Kiwi plants – care & cultivation in the garden

The careful selection of the location sets the course for a rich harvest of the kiwi plants:

• The kiwis we know are cultivated plants that were originally grown in southern China and are used to a subtropical to tropical climate.
• The large Actinidia deliciosa kiwis are therefore only really satisfied here in the warmer regions, and the young plants there also need good winter protection.
• However, you can buy varieties that can withstand more cold temperatures, which you will learn about below.
• Each kiwi should be placed in a sheltered and warm place, for example on a house wall that is at least partially south-facing.
• Kiwis are climbing plants, so they can find their place in many other places in the garden if these are more suitable.
• With the right climbing aid, the kiwifruit also like to climb up a fence or climb the wall of an arbor, if it’s nice and warm there.
• There should be a little desire to go up, kiwi plants can grow up to heights of around 15 meters.
• The climbing plants are a nice addition to the garden design, they can grow into a dense canopy of leaves on a suitable framework.
• The climbing frame should be fairly stable, especially if your kiwifruit are developing well, the frame will have to support a lot of fruit and therefore quite a bit of weight.

How to build a trellis for kiwi plants

Depending on the number of kiwi plants, you need stakes 2.50 meters long, one stake per plant and the next at a distance of at least 4 meters. Even if you have a lot of space, the distances between the stakes should not be more than 6 meters. Thick wires are now pulled from the first to the last post, one about 80 cm high, the next about 50 cm higher and the next about a meter above.

The right soil for kiwis

Kiwis like soil with a slightly acidic pH, they don’t tolerate lime so well. A pH test before planting is therefore worthwhile, the value should definitely be below 6, a result between 4.5 and 5.5 would be ideal. In addition, the soil should be quite humus and rich in nutrients, if you have to bring in nutrients at the planned location and at the same time lower the pH value, this is best done by mixing in acidic compost soil.

How to plant kiwi bushes

The best time to plant kiwi fruit is in early summer. How to proceed:

• Prepare the soil
• Buy kiwi plants and water them well before planting.
• Dig a sufficiently large planting pit.
• Loosen the soil at the bottom of the planting hole to a depth of approx. 30 cm.
• Remove the packaging or the pot from the root ball.
• Pierce the root ball all around with a sharp knife to make it ready for water and nutrients.
• Place the kiwi in the planting hole, the roots should merge into the trunk on the surface of the soil.
• Fill the removed soil back into the planting hole.
• Pour on and possibly refill some more soil.

Water and fertilize kiwis

Kiwi plants develop leaves that have a fairly large surface area, so they need a lot of water all the time. As soon as you notice that the leaves look a little limp in drier times, you should therefore water them additionally. When it is time for fruit to develop, you must even make sure that the kiwi is well moist at all times. Otherwise, in extreme cases, it could stop the development of the fruits, but at least they would contain little flavor.

After planting, the young kiwi can get its nutrients directly from the soil for the first year. In the second year, a little compost can be added, as long as it is not yet bearing, but a kiwi only needs very cautious fertilization. You should only fertilize the kiwi with nutrient-rich compost in the year in which it is born for the first time, if necessary also with mineral fertilizer for bog plants, but there is always the risk of overfertilization.

Pruning kiwi plants

In terms of trimming, you don’t have much to do with the kiwi in the first few years. First of all, it has to develop a main shoot because you let it grow vertically down to the topmost wire. This main shoot is cut back, which promotes branching. From the new shoots, select the strongest side shoots, which you guide horizontally along the wires of the climbing aid. These side shoots will only see a pair of scissors again when they have reached the end of the climbing aid. From these horizontal “main shoots” new side shoots will appear, which should be cut back several times during the season until they are ready for fruit, except for a few leaves. Basically, the plant is grown on the framework described above like a grapevine, the kiwis are also berries, and the branches wrap around the support like vines. Of course, you can also let the kiwi grow more “messier” if it works on roughly the same principle.

The fruits grow on the annual shoots, which can grow up to 2 meters long, and after this fruit set, the kiwi is also pruned: in summer, you should prune the newly appeared shoots, it is best not to leave more than 10 leaves above the fruits. This is because the vigour of the kiwi plants should now go into the formation and ripening of the fruit and not into the foliage. In early spring, you need to make sure that fruit is set again next year. Harvested fruit shoots are now cut away, only a strong young shoot that has never borne fruit for as long as possible should be left standing. Above the climbing frame, new shoots usually form that grow freely into the area, these should also be removed because they would shade the fruit shoots. In addition, you should now thin out a little inside the plant so that the new fruit shoots always get a lot of sun, and after a few years of harvesting, you can gradually cut the main side shoots very short to rejuvenate them.

Kiwis in different species and different sizes

The actual, original kiwi plant, from which all other species emerged, is a ray stylus plant called Chinese ray stylus or Actinidia chinensis. It is a hardy creeper shrub that bears medium-sized, yellow-fleshed fruits (berries). This kiwi is still cultivated, much of it in New Zealand, where the special variety “Hort16A” was bred, which is now sold under the trade name or brand name “Zespri Gold” in many fruit shops. In contrast to the fruits of Actinidia deliciosa, the yellow flesh of this kiwi contains hardly any of the protein-splitting enzyme actinidain, which is why this kiwi, unlike the green kiwi, can also be mixed with dairy products (green kiwi makes curd or yoghurt bitter).

