Hardy Kiwi Plants: Care, Growth, and Planting Instructions

When I first tried a hardy Kiwi fruit, it turned my life upside down. When I was at the Washington DC farmers’ market, I saw a quart-sized box full of red and green small fruits. They certainly weren’t apples, and although they slightly resembled grapes, they had thicker and less shiny skin. That’s when I saw the sign proclaiming, “hardy kiwi fruits, no need to peel.”

I grabbed a box, and put one in my mouth. The fruit was bursting with flavor, sweeter and stronger than the usual kiwi. Why hadn’t I seen or tried this fruit before?

Since then, I’ve learned that the fruit’s poor shelf life limits its commercial sales. These vines are a great addition to your garden, if you reside in zones 3 to 8. You can grow a hardy Kiwi vine in your garden. Enjoy delicious kiwi fruit for many years..

Hardy Kiwi is a brand of Hardy Kiwi.

You’re probably familiar with the fuzzy kiwi (Actinidia deliciosaThe kiwi ( a hardy fruit) is available in most grocery stores. The hardy Kiwi (Actinidia argutaIt is similar to this fruit but smaller and without the brown fibers that give it its name. Its smooth, green or red fruit is about the same size as a grape. This makes it the perfect snack.

Due to the hardy kiwi’s short shelf life, it’s difficult to find these fruits in the United States. You may be able to snag a pint or quart of the kiwiberries at farmers’ markets, but the best way to enjoy these sweet and juicy fruits is to grow a plant at home.

The perennial plants are woody, twisting vines. Grow between 10-20 feet per year. Plants can produce kiwis for 20 years or more.

Characteristics

The hardy Kiwi, also known as kiwiberry or grape berry and arctic berry is a Long-lived perennial that thrives in temperate climates. The plants are deciduous and lose their leaves each fall. They regrow new foliage every spring. The vines can grow up to 20 feet per year, and they thrive on arbors or trellises. If you don’t prune and trellis them, they will quickly become unruly.

Plants produce flowers in spring on their new shoots. The majority of varieties are dioecious. This means that male and female flowers appear on separate plants. Each flower needs to be pollinated using pollen of a male flower. Kiwis are ripe in late summer and early fall. One healthy plant is able to produce a cluster of fruit. Fruits up to 100 lbs.

Native Area

The hardy kiwi is native to East Asia. This includes Japan, Korea, north China, and northeast Russia. Although the plants can tolerate low temperatures, they require a place with high humidity. At least 200 frost free days Produce fruit

Planting

It is best to plant hardy kiwi in the spring. After the last spring frost, transplant small seedlings. Plant at least one male for every eight plants of the same variety. Plant nurseries that are reputable will label the male and female varieties, making it easier to buy what you need.

The vines can be damaged by wind, so it is best to plant them in an area with a little protection. You should ensure that the site receives a minimum of eight hours daily of sunlight and has good draining.

Space individual plants ten feet apart You can also provide them with support by constructing a trellis. Select one or two shoots as stems once the plants start to grow. These shoots should be loosely tied to a stake so that they don’t twist and can grow straight.

How to Grow

If you keep up with the trellising, pruning and weeding, These plants are easy to grow. However, they’re not a plant you can simply set and forget.

Light

It is recommended that vines be grown in full sunlight, but they are also able to grow in shade. You can tolerate some shade for a couple of hours. The more light that plants receive, the more fruit and flowers they will produce.

Soil

Hardy kiwi vines aren’t too picky about their soil as long as it’s well-draining and slightly acidic. The vines hate sitting in wet soil, so they’ll suffer if you plant them in compacted or poorly-draining soil. Before planting, loosen the soil with a fork and add some compost if it is compacted.

This plant can tolerate clay soils, and it requires some nutrients to produce good flowers and good yields.

Water

Kiwiberry vines prefer a moist soil, but not soggy. Dry soils can cause a reduction in fruit set and development, while wet soils may lead to fungal disease. Proper irrigation is essential.

The best irrigation schedule depends on temperature, humidity and rainfall. It is a good idea to water the soil when it is drier than three inches.

Temperature and Humidity

As its name suggests, hardy kiwi plants can tolerate extreme cold—vines can survive temperatures as low as -30°F (-34°C). Dormant plants are cold-tolerant. Late freezes, however, can damage tender new growth and flowers. A frost that occurs after the flowering process has begun can cause plants to not produce fruit. In late frosts you can try to cover your plants with row cover, but it is difficult after they are fully mature.

Although early springs, late frosts, and other weather conditions are more frequent in the United States than they used to be, you still have options. successfully grow hardy kiwi in zones 4–9. You may be able grow these vines in Zone 3 if you have a warm climate and a variety of arctic Kiwi that is exceptionally hardy. For a healthy crop, you need a frost free season that lasts at least 200 consecutive days.

Hardy kiwi vines aren’t picky about humidity and can grow well in both dry and humid climates. The likelihood of certain fungal infections developing increases with high humidity. Proper spacing and pruning will help to prevent and manage this issue.

Fertilizing

These vines require moderate fertilization because they produce a lot of new growth each year. However, Avoid fertilizing new plantsThis can cause damage to the tender roots.

