By Rorblue
United Kingdom 
I bought a fairly mature rhubarb and planted it in early march. It had at least 5 large leaves on it but not much stalk. Since then I have had to remove the 5 stems as they were rotting. Just today I had to remove 4 longish stem the leaves and most of the stems had rotted. I pulled 4 well coloured stems, and they came off easily, as the looked so good and left 4 other stems plus 2 new shoots on the crown. I hope I haven't shocked it too much?
4 Sep, 2017
Answers
Next year don't take more than one or two stalks - you shouldn't have pulled or removed any this year. Frustrating it may be but if you crop it too soon you will seriously weaken it. Give the plant a good mulch of rotted manure or compost over the winter and leave it alone next year. Sorry but you need patience with rhubarb.
4 Sep, 2017
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Naughty naughty! You're not supposed to crop from a rhubarb plant until its second year. I expect you'll get away with it, so don't worry too much.
4 Sep, 2017