The green kiwi Actinidia deliciosa was bred from Actinidia chinensis a long time ago, but it was not until 1984 that it was given the botanical name Actinidia deliciosa as its own species, which is why you will often come across the name Actinidia chinensis var. Deliciosa (or a chinensis which is actually a deliciosa). The best-known variety of Actinidia deliciosa is “Hayward”, a plant with a very interesting history: It was bred from the first plants imported from southern China to New Zealand, in 1904, when a teacher brought it from a mission With. A gardener planted them on his property, but the “Chinese gooseberries” just didn’t want to bear fruit, and Mary Fraser was probably smiled at as a fantasy. The breakthrough came in 1910 the plants showed fruit for the first time on New Zealand soil, and now horticultural scientist Hayward Wright took care of the matter and the plants: He used the berries of the Chinese gooseberry to breed a variety that bore noticeably larger fruits, this Actinidia deliciosa “Hayward” makes the largest today Part of the commercially traded kiwi fruit. Around 1950 the first “Hayward’s” could be grown in the north of New Zealand, soon after they were exported to Europe and North America, and in 1959 New Zealand market strategists came up with the idea of ​​giving the potentially victorious fruit the name of the New Zealand national symbol kiwi (bird). From the berries of the Chinese gooseberry he bred a variety that bore noticeably larger fruits, this Actinidia deliciosa “Hayward” makes up the largest part of the commercially traded kiwi fruits today. Around 1950 the first “Hayward’s” could be grown in the north of New Zealand, soon after they were exported to Europe and North America, and in 1959 New Zealand market strategists came up with the idea of ​​giving the potentially victorious fruit the name of the New Zealand national symbol kiwi (bird). From the berries of the Chinese gooseberry he bred a variety that bore noticeably larger fruits, this Actinidia deliciosa “Hayward” makes up the largest part of the commercially traded kiwi fruits today. Around 1950 the first “Hayward’s” could be grown in the north of New Zealand, soon after they were exported to Europe and North America, and in 1959 New Zealand market strategists came up with the idea of ​​giving the potentially victorious fruit the name of the New Zealand national symbol kiwi (bird).

Both large-fruited kiwi species are only partially hardy, in the Rhineland they should grow well, if the microclimate is right, where it gets cooler, they usually no longer develop satisfactorily. In addition to these larger-fruited species, there are two types of small-fruited kiwi fruit that are particularly interesting for gardeners who are not so spoiled by the climate in their region:

Actinidia arguta was not created through breeding, but a wild species that grows in nature up to the Himalayan mountains at an altitude of over 3,000 meters. It is therefore much more frost-resistant than the large-fruited varieties and also needs less heat to develop fruits. These fruits usually appear in large quantities with us, they have a smooth skin and can be eaten by the bush right out of the hand. The aromatic-sweet fruits ripen very early, already from August, but until October, depending on the variety, the flesh is reddish, brownish or yellow to green.

Actinidia kolomikta feels just as comfortable with us, it naturally grows in temperate climates in East Asia, but also in the harsh Russian Amur region, which makes it the most frost-hardy Actinidia species. Its fruits are green and very sweet with a kiwi aroma and are extremely rich in vitamin C. They can be eaten raw or processed as compote, jam, juice and wine. The plants are dioecious, which means that a male and a female plant are required for fruit to be set.

The varieties of kiwi

Kiwi plants should always be planted in groups, because the female plants must be pollinated by a male kiwi in order for a harvest to be possible. One male plant is enough to pollinate 4 to 6 female kiwis; it should be planted in the middle so that it has the smallest possible distance to the female plants.

1. With the “normal kiwi” Actinidia deliciosa you need female and male kiwi plants for most of the varieties:

• The above-mentioned “Hayward” is female, produces tasty fruits of up to 7 cm, but in Germany only thrives in warm regions and there only in a warm microclimate.
• The female variety Starella, which is said to bear a lot of rather sweet fruits, should be a little better adapted to our climate.
• Other female kiwi varieties are Bruno and Abbot, Monty and Allison and “Top Star Vantini”, a hairless variety.
• These women each need at least one man, here you have the choice between the varieties “Atlas” and “Matua”, the latter fertilizes all kiwi women, including those of the species chinensis, arguta and kolomikta.

2. Actinidia chinensis also usually want to appear in pairs, z. B. in the variety “Yellow River”, of which plants are bred in both sexes.

3. With the Actinidia arguta you can choose from the female varieties “Weiki”, “Maki” and “Ambrosia”, the male pollinators of the Arguta varieties are called “Weiki”, “Nostino” and “Tomuri”, but as I said, “Matua” is also happy to do the fertilization.

4. Actinidia kolomikta is unlikely to be sold in different varieties, you would simply have to look around for a male and a female plant with this name on the label if you want to harvest the small green fruits of this species.

Conclusion
Once you’ve grappled with the difficult issue of plant sexes and found a variety suitable for the climate of your hometown, the hardest part of growing a kiwi is actually done. However, you’d better buy kiwifruit from a specialist gardener who really knows which plant he is selling to you, and keep your hands off the self-fertilizing varieties available in stores. Here, the ability to self-pollinate is usually paid for with a loss of quality in the fruit.