Kiwi fruit

[firsttimersue]

Thinking of planting Kiwi fruit next year.

Any special advice, know we have to get a male and a female, that they like a sunny position.

Sue

[kernowyon]

Thinking of planting Kiwi fruit next year.

Any special advice, know we have to get a male and a female, that they like a sunny position.

Sue

if they are going outside, keep them away from frost pockets or protect them with fleece during cold snaps. i have one growing up the side of my shed, last year i tried to protect them from the wind but the bits which were exposed died off and didn't come back again. No fruit this year but will put that down to the c**p weather.

once they get going they are quite vigorous so give them a bit of room as well. Good luck with them.

[momol]

Hi Sue,

Have you think of planting mini kiwi, it is very cold hardy ( can take to -25 C ) plus it don't need 2 plant ( the Issai type has both male and female flowers at the same vine ).
The fruit is somehow very sweet,small smooth skinned fruit somehow don't need to be peel and the fragrance... Hmmm we love it.

Momol

[TonyF]

I've just been cutting back a long overgrown kiwi orchard - wrong time of the year I know but needs doing to open it up.

If you get autofertiles, they're easier to grow, don't have to get the male female mix. But, to get a decent crop you need to let the things run, prune in February and again in July, cutting back the leaders to two/three groups of budding fruit.

You also get a lot - an awful lot - of dead wood on kiwis if you leave them for a couple of years and that needs pruning off every year.

Anyway, down this way, they're grown around 6 feet off the ground, trained along wires and occasionally the dead wood is used as a support for the live wood.

So far I've picked 60lb of fruit - a bit under ripe but those I've put in bags with bananas are coming along nicely thank you.

And as for the kiwi jam, it's absolutely superb - thanks Flummery!

[Phreddy]

Sounds good Momo, where do we get seeds? or is it another that needs to be a plant?

Phreddy

[momol]

Sounds good Momo, where do we get seeds? or is it another that needs to be a plant?

Phreddy

Hi Pheddy,

I don't know if the Issai mini kiwi/ hardy kiwi can be grown from seeds or not. We got ours as 1.5 m vines this early spring and they produce pretty heavy ( more than 0.5 kg per vine ), we got a bit more than 2 kg of very ripe fruit this october ( I lost a lot to the black birds too ) and I turn them into jam ( very delicious and the aroma is so great).
For their first year it is really not bad at all... they should produce much more at their seconde year, finger cross and I will let you know how it goes .
Here is a web about mini kiwi / hardy kiwi ( it is not very complete but it will give you some ideas about it :
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/hardy-kiwifruit.html
I will let you see some pictures too, the fruit is the size of a thumb with soft green peel which can be eaten just like that. It is much sweeter the normal kiwi...

Enjoy,
momol

[skegblade]

OH bought a Kiwi plant from Focus; it's a variety called "boskoop" and is supposedly self fertile. We can't find any info about it. Has anyone heard of this variety before?

Phil

[Grandpadragon]

Not heard that one before! only "Boskoop" is a Blackcurrant!! Hope more knowlegeable grape comes along soon for you

[Flummery]

There's a grape called that too. It's a place name so I should think there are a few varieties with the name.

[TonyF]

I posted this on another Forum (non gardening specific) and it may help some of you folks:

If you've had the kiwis for three years, don't worry about it too much. Even this far south (I'm about 600 miles south of you) they can be capricious.

Anyway, best way of pruning them is to find the new growth in February or March, the long whippy bits because that's where the fruit will be. You should see some small, probably red, what look like roots/very small fingers hanging down and they are the embryonic fruit. Cut the new growth back to two 'eyes' after the last of the new fruits.

By July the same new growth should be covered in leaves and will have the new fruits visible. Count further along the new growth to the 6th or 8th leaf and then cut the vine back to that point. It also helps if you cut off any side shoots also.

Ideally you should harvest in October/November after the last leaf has fallen and before the first frosts but the plants are frost-hardy down to -15, though try to pick most of the fruits before it gets too cold.

If you leave the plants to just grow and don't prune, you can end up with 30/40 feet long and wholly unproductive vines and they most certainly don't need putting under glass or in a polytunnel. With winter temps here down to -10 almost every winter and huge kiwi farms growing on old stock, it's managing ther plant that's important.

And of course, if they're harvested a little under-ripe, they will keep and store well into the winter. To ripen them, it's a banana in a bag with some of the kiwis to help them along.

Hope this helps.