What is wrong with my rhubarb? Slow or dead?

[PrincessBuggerPants]

I planted two rhubarb plants over a year ago that did really well last summer. One was a Timperley Early and the other a Victoria.

In the autumn they both died back and the Timperley has reappeared mid-Jan and is doing well. The Victoria? Nada. (pics attached)

Why?

Is everything just a bit slow this year as it was so cold until a couple of weeks ago, or is it dead? The bulbs sown in the autumn have been slow to emerge, but have actually appeared iyswim.

I'd pop a bucket over it and keep it in the dark for a couple of weeks to see if that helps get it going.

Thanks @doradoo, I'll give it a go as I suppose it can't get much worse

Did you crop them last year?

@BambooChoppingBoard no, I left them alone to establish as I thought you shouldn't pick them until second year at earliest.

Any ideas?

Ah, then no - sorry. Thought maybe if you'd cropped it it might have run out of energy.

Maybe have a gentle dig/feel around in the soil and see if there's a healthy root still there or not. That'll give you a lead on whether to give up or not.

I was half listening to a radio programme the other day when they were talking about rhubarb. They said you should put a bucket over it for a few weeks at this time of year as this "forces" it. The theory is that you fool the plant into thinking it is underground and so it sends out stalks trying to reach sunlight. Apparently these early rhubarb stalks are sweeter than the ones which are grown later in the yer.

Mine was like that two weeks ago and has just reemerged. Give it time and maybe a good mulch with compost to help it get going.

I thought that forcing a rhubarb made it work harder and could weaken the plant if you do it too early in its life or too much? I could be wrong.

Usually when you force a rhubarb plant you discard it afterwards

We have timperley early and Victoria, the victoria does emerge much later than timperley, and isn't as vigorous, although has a lovely taste and beautiful leaves. Without meaning to sound obnoxious, I think it's called timperley "early" because it gets going sooner than some of the other varieties.

Thanks all. The bucket trick worked and there are signs of life in the last two days, so I have taken the bucket off so it isn't actually 'forced' iyswim.

Also put a bag of manure all over it for good luck.