Apply slow-release balanced fertiliser in the spring starting in the second growth year. Fertilizer is needed more for larger plants than for smaller plants. Increase the amount of fertilizer you use as your plants grow. I like to add some finished compost every spring to give the plant a boost in beneficial microbes.

Trellising

Hardy kiwis can easily take over anything that gets in their way. The vines need a sturdy trellis to grow.

Most growers use either one of two types trellises for these plants. Arbor system or T-bar system?. The T bar system is made up of T-shaped wood posts that have strands high-tensile steel wires running along the top of them. Kiwi vines climb up the middle of the posts, then spread across the wires.

Pruning

To maintain a manageable and healthy hardy kiwi, proper pruning is required. If you just plant one of these vines and forget about them, you’ll be left with a sprawling, heavy vine that takes over your yard or collapses whatever structure it grows up.

There are many ways to train and prune these vines. However, the single-stem option is one of the most popular. You want to achieve the following in your first year of planting a vine: Select one stem as the trunk. Tightly tie the stem to the stake or support, and then cut any stems that grow from the base. Continue to cut off the lateral shoots from the stem you have chosen until it reaches your trellising structure. Then, trim the main stem an inch above the trellis.

Second year growth select two lateral shoots You can use them as cordons, or train lateral branches to grow along wires, arbors, or any other trellis that you choose.  Although you can choose up to four shoots as cordons at a time, limiting yourself to just two helps keep the plant in control. The cordons can be left to grow for the entire season. In the winter, prune them down to 10-12 nodes.

Once you have the plant’s basic structure set, it’s time to focus your pruning efforts on fruit production. These vines produce fruiting shoots that emerge from the previous year’s growth, so your goal is to keep a supply of new growth and remove unnecessary old growth. This can be done by removing any old growth. prune the previous year’s new shoots back Each winter, 10-12 nodes are added.

Propagation

Hardy Kiwi can be propagated in two easy ways. Cuttings and seedsIt is more common to grow plants from seeds. Cuttings allow you to grow mature plants faster.

Cuttings

Softwood cuttings are easier to root than hardwood ones. You can start by taking softwood cuttings in late spring, or even summer. Use a sharp and sanitized pair of pruning shears to remove a cutting of this year’s growth, then cut each shoot into six-inch segments.

Dip each shoot’s bottom in rooting hormone and then place it in a container with a well-drained potting mixture. Keep the soil mixture moist, but not soggy. Place the cuttings in a warm place. In about a week, the cuttings will start to form roots. Once the cuttings have developed roots and new foliage, they can be planted into individual containers.

You can propagate plants from cuttings. The plants that are produced will have the same sex of the parent plant.

Harvesting and Storage

The fruiting of most hardy Kiwi plants begins in 3 to 5 years. The first harvest will be small but the subsequent harvests are larger.

Kiwiberries start appearing in the early summer and ripening in the late summer to early fall. Not all fruit on a single plant ripens simultaneously, so it’s a good idea to pick the fruits more than once.

Unfortunately, the color of the fruit’s skin isn’t a reliable way to determine ripeness. Instead, you can rely on berries’ softness and taste to determine when they’re ready to harvest. The kiwiberries are soft and sweet to the taste. They also contain black seeds. The fruits will continue to ripen off the vine, so don’t worry if you pick them when they’re a bit underripe.

Store the kiwi in the fridge once you have harvested them. The kiwi will keep for up to three weeks depending on how ripe they are.

Common Problems

These vines are easy to maintain and grow. Keeping an eye on the following issues will keep your plants healthy.

Rapid Growth

If you don’t prune and trellis properly, kiwi vines will quickly overtake fences, sheds and houses.

You should ensure that you are able to take care of these plants. If left unchecked, The plants can compete with native vegetation, and thus become invasive..

Pests

Fortunately, Kiwiberry vines have a low pest population.. They can be damaged by some garden pests.

Sap-sucking pests like spider mites, aphids, and thrips use their tiny mouthparts to pierce the leaves and drink the plant’s sap. While a few of these pests aren’t a problem, larger infestations can lead to discolored leaves or leaf drop. Encourage beneficial insects such as ladybugs and green lacewings to help control pests. You can spray neem oils or insecticidal products on the pests.

Japanese beetles are known to appear in the warmer months and feed on the leaves. To control them, you can pick them up by hand and put them in a bucket with soapy water. In the fall, you can spray beneficial nematodes to kill any grubs that have overwintered in the soil. You can also use this method to eliminate any root-knots that have colonized the soil. Separate treatments by two weeks and only apply in the temperate season.

Diseases

Pathogens found in the Phytophthora Some of the most serious diseases that can affect hardy Kiwis are caused by genus. These fungal-like pathogens cause crown and root rot in soil that is still moist. Phytophthora rot is characterized by small or yellow leaves, foliage which quickly wilts in hot weather and dying stems. You may also notice dark bark near the soil surface—if you cut into the stem, you’ll see reddish tissue.

Prevention is the key to Phytophthora management. Avoid planting this vine on low-lying or poorly draining land. You can use fungicides to treat Phytophthora if your plant becomes infected. Replanting your plants in an area that drains well is usually a better choice.

FAQs

Learn more about this unique vine. Find out the answers to your most common questions.