how does rhubarb sprout from a root section without a crown?

I'm wondering if anyone ever saw it.
If going from a decent root section, should I bury the whole section, or leave a tiny piece above the ground?

Don't worry about the fact it doesn't have a crown, they're not needed, and the sections are big enough.

I tried to kill rhubarb this winter. Mived the crown to the new location and chopped the root into two inch sections.  I didn't get them all out of the soil and now i have about 40 new rhubarb plants coming up in a big area.  I don't know if any of the ones on the surface grew, these are all coming up from the soil.

They seem to survive less well if done in the growing season.  It's something about winter that makes them multiply.

If it's the first plant, I like to plant it as per normal.  In a couple of years, we can dig it up and split the root.  Before too long, there will be more rhubarb than sticks to shake at it.  But the ones from shops or nurseries seem to take a while to grow strong.

r ransom wrote:I tried to kill rhubarb this winter. Mived the crown to the new location and chopped the root into two inch sections.  I didn't get them all out of the soil and now i have about 40 new rhubarb plants coming up in a big area.  I don't know if any of the ones on the surface grew, these are all coming up from the soil.

Wow, I didn't know Rhubarb would spread like this! I knew comfrey would come back from quite small root sections, but I always thought Rhubarb needed a growing point or crown. This might be my new thing for the day

I also did not expect to be digging out so many rhubarb babies.  It should havs killed them off.  Not multiply like horseradish.

I suppose I need to spend time reading horticulture books to my plants now as they don't seem to know how they are supposed to behave.

It seems to do well from underground root segments

Early this spring I decided to dig up a two small rhubarb plants from my mom's, as a gift to a friend with a new house.

They were small plants (3 or 4 year old plants I had divided and removed half of last year, for my own garden),  so I made sure to get "all" the roots.

Anyways, he now has nice rhubarb plants.... And I can't even figure out which one of my mom's rhubarb I "entirely removed'. All 4 in the row  look the same.

r ransom wrote:I tried to kill rhubarb this winter. Mived the crown to the new location and chopped the root into two inch sections.  I didn't get them all out of the soil and now i have about 40 new rhubarb plants coming up in a big area.  I don't know if any of the ones on the surface grew, these are all coming up from the soil.

My question is more about the taper direction. I know if you plant a large root horizontally it will be spreading along the root to give a wider plant.

I rip apart every main root from the root ball, and they come back, but parts of the old root look almost like root rot

I haven't had new rhubarb spring from roots that are connected to the crown.  But it could be possible as we don't treat our rhubarb with kindness.

I don't know if it would work or not. Worth a try.