How to Plant Great Gunnera Bulbs

Great gunnera, known botanically as Gunnera manicata and also commonly as giant rhubarb, is a hardy perennial plant beloved for its massive foliage. At maturity a single gunnera leaf can reach 4 feet across. Gunnera grows from an underground rhizome and can propagate itself via the rhizome as well as from seed. Small rhizomes are roughly egg-shaped but very old rhizomes can grow into large log-shaped bulbs. The plant is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 4 through 8 and should be planted in the spring after the last hard frost to ensure ample root establishment before winter comes.

Hand trowel
Small shovel or spade

Instructions

- 1
  Prepare a planting location in full sun to partial shade that has rich and deep organic soil. Allow a minimum of 10 feet growing area for each great gunnera bulb.
- 2
  Dig a hole with your trowel or shovel that is deep enough to accommodate the length of the bulb roots and the height of the bulb to just below where the green shoots emerge from the bulb. Make the hole roughly 1 1/2 times the diameter of the bulb.
- 3
  Create a small cone of soil in the bottom center of the hole that is tall enough to drape the bulb roots over, supporting them. If the roots have been cut very short, this is not necessary.
- 4
  Set the bulb in the excavated hole with the root plate facing straight down into the soil and the tapered portion of the bulb from where the green shoots emerge pointing up towards the sun.
- 5
  Firm the soil around the bulb with your hands to make good contact between the soil and bulb surface but not so hard that you press the bulb lower into the soil.
- 6
  Water around the bulb to make the soil evenly wet but not soaking, so that the bulb stays stable and in its upright position in the soil. Keep the soil evenly most at all times throughout the growing season.

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