Rhubarb Seeds

Afternoon all.

I received some rhubarb seeds this morning from ebay, but they have come with no sowing instructions or any information whatsoever, so can you answer a few questions for me, saves me googling for half a day.

When do I sow them?

Are they sun lovers, or will tolerate shade?

How deep is the root system?

How much will one seed produce? (There are 200 seeds in the envelope)

I think that's all I need to know at the minute.

Thankyou. xx

Becks, sorry, but I honestly wouldn't bother with rhubarb seed. Rhubarb is one of those plants that rarely grows true to type from seed - in other words, the offspring (grown from seed) doesn't reproduce all the parent's characteristics. What's more, it takes a couple of years to get to harvest stage.

If you fancy rhubarb, look around for rhubarb crowns at garden centres or nurseries. They're produced from the division of existing plants. Much much more reliable. Spring, though, is the best time to plant crowns.

Oh! LOL No wonder they were only 20p!!!

Might try some for fun then in a little patch for Jess. If it did grow though, would it be edible then?

Becks have found this-I think you need to treat this as a novelty-you will end up with one plant per seed that eventually might produce you something but not until 2014-as you have got the seeds you have nothing to lose

http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/fromseed

Ha ha ha! Thanks Geoff! Will have a good read of that later. Guess I've got to stick to my frozen crumbles for now!

I grew some from seed spring 2011 in pots in a cold greenhouse. By summer I had a dozen strong plants that I gave to all the family and planted 3 in my garden. By autumn I had big strong leaves and stems and was tempted to pull just one stem from each plant, twice. They say not to pull at all the first year. I mulched them well through the winter and WOW has my patience been rewarded! This year all the family are pulling and freezing rhubarb every week. I've had loads from my plants. I keep mulching around them with homemade compost and they just keep producing.

If you are a patient person, Insomnia, have a go. Not sure it's the right time of year to sow seed, as it says sow March to April on the packet I have.Likes rich soil and full sun. So now's the time to prepare where you want to grow them. Dig in some good muck, then sow in spring. Good luck!

Ooh, that gives me hope Doris! Thankyou. March to April it is then. x