OT - Growing Kiwi

[dkirtexas]

Anyone growing Kiwi? Just bought 10 bushes/vines/plants?? One is labeled as Male/Female, does that mean self pollinating? Professor at Stephan F. Austin University has successfully grown a crop. One other grower further down south has a very large orchard/vineyard/garden??? and has harvested crops.

Everyone laughed at the pioneers who first planted Olive trees in Texas, they seem to working out, I don't know anything about Kiwis but I didn't know anything about figs either when I started.

Good thing is that they were reduced to $3.

[Hershell]

I think I paid $30 for mine and have successfully killed most of them. I would like to know more about them but most that I have talked to that have them aren't very excited. $3 would be easier to swallow.

[jkuo]

I take it you're talking about fuzzy kiwis (Actinidia chinensis)? I ordered some arctic kiwis (Actinidia kolomikta) this year. I hope to try some fruit in a couple of years.

[strudeldog]

I have a few growing. On the Male/female listing check to see if there are 2 vines I saw some labeled like that and it also stated Tomuri a male and Vincent a female. I thought it was a poor idea considering the vines get huge, but maybe they are successful with it.

[Hanbury House]

Wow, $3 is a steal! I would have grabbed them.

I grow fuzzy kiwi, actinidia deliciosa.

They are dioecious, with separate male and female plants. There are a few hardy kiwi, actinidia arguta, like 'issai', that are reported to not need a male to pollinate. I'm not positive but I think issai produces parthenocarpic fruit.

Do you know which species you bought? Deliciosa has bigger leaves. I too have seen Tomuri and Vincent fuzzy kiwi sold together in the same container. Maybe that is why yours were label male/female.

Fuzzy kiwi takes a long time to flower, and even longer to get productive. Mine were in the ground 7 years before we got our first few dozen kiwis. I think they are labout 11 or 12 years old now. The past few years the female produces way more than my family can eat fresh so I can a lot of kiwi fruit preserves.

[AscPete]

I've been growing Actinidia arguta, Anna (Ananasnaya) Female and Meader Male Hardy Kiwi for 5 years and they've never flowered, but they put on a lot of healthy vegetative growth each season. They were purchased from Lowes at an end of season sale.

[dkirtexas]

I have the Issai, I also bought 2 Tomuri. I hope the Issai is indeed parthenocarpic. I am going to keep them and see what happens.

[Darkman]

Call the Chilton County Alabama 334 539 2128 extension office ask for Gary. They have been growing test plots for a few years and have them on a unique trellis you can walk under. They are very knowledgeable.

[Hanbury House]

My two deliciosa varieties are male Tomuri and female Vincent. Every year I am frustrated with Tomuri. It flowers very lightly, despite same conditions as the female. In the first years of flowering, Tomuri flowered as few as 3 or 4 flowers, and it normally begins blooming a week or two after the first Vincent flowers. As a result, half of Vincent flowers fail to get pollinated and drop off. I started pruning Tomuri a lot less than most tutorials recommend pruning the males and do get a slight increase in flowers from it. Most literature recommends pruning the males after flowering and that its okay to keep them a lot smaller than the females. I have had better luck getting more flowers by letting Tomuri grow wild all summer and later cane pruning it, not spur pruning, kind of like growing grapes in a short season climate. However, now that my grafting skills have improved a little, I plan to graft another variety on to the male to hopefully increase the male flowering period.

I did grow Issai two years ago. Its flowering period was right along with the Tomuri. Issai did set fruit, but the leaves shrived up in the heat of late summer. I pulled it out because it clearly didn't like the sunny spot it was in. I don't have paticence for plants that struggle. I might try another arguta again at a later point if and when SoCal gets out of this drought.

[Gr8Figs]

I've been growing Issai,Meaders,and Anna for 5 years and I have yet to see a fruit.Issai had a few blooms 2-3 years ago.but no fruit.A late frost killed the new tender leaves this year and last.I added a Ken's Red this year,but Florida Nursery did not specify male or female or give any choice when I bought it in 2013.

[TylerJ]

Ken's Red is a female. I have one but it has not flowered yet after 5 years or so. My issai flowered like crazy but never set any fruit. Finally one year my meader male arguta flowered and resulted in my issai being loaded with fruit after being pollinated. Don't hold out for issai to do much without a male arguta. My anna has flowered for the last 2 years but the fruit ripen quite late for my zone. Dumbartons Oaks ripens much earlier for me.