Growing kiwi vines from seed?

[UrbanOptimist]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum. I was in the garden section of a bargain shop and a seed packet caught my eye. It contains kiwi seeds, and as it was both fascinating and 50 pence, I couldn't help myself. I've done some googling about kiwi vines, and know that some varieties are self-fertile while others require pollination from male plants. I can't find much information at all on growing these from seed. Unfortunately the packet doesn't name a variety, and doesn't state whether or not you need to grow more than one for pollination. Does anyone have experience with kiwis?

[yummersetter]

Oh yes! Do you have a lot of space in your garden?

[veggiechicken]

Hello and welcome to the Vine.
Here's a thread about my kiwi - not grown from seed though.http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_66036.html Never again
However, I am growing a kiwiberry from seed, saved from a supermarket fruit, so it is possible.

[Jay-ell]

From my own research I figured out that the named self fertile varieties (Jenny, Solo, etc) are only available as plants rather than seeds and the same seems to go for the single sex named varieties. I assume that this is because when grown from seed the result can be either sex and probably quite variable and different to the parent.


With seed it seems you will need to grow enough plants for long enough to figure out the plants sex and then get rid of most of the males, keep in one for every 8 females. After that you can propagate by cuttings. Seemed like an awful lot of space so I've left my packet of seeds unopened and bought a plant of Solo from Wilkos

[UrbanOptimist]

Thinks for the replies everyone. In terms of space, I've got some wall space and a tree that wouldn't object to a climber. I've read some advice that says you need to completely clear the area around the plant with a five foot radius, which seems a lot to me. I've also come across a variety called "Blake" which is partially self fertile and can apparently be started from seed. I'm wondering if this may be the one I have.

[Jay-ell]

Hello and welcome to the Vine.
Here's a thread about my kiwi - not grown from seed though.http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_66036.html Never again
However, I am growing a kiwiberry from seed, saved from a supermarket fruit, so it is possible.

So VC, how less vigorous is the kiwiberry/cocktail kiwi/hardy kiwi in comparison to a regular kiwi? Are they self fertile as type or at there specific male/female plants? How many vines are you growing?

Thinks for the replies everyone. In terms of space, I've got some wall space and a tree that wouldn't object to a climber. I've read some advice that says you need to completely clear the area around the plant with a five foot radius, which seems a lot to me. I've also come across a variety called "Blake" which is partially self fertile and can apparently be started from seed. I'm wondering if this may be the one I have.

Unless the seeds said a variety on them I would assume that they are a generic type rather than specify variety.

[veggiechicken]

So VC, how less vigorous is the kiwiberry/cocktail kiwi/hardy kiwi in comparison to a regular kiwi? Are they self fertile as type or at there specific male/female plants? How many vines are you growing?

No idea really Its about 2-3' tall in a small pot in the GH. The leaves are much smaller than the Jenny and not furry. I only have one plant, the rest didn[t survive my mistreatment (I forgot to water them!)
I'm growing them as a challenge to myself really - not in hope of eating anything from them.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...rry_63702.html

[Jay-ell]

2-3' in three years. That's a tad less than the 20' a season I read - of course that was in good soil and not in a pot. It was also Wikipedia so .....


It appears that they do require a male and female, so it's the same boat as kiwi from seed. Is Issai a self fertile version of the kiwiberry (it's sold as the hardy kiwi)?

[veggiechicken]

To be exact, it took a year for the seeds to germinate, so its 2-3' in 2 years.

[BUFFS]

our local aldie is selling kiwi plants ,I don't know how much as I saw them from the car as I left..