The Akebia or Akébie enchants with its small colourful flowers, in shades from white and lilac-pink to purple, pergolas and supports on which it climbs in a voluble fashion. This attractive climbing plant of Asian origin becomes delightful in spring with its unusual, sometimes bicoloured, flowering, but it is also useful for rapidly covering large areas with its semi-evergreen foliage in mild climates, and for its ability to grow in partial shade.
To obtain new young plants, it is quite easy to multiply Akebia by using propagation by cuttings. Here are some tips to get it right…

how to propagate Akebia
Akebia quinata 'Silver Bells'

When to take cuttings of Akebia?

Akebia can be multiplied by sowing under a cold frame, or by layering, but a much simpler method for beginner gardeners is to propagate the liana by cuttings. This is done in late summer, around August or September, using so-called semi-ripe shoots.

How to take cuttings of Akebia?

Equipment

  • A pruning shear or a clean, sharp knife, thoroughly cleaned and disinfected
  • Pots or buckets with a mix of seed compost or a sieved, light, well-drained compost with at least 1/4 sand
  • Plant hormone for cuttings (facultative)
  • pencil or small wooden stick
  • sprayer
  • Labels to mark your cuttings.

The technique

  • Prepare pots and substrate: make a mix of compost, garden soil and some sand, in equal parts. Fill terracotta pots with mix.
  • Select healthy shoots from current year that have not borne flowers, measuring between 10 and 15 cm long. They should be semi-woody, i.e. shoots that have begun to form wood. Cut shoots on the slant, just below a node (junction of leaf and stem) with a disinfected, sharp pruning shear. Take 4 to 5 cuttings to maximise chances of success.
Propagation of Akebia by cuttings
  • Remove lower leaves leaving only one or two pairs of compound leaves at top of stem (whether Akebia has 3 or 5 leaflets). Cut these upper leaves in half. This prevents the cutting from exhausting itself by transpiring through its foliage.
  • You can optionally dip cut end of cuttings into a rooting plant hormone to stimulate root formation.
  • Plant each cutting in a pot, after making a hole with a wooden pencil, and firm substrate around it to keep stem upright.
Propagate Akebia by cuttings
  • Water using a sprayer. Thoroughly moisten soil.
  • You can place each pot under a cloche or half a plastic bottle to create a humid, hothouse effect: in that case, monitor cuttings closely and air if heavy condensation occurs.
  • Place cuttings in a bright room, without direct sunlight (a shaded frame, for example).
  • Label them with date and name of plant propagated.
  • Water from time to time to keep substrate just moist.
  • As soon as young plants produce new shoots, sign they have started to form roots, pot on into a slightly larger pot.
  • Overwinter them frost-free, under a cold frame or in shelter.
How to take cuttings of Akebia

Transplanting cuttings

Plant cuttings outdoors in chosen spot the following spring.

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