I live the in the middle of New Mexico and I’ve got two large rhubarb plants growing in my garden. They look great, but they don’t taste so good. It reminds me of dirt. What am I doing wrong? Too much sun? Wrong type of soil? I figured that since it was thriving, I must be doing it right. I don’t want to have to be at the mercy of the supermarket to get my rhubarb fix. Any ideas?
The soil might be rich in a specific mineral (or more) that the plants are absorbing. Minerals taken up by plants have various effects. Taste is definitely going to be affected by what the plant is taking up and how much.
A soil test might be in order. Out east, we grow tomatoes a lot. Acidic clay soil makes for a much different taste than dark, loose soil. Both have different minerals which the plants absorb and affect taste.
I don’t have any experience with growing rhubarb, so only a couple of thoughts until some experts show up:
Sunset New Western Garden Book says that you should “irrigate freely when active top growth indicates roots are growing”, wait 2 years before harvesting, never remove all leaves from plant and stop when slender leaf stalks appear. Cut off any blossom stalks that appear.
The harvest season only lasts 6-8 weeks in spring.
Are you sure it’s rhubarb? (Did you plant it or inherit it?) Apparently, swiss chard looks enough like it to cause confusion even for Sunset Magazine’s website. (see the comments.)
I love rhubarb. Hope you’re able to get it straightened out by next year.
My understanding is that regular rhubarb won’t grow in a warm climate. Maybe it isn’t rhubarb or is a hybrid that needs more work.
I often confuse burdock with rhubarb. (Yeah, I’m an idiot, but still…rhubarb, burdock.)
If you’re sure it’s rhubarb…has it gone to seed? Like, ever? We had a huge patch of rhubarb when I was a kid, and it was tasty tasty, until it went to seed. Then it was inedible forevermore. Lots of website sources say it’s perfectly fine to eat the stalks of rhubarb that’s gone to seed (but not the seed stalks, seeds or leaves, of course), but our experience was that it would never again grow nice red juicy stalks, just tough yucky green ones.
According to Sunset, it grows best in New Mexico’s climate.
Dude, it’s rhubarb, of course it tastes like crap! When I opened this thread, I thought you were going to ask for help on how to nuke it from orbit (it’s the only way to be sure!). Instead, you are asking for help on making it grow differently so it tastes better? That’s crazy talk; you would need a fully staffed lab of genetic engineers focusing on the problem for years!
I’m pretty darn sure it’s rhubarb. We got 2 of them as starter plants from a nursery. We planted them 3 years ago now. We’ve never let it go to seed. There are times where we see it trying to send up flowers, but we cut them off as soon as we see them. The picture on the label when we got them showed big red stalks, but they’ve only gotten a little pink at the bottom and green on the rest of the stalk. I’ve tried letting it ‘ripen’ more, but it never gets any redder.
I’ll take a look at the soil and see if there is anything I can do about that.
L.G., I’m so glad there are people out there who feel the way you do. It leaves more for the rest of us. 
I found this link discussing rhubarb redness (and lack therein).
Also, according to that (and my fruit stand lady said the same thing) sweetness/flavor and redness are not related, apparently. Actually I just got some very red rhubarb from my farm share and it was bland as hell.
Agreed. Strawberry rhubarb pie is a waste of good strawberries.
I am giving the OP credit for having eaten rhubarb before and knowing what it usually tastes like. I don’t disparage broccoli and asparagus, I just never eat the stuff because I don’t like it. I wonder if Barbara ever got the kids to eat it.