A Detailed Guide to Common Rhubarb Seed Varieties and Seedling Cultivation Methods

Rhubarb is one of the "four dimensions of medicine" and also has the laudatory title of "general"; it is a very common medicinal material in clinical application. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that rhubarb enters the spleen, stomach, large intestine, liver and pericardium meridians, and has the effects of purging and removing accumulations, clearing heat and detoxifying, purging fire and cooling blood, and invigorating blood and dissolving stasis. At present, rhubarb cultivation is distributed in Qinghai, Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Yunnan and other places in China. So in the process of cultivating rhubarb, how should varieties be selected and seedlings raised? Let's take a look together.

What common varieties of rhubarb seeds are there?

When cultivating rhubarb, 3-year-old plants of relatively pure variety should be selected as seed plants for seed propagation and seedling cultivation. There are also many varieties of rhubarb, and the common ones are mainly three types: palmleaf rhubarb, Tangut rhubarb and medicinal rhubarb:

1. Palmleaf rhubarb: Palmleaf rhubarb is a perennial tall herb with a stout rhizome, about 2 m tall, and leaves broadly heart-shaped or nearly round, reaching more than 40 cm in diameter. The inflorescence is a large panicle, and the flowers are purplish red or tinged with reddish purple. The flowering period is June to July, and the fruiting period is July to August.

2. Tangut rhubarb: Tangut rhubarb is a perennial tall herb, with basal leaves slightly round or broadly heart-shaped, and a large panicle inflorescence, mostly deep purple when young, and some also greenish white, with tightly arranged branches. The flowers are small, with relatively long pedicels. The flowering period is June to July, and the fruiting period is July to September.

3. Medicinal rhubarb: Medicinal rhubarb is also called southern rhubarb and Sichuan rhubarb. Its stem is upright and sparsely covered with short soft hairs, denser at the nodes. The basal leaves have long petioles, and the leaf blades are round to ovate. The panicle inflorescence is large, light green or yellowish white, and the flowering and fruiting period is June to July.

What are the seedling cultivation methods?

1. Land preparation

Choose soil with deep, loose, fertile and well-drained layers. In combination with deep plowing and land preparation, apply 3000 kg/667 sq m of superior farmyard manure, and make beds 1-1.2 m wide.

2. Sowing

In mid-to-late July, when most of the seeds have turned blackish brown, cut back the whole stems, dry them in the shade, thresh them, and set them aside for later use. Sowing is divided into spring sowing and autumn sowing, and autumn sowing is generally preferable. After the seeds are soaked in warm water, open shallow furrows 5 cm deep on the bed surface at a row spacing of 20 cm, and evenly scatter the seeds into the furrows.

3. Seedling cultivation

For seedling cultivation, drilling or broadcasting may be used. For drilling, open furrows transversely, with a furrow spacing of 25-30 cm, a sowing width of 10 cm, and a depth of 3-5 cm, using 30-75 kg per 1 hm2. For broadcasting, evenly scatter the seeds on the bed surface, cover thinly with fine soil, and cover with grass. After the seedlings emerge completely, weed and water in time. If the seedlings are too dense, thin them in combination with the first weeding. Apply dilute human and livestock manure urine 2-3 times during the seedling stage.

4. Transplanting

Transplant in late March. Dig the medicinal seedlings out of the seedling bed, select healthy seedlings free of pests and diseases, and use a row spacing of 80 cm and a plant spacing of 60 cm as suitable. Place the rhubarb seedlings flat in the pit with the head facing inward and the tail facing outward, and throw the soil around the pit down by hand to cover the rhubarb seedlings, with a soil covering thickness of about 5 cm. Keep about 2200 plants per 667 sq m.

5. Management

In early May, after the rhubarb seedlings emerge completely, carry out the first weeding, pulling out the weeds around the pits cleanly; in mid-June, after the rhubarb reaches the three-leaf stage, carry out the second shallow weeding, with appropriate hilling, and carry out the second hilling in early August; afterward, carry out intertillage and weeding at any time according to the growth of weeds in the field. In late March of the second year, apply 4000 kg of high-quality farmyard manure and 15 kg of diammonium phosphate per 667 sq m, mix evenly with the soil between the rows, and cultivate it to the base of the stems.

Overall, rhubarb is widely used in clinical application, so market demand is stable, and it is favored by growers of Chinese medicinal materials. Rhubarb prefers coolness and shade, is cold-tolerant, and avoids high temperatures. When planting, it is essential to follow the growth habits of rhubarb, and at the same time do a good job in seed selection and seedling cultivation.

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