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About Rhubarb Seeds...
Rhubarb is normally propagated via root stock. The roots of a 2-3 year old plant form into a clump, each root looking something like a sweet potato. The roots must be pulled or cut apart. One 3 year old victoria plant will produce about 15 new plants from roots. Seeds are not normally used because rhubarb is like most plants and does not  breed true through the seeds...i.e. a large, robust parent plant may not result in a similar offspring through seeds. However, it may be possible to produce hybrids which at least breed true through the first generation hybrid ("F1" at plant parties).  At High Altitude Rhubarb we have numerous varieties of rhubarb and run tests with seeds produced by cross-breeding the varieties. We have a number of goals in mind. These include: creation of an F1 hybrid with the robustness, size, quality, health and yield of the large, green varieties and the color of the pure red varieties; creation of a hybrid that is more heat-tolerant; creation of a hybrid that breeds true through seeds beyond F1. We could use help. If you would like to participate in our studies by planting various seeds at your own site we'd love to hear from you. Just contact us and we will discuss your interest and/or participation in our experiments. |
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