KIWI FRUIT

or maybe Anastasia lol

 

Alright, we've had trouble with Audrey, got that sorted now we've got Anastasia.

 

Wow, Old but cool thread. I have Kiwi here in Pa. USA and it is growing on a 20 foot fence 8 foot tall. It has made Kiwi every year. We do have both sexes. You can tell because one sex has a little white on the leaves. Not all the leaves have white. It looks like someone has dipped a few leaves in a think white paint. At the beginning we thought the plants were not mature enough but they are now. My fruit has never grown to more than a grape size. It does live in winter temps to -20F . Do I have a different kind or am I doing something wrong?

 

Just wondering, not something I know a great deal about, but I think for fruit you really need a recognised fruiting variety, something like "hayward" or similar there are others.
There is an Actinidia which is an ornamental that has coloured leaves A. kolomikta.

 

One i had only had tiny fruit but the one in the pub up the road was covered in them

 

I should have hundreds of fruit this year. I also realized they are not fuzzy. After googling all the above I think mine is Actinidia Arguta. I also probably tasted mine before it was ripe for it did not taste good. I will pay more attention this fall...

 

hallo barb in pa,
hope you dont mind my butting in but i have this one too arguta issai (mini kiwi) - it is supposed to have smaller, non-hairy and sweeter fruit than the ones we have in our supermarkets. mine is roughly same size as yours, some flowers appeared on what looked like would be three trusses and then disappeared --- now its leaves have yellowing edges. i am doing something wrong.

can i ask : 1. do you feed it? 2.cover up the flowers to protect from greenfinches/chaffinches 3. do you limit it to one leader? mine is all over the place, dissipating its energy into many.
your thoughts appreciated, karaman

 

@karaman , I have never tasted the fruit when it was all the way ripe and what I did taste was yucky. I am not trying to save the fruit anymore. Sometimes I grow things for the birds. Thia will be one of those things....Mine goes all over the place also. I just cut off that I don't want sticking out...

I cut off all it's arms, so to speak....

 

I am not Barb but I think I can answer your questions as I grow Issai too.


Planted in a 110L black plastic bin.


The fruit.



Fully ripened mini kiwi are honey sweet to the taste.

However, ripeness can be very difficult to gauge: they can be crunchy and tangy one day then soft and sweet the next day. Once ripe, they should be eaten within a day or two as they go rotten very quickly even if they are kept in the fridge.

Yellowing on the leaves indicates a nutrient deficiency (most likely Nitrogen). Tender looking yellow/light-green leaves indicates overwatering and nutrient wash out.

The mini kiwi is growing in a container so the way I correct the Nitrogen deficiency is to first apply Epsom salts followed by a liquid fertilizer.

Dissolve 1tb spoon of Epsom salts in 4L of water and use it to water the plant. Do that for a week, waiting for the top surface of the compost to dry out before the next watering.

Next, apply a liquid feed (I use Miracle-Gro All Purpose Soluble Plant Food) at half strength every week, alternating