This is what she wrote: Last summer two of my rhubarb plants had several red leaves and the plants failed to flourish, but they didn't die. Three other rhubarb plants, which are planted next to the other two, did beautifully and did not show any signs of having red leaves. This spring those three plants have grown in leaps and bounds, standing almost a foot and a half tall, while the other two are struggling to make it out of the ground and are maybe a whopping 1 1/2 inches tall. I tried to figure out what is wreaking havoc on my rhubarb and this is the closest thing I've found that looks like the leaves did last year: http://www.greengate.ca/aboutplants/plantdiseases/vegtablessmallfruit.html ( see the section regarding Red Leaf of rhubarb, with picture.) I guess my question is, is there an herbal concoction that might help these plants? Should I be concerned about it spreading to the other three, currently, unaffected plants. Or am I faced with the loss of those two rhubarb and should remove them. (Side note: The plants were given to me last spring and planted fresh in their current location, no prior sign of this red leaf thing.)

no plant holds its leaves forever. ... the pic above.. presuming its a current pic .... the outer .. newer leaves look just fine.. including vigorous new lime green shoots ... all the damaged ones.. SEEM to tend to be interior ... if so ... well what problem can there be.. but age.. if the outer all look fine ... if it were disease .. wouldnt the outer leaves show such??? .. and they look a healthy green.. so what deficiency can there be??? and therefore.. if it were me... i would jsut water it ... i personally NEVER fertilize a stressed plant ... but if its growing with vigor.. what does it need???? .. of course.. a LITTLE of this or that.. fert.-wise.. shouldn't hurt ... ken This post was edited by ken_adrian on Tue, Jan 29, 13 at 7:36

Unfortunately I'm not very optimistic either based on what you described. I'm betting that the plant froze at some point during the journey, and if the stem and leaves died, I'm not sure how the roots could have survived. Assuming the roots did survive, I wouldn't recommend any changes to what you have described already. Wait, keep the soil moist but not too wet, and keep your fingers crossed! When I grew Pileas from woody stems, it was during the spring/summer months. I had ordered a plant from Germany, and the man who sent it sent a bunch of bonus stems that he said would sprout if planted. I was out of town when the package arrived, so my boyfriend opened it and potted the big plant. He figured the woody stems were not worth saving, so he threw them in the trash. A day or two later he (very kindly!) dug them back out after I said they would grow, and planted the stems about an inch of two deep in 5-1-1 mix. They looked just like little bare, brown stems, no leaves or buds or roots. Sure enough, they started sprouting little leaves within a week or so, and a few months later were ready to be given as gifts and sold. Hopefully your Pilea will recover! If not, I would recommend waiting until the weather has warmed up before trying to buy a replacement.

I saw petioles of this plant listed on ebay and wanted to warn people somehow not to buy them. I really don't think you can successfully grow a plant from a petiole of this plant unless it has part of the main stem attached to it. I have a pilea peperomioides and the leaves that have yellowed and turned brown have all fallen off the plant eventually. I will say that the cuttings I have taken from the plant need to be watered more frequently until the root system develops (like once every 3-4 days). My plant did much much better when I had it in a south-facing window getting direct sunlight. My cuttings are in an east-facing window and most have done well. I also have them potted in a blend of 1/2 cactus soil and 1/2 perlite based on a recommendation from someone in this forum.