Hardy Kiwi

[Ariel301]

I'm getting some seeds for hardy kiwi. I've never grown it before, and can't find much on the internet except a whole lot of mixed reviews. My climate should be good, we don't really normally have much of a winter, and spring starts here in early February with no more frosts after that...I'd be more worried about its tolerance of high heat. :/

Does anyone grow this? Or know anything about it? Some places online say it never made fruit (maybe they don't have both male and female plants?), others say it made very little, other say it makes 100+ pounds of fruit a year.

 

[thistlebloom]

Okay Ariel, I looked it up in the AHS A-Z and they say:
Hardy Kiwi (actinidia arguta) blah blah blah... blooms early summer, female plants produce smooth skinned...fruit...Zone 3-8
heat zone 8-1. Issai is self fertile. So, if I were starting from seed and didn't know the variety I would try for as many plants as possible and hope I had a good ratio of male and female.
If you have access to Michael Dirrs " Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" he has some good things to say about hardy kiwi, including propagation, which involves stratification of the seeds at 41* for 3 months. It would be worth reading. I'd check the library, or a book store. Sounds like a good vine though!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd agree with you on your problem more likely being tolerance to high heat. I got some rooted plants a couple of years ago, two female and one male and set them on the east side of a building, The one that is on the southeast corner (which gets more sun) is not doing great. The other two grew pretty well. They still have not vined out as much as I thought they would. The one on the corner has hardly grown at all. We did have an unusually hot and a pretty dry summer last year.

I hope to get something from them this year. One of the thriving ones is male. We'll see. I fenced them off so the chickens can't get to them and destroy my mulch, plus they eat any leaves within reach. I'll just mention that in case you have chickens. Chickens like them!

I don't consider myself an expert with these, especially since I have not yet gotten any fruit. I got them for a lark to see what would happen. Maybe this year!

 

[Ariel301]

I do have chickens. They are fenced out of the garden area though.

Hmm....it might not do so well in the heat here then. We get 100+ degree summer weather for weeks at a time. Oh well, worth a try, right? If they grow, they grow. If not...whatever.

 

[lighthawk]

I do have chickens. They are fenced out of the garden area though.

Hmm....it might not do so well in the heat here then. We get 100+ degree summer weather for weeks at a time. Oh well, worth a try, right? If they grow, they grow. If not...whatever.

Ariel... you might want to check out raintreenursery.com they have a huge variety of kiwi with very good descriptions and growing tips.
They do say it will be 2-3 years before they bear fruit and have an excellent description of culture requirements and cullinary uses
Good luck.

 

[Ariel301]

Yeah, I've seen what they say. I was just looking for information/tips/opinions from real life, everyday people like myself trying to grow this thing, I don't trust the information provided by someone who is trying to sell me a product quite as much.

 

[majorcatfish]

planted haywood kiwis 9 years ago last year was the 1st time they produced, had 32 lbs sure beat the ones you buy at the store.....

 

[Smart Red]

I had one kiwi here in Wisconsin. Grew well for several years, but one kiwi won't produce fruit. Besides, it was supposed to have been a perennial sweet pea vine which is what I had ordered. DH tore it out last spring.

I'll be getting a pair of them for proper planting one of these years.

Love, Smart Red

 

[catjac1975]

If you want to grow kiwi I would start with a plant not a seed. I grew hardy northern kiwi for many years. I only got fruit a couple of times but they were last on my list for care. I must say they were delicious. They were the size of a large grape and you eat the whole thing-no fuzzy skin. I think they needed 2 varieties to pollinate but I can't really remember. They became quite invasive after a very slow start. I have seen them showcased on a TV show on a farm in Connecticut, though I do not remember the program. May have been The Victory Garden. They kept them very well controlled and had great production, with a very substantial trellis. They are disease and pest free. We finally had them removed in order to build a shed. We needed a backhoe to pull them out.