely acidic soil.

Chicken manure application status

First, I applied chicken manure. Chicken manure provides nutrients such as nitrogen (N), which supports rhubarb leaves and stems, phosphorus (P), which supports roots and plant growth, potassium (K), which helps with disease resistance and stress tolerance, and organic matter that benefits soil microorganisms. Therefore, it is an important process to support the next healthy growth of rhubarb.

This time, I applied approximately 7.5kg of chicken manure to the rhubarb bed after harvesting. The spacing between each plant is approximately 1.5m.

The area for the 14 rhubarb plants where chicken manure was applied is,

• 14 plants × 1.5m × 1.5m ＝ approximately 31.50㎡

Since approximately 7.5kg (7,500g) of chicken manure was applied to this area,

• 7,500g ÷ 31.50㎡ ＝ approximately 238g/㎡

In other words, approximately 238g of chicken manure was applied per 1㎡ within this area.

Next, looking at the application amount per plant,

• 7,500g ÷ 14 plants ＝ approximately 536g/plant

The result is as follows.

Therefore, in this management process,

• approximately 238g per 1㎡,
• approximately 536g per plant,

of chicken manure was applied.

I will also continue removing weeds at the same time. Weed removal is definitely the most time-consuming task.

Next, I applied hydrated lime.

Hydrated lime application status

This time, approximately 5kg of hydrated lime was applied to the harvested rhubarb bed.

The area of the 14-plant section where hydrated lime was applied is the same as for the chicken manure, approximately 31.50㎡.

Since approximately 5kg (5,000g) of hydrated lime was applied to this area,

• 5,000g ÷ 31.50㎡ = approximately 158.7g/㎡

is the result.

In other words, approximately 158.7g of hydrated lime was applied per 1㎡ within this area.

Next, looking at the application amount per plant,

• 5,000g ÷ 14 plants = approximately 357g/plant

is the result.

Therefore, in this management,

• approximately 159g per 1㎡,
• approximately 357g per plant,

of hydrated lime was applied.

The time is 8:05 AM. Today's work is now finished.

New rhubarb planting bed completed

New rhubarb plants are propagated by division. In addition, preparations for the next harvest are also steadily progressing. I believe this gives a clear picture of the work that was done. It was a rewarding and enjoyable task.

That’s all for today. See you next time!