I planted out 3 crowns of rhubarb last year, and like a good girl I didn't cut any stems- thought I was tempted! I got given another 3 crowns last autumn ( a friend's father has a huge patch of the stuff) and am experimenting with forcing it. I put them in a dumpy bag of leaf mould until I saw signs of growth. I have a dalek type compost bin in which I keep old pottig compost I beefed the contents up a bit with cluck muck and home made compost, and plonked them in that. They're growing away quite happily in the gloom, and I hope to be able to cut a few early tender spears in the next week or so. the garden ones are showing signs of growth too, but are weeks behind the others. I'll compost the forced crowns when they've done their bit - but noting the problems that other posters have had with slugs, I'll pop out now and sprinkle in some pellets.
