{"id":1812,"date":"2019-09-18T23:53:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T23:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2019-09-18T23:53:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T23:53:55","slug":"kiwi-fruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/18\/kiwi-fruit\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwi Fruit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Actinidia deliciosa<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. chinensis<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction: The Kiwi vine was almost\nunheard of as a garden fruit only a generation ago, but is now quite common in\nmany areas. The deciduous vines grow rapidly once established, but need a few\nyears (5 or more) before they start to produce much fruit. It is dioecious\n(with male and female flowers on different plants) so you need female plants to\nbear fruit and a male plant to pollinate them<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History; The\nKiwi Vine was once known as Chinese Gooseberry because it originated in China\n(though it is nothing remotely connected to Gooseberries). It is now associated\nwith New Zealand because it was first popularized as a commercial fruit there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrition:\nApparently the fruit contains 10 times as much vitamin C as a lemon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nKiwi Vine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours of winter chill:\n400-800 (some less)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size: 30 ft high x 10ft wide <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zone: 7-9 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blooming period: May<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fruiting period:\nOctober-November<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life expectancy: 50 years <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearing age: 5 years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yield: 25-100lb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing season: 240 frost free days<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days to harvest: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing: 15-20ft apart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ease\nof growing:\nKiwi is pretty easy to grow in the right climate. The biggest problem is that\nthey are so vigorous they require a lot of space and need a lot of pruning for\nmaximum fruit production (though you can just leave them be and they will still\nproduce well enough).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate: Kiwi vine needs a long frost free growing season (ideally over 200 days), with fairly mild winters\n(though cold enough to supply sufficient winter chill), a mild spring and fall\nand a warm summer. Female plants are hardy to 10\u00b0F and the males to 15\u00b0F. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site: Kiwi vines grow quite well in part shade (in very\nhot climates this is even beneficial) but need full sun for maximum production.\nIn a hot climate it\u2019s a good idea to plant the tree on the northern side of its\nsupport to give it shade while young. Don\u2019t plant in frost pockets as they are\nvulnerable to late spring and early fall frosts. If your soil isn\u2019t very well\ndrained you might consider planting on a hillside, or on a mound. These grow to\nbe large vines and can get battered by strong winds, so give them a sheltered\nspot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If space is very limited\nyou could just have female plants on a trellis and put the male plant somewhere\nelse (maybe on a fence or even growing up a shade tolerant tree). It just has\nto be within 50 ft of the females.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pH 5.5 (6.5)\n8.0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These plants will grow in\nmost kinds of well-drained soil, but will be more productive if it is fairly\nfertile soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil preparation: These vigorous and productive shrubs can use a lot\nof nutrients, so if the soil isn\u2019t very fertile you may want to dig the entire\nplanting area and incorporate lots (at least one wheelbarrow every 2 square\nyards) of compost or aged manure (also wood ashes and maybe a fertilizer mix).\nThis works much better than simply amending the planting hole, as it encourages\nthe trees roots to spread out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting: Kiwi can be grown from bare\nroot plants? while they are dormant from fall to early spring. They are also\navailable as potted plants too and these can be planted any time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting is pretty simple,\njust dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and the same depth, so the plant\nwill be at the same height it was in the nursery. If your plant was in a pot\nmake sure you unwind any roots that have started to circle the root ball. Make\nsure you fill in the hole carefully, without leaving air pockets. Water\nthoroughly afterward to settle the soil and help the plant to get established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formal\ntraining: After planting you normally cut\nthe plant back to a vigorous shoot about a foot high. This will grow rapidly\nand can be trained up the post of the trellis. When it reaches the desired\nheight you cut out the growing tip and train two new shoots to grow\nhorizontally. The following winter these can be cut back to leave up to 20 buds\n(if you have them). These are allowed to grow to the end of the trellis and\nthen the growing tips are cut out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The male plant is only\nthere to produce flowers and doesn\u2019t need nearly as much space as the fruiting\nfemales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch: The vines benefit from a deep mulch to supply\nnutrients, conserve water and keep down weeds. Keep the mulch away from the\ntrunk as it is susceptible to crown rot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support: Kiwis are large vines and can produce a considerable\nweight of fruit so they need a strong and stable support structure. The usual\nsupport is an arbor which will also provide summer shade and be ornamental as\nwell. They can also be grown along a fence or on wires stretched along T bars\n(this must be strong though).