Rootgrow Fungi

[Alexx]

This might sound daft but...

My two kiwi plants i have planted a couple of months ago look perfectly healthy but they haven't grown an inch since then. I think it may be something to do with the surrounding soil (the area was paved before). I dug up quite large pits for them and filled them up with nice fluffy compost but they still seem to be stuck. Maybe I'm just being impatient, but the plants were described as "vigorous climbers" and there's nothing vigorous about them at all at the moment.

Anyway, back to the question. I found this rooting fungus on ebay and it seems to be worth a try. The problem is - it's supposed to be placed at the bottom of the pit. I'm certainly not going to dig them up again, so was wondering - if i mix some fungus into the top layer of the soil around the plants - will it do any good?

Thanks

[SimonCole]

You want the fungi to come into contact with what's called the rhizosphere. This is the portion of the soil is closest to the roots and interacts chemically and biologically through root-fungal associations (mycorrhizae). The best way to do this is to mix your fungi into enough water to get down to the roots. Alan T says that 1" of water on the top will percolate 9" into the soil. I'd use chlorine-free water, which is most obtainable from a water butt, a kettle or that which has been standing for several days. But it is only theoretical as to how much impact chlorine will have.

To be honest, if I wanted the same effect, I'd mix up soil from a 6" depth from the garden and water this into the compost, since will contain millions of active fungi.

On an after note, I've had a complete failure on a kiwi from Woolies and suspect that the stock is to blame.

[Alexx]

On an after note, I've had a complete failure on a kiwi from Woolies and suspect that the stock is to blame.

Thanks for your advice.
May I ask if it was a failure to grow or to produce any crop?

[SimonCole]

I bought the small plant in spring and it began to throw out a few green leaves, but these went yellow, fell off and became pigmented with red dots. I thought of blaming this on a very poor compost that came as a free sample, had light texture and was composed mainly of corn husks. I though that the compost could have been too rich in boron, but many people have had the same problem with their Woolies kiwis so it could be a pathogenic disease.

[Alexx]

I bought mine off ebay, they also threw out a few leaves, which are now pigmented with red dots.... Hope they dont fall off as i'm in the middle of building a pergola for it Well if they do fall off it'll have to be grapes

[SimonCole]

Or how about passiflora edulis (passion fruit). I'm giving that a try this year.