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The chocolate wine is still relatively unknown to us, but there are many who already have it at home. Here are 6 tips for maintaining chocolate wine.
The hardy, exotic chocolate wine (Akebia quinata), which is hardy to around minus 20 degrees, comes from Asia and is still largely unknown in our gardens. Which is why we would like to introduce you to this bizarre-looking plant with a slight smell of chocolate.
| Chocolate wine or finger-leaved climbing cucumber / Akebia (Akebia quinata) | |
|---|---|
| Growth rate: | 40 - 50 cm a year |
| Height: | 600 - 700 cm |
| Spread: | 40 - 250 cm |
| Root system: | Flachwurzler |
| Location: | Sun to partial shade |
| Ground: | nutritious, loamy |
| "Show more pictures and data | |
Pretty flowers and edible fruits
The fruits of the Akebia quinata are edible There are male and female plants in chocolate wine, which can be recognized very well by their different blooms. The female chocolate wine has violet-brownish and the male chocolate wine has pink flowers, which are also responsible for its pleasant fragrance. This bloom is evident very early in the season, namely from April (depending on the weather conditions).The flower then produces purple-violet to light-purple edible fruits that taste wonderfully sweet and can be harvested from September to October. Whereby they need a mild autumn to be able to reach their optimal maturity level. Warning: unripe fruits are poisonous!
The plant itself keeps its green, rather filigree-looking leaf dress until December. Exactly because of their filigree leaves, the chocolate wine is too leaved acebia or climbing cucumber called.
Tips for the care of the climbing plant
Tip 1 - location / soil:
The absolutely easy-care chocolate wine loves a sunny to moderately semi-shady location with a loamy or humus-rich soil. However, it also tolerates poorly nutrient-rich soils, although you should then regularly enrich it with compost and / or fertilizer.
Tip 2 - pouring:
Furthermore, he only needs additional irrigation water during long dry periods or on hot days. However, you should always make sure that irrigation water and rainwater around the plant run off or seep away easily, as waterlogging can cause root rot.
Tip 3 - winter protection:
The chocolate wine is hardy, meaning that it only needs moderate winter protection in particularly winter-intensive areas. Here you just have to pile the floor area with soil and / or leaves.
Tip 4 - multiply:
You can multiply your chocolate wine by cuttings, which you take from the existing plant in summer and care for in a cool room over winter. You can then apply them in the coming spring. (Link tip: multiply plants - 4 techniques)
In principle, chocolate wine also offers seeds that you should sow outdoors in early autumn. However, growing a chocolate wine over seeds is quite difficult.
Tip 5 - cut back:
After only 5 years, the chocolate wine has already reached a height of 6 to 10 meters and certainly had to be shortened a little now and then by pruning shears. You should always cut back the unwanted shoots shortly before the fresh shoots in early spring.
Tip 6 - climbing aid:
Since the chocolate wine is a climbing plant, it must also be able to climb up on a climbing aid. However, you should still weave the loop drives around the trellis by hand during the first few years.
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