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintenance: This mainly consists of keeping these vigorous vines\npruned and remain within bounds. You may also have to tie branches to their\nsupports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fertilizing: These are very productive plants and to keep them\nproducing well they will probably need fertilization. Give them a source of\nnitrogen in early spring and again in midsummer (later applications aren\u2019t a\ngood idea as they can stimulate the late growth of tender wood). Use a\nfertilizer mix as a top dressing, scattered all around the plant. Of course a\nthick mulch of compost or aged manure will also supply nutrients (maybe all\nthey need).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watering; These large vines need a constant supply of moisture\nfor good growth and production, so don\u2019t let them get too dry. It is pretty\nobvious if the plants get water stressed as the large leaves start to slump and\neventually wilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning: Kiwis grow so vigorously they can require a lot of\npruning to keep them under control, get them to the right shape and encourage\nflowering. This is most often done in winter, while the plants are dormant,\nbecause in spring the growing plants can bleed a lot. It\u2019s also easier to see\nthe plant when it doesn\u2019t have leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically pruning consists\nof cutting back a third of the previous seasons growth (not too much as this\nwill produce flowers and fruit in the coming\nseason). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plants fruit on last\nyears wood and pruning is done to ensure plenty of new growth to replace\nfruited canes. As the plants get older you can start removing tangled vines,\nweak vines and any that are out of control. Ideally you want to have some room\n(8-12 inches) between the fruiting branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the growing season, each lateral cane will\nsend out a new shoot about 1\/3 of the way from its own starting point. The\nnext winter, prune off the older cane at the point that it connects with last\nsummers new shoot. This process repeats itself every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer pruning may\nsometimes be needed to keep these vigorous plants under control. Male plants\nare often pruned after they have flowered, to control their growth and stop\nthem competing with the female vines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fruit may also appear on\nthe bottom few buds of the current seasons growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propagation: Kiwi is\nfairly easy to grow from cuttings (these may be hardwood cuttings taken in fall\nor softwood cuttings in midsummer). It is also fairly easy to grow from seed\n(scoop it from a fruit) but of course you won\u2019t know whether you have a male or\nfemale plant until it flowers in five years time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollination: Kiwi plants are dioecious\n(male and female flowers are found on different plants) so you need female\nplants to bear fruit and a male plant to pollinate them (a ratio of 8:1 works).\nThis species can also pollinate other Kiwi species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests: Kiwi has relatively few pests\nwhen grown as a garden crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest:\nA nice feature of Kiwi vines\nis not just that they produce a ton of fruit (though they usually do), but that\nthey produce it late in the year (November to January), after most other fruit\nis done. You can allow them to ripen on the vine, but it\u2019s better to harvest\nthem before they are fully ripe and ripen them inside (you can control the\nripening time). You will have to experiment to find the right time to pick\n(early fruit won\u2019t be as sweet and tasty, while older ones may start to\nferment).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unripe\nfruit can be stored in a cool place until needed (the fridge works). You can\nthen bring them into a warmer room to ripen fully. When treated in this way,\nyou may be able to get them to last until March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landscape\nuses: These vigorous vines are excellent\nfor covering arbors to provide summer shade (most of the shade disappears in\nwinter because they are deciduous) and of course delicious fruit. The only\nother fruit that comes close to being as valuable for this is the Grape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varieties: The commonest varieties for years have been Hayward\nand Chico, with Vincent a lower chill type. Tamuri?\nIs a common low chill male.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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