HOW TO TAKE HONEYSUCKLE CUTTINGS |The Garden of Eaden

How to take honeysuckle cuttings

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, and are native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle mostly occurring in China, Europe, India and North America.

How to take honeysuckle cuttings

The most widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum (honeysuckle or woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle, white honeysuckle, or Chinese honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle, trumpet honeysuckle, or woodbine honeysuckle).

As attractive and fragrant as they are, honeysuckles can be expensive to purchase and you may not be able to find the varieties you want.

However, it turns out that honeysuckles are reasonably easy to propagate from cuttings.

How to propagate honeysuckle from cuttings

You can propagate honeysuckles by taking softwood or semi-ripe cuttings 5 cm-7.5 cm (2-3 in) long from late spring to summer. Evergreens varieties - such as the Lonicera standishii - also take well from hardwood cuttings, about 20-30 cm (8-12 in) long, from autumn to midwinter.

Softwood cuttings

Cutting material

To begin with, prepare a rooting container by filling it to the top with a good quality potting compost such as John Innes 'seed and cutting' compost. Gently water the surface of the potting soil in order to moisten the soil.

Select a stem on your chosen honeysuckle plant that is both actively growing, and showing tender growth. Remove the stem from the vine, then cut and discard the top 6 to 8 inches of the vine with a pair of clean, and sterilized secateurs.

Cut the stem into sections 1 inch above a leaf joint and make another cut at the midway point - between the top leaf joint and the next lowest leaf joint.

If the species you are propagating from has particularly large leaves then these can be cut in half in order to reduce transpiration, and helping to prevent the cutting from drying out before it is able to produce roots. This will produce a stem with one pair of leaves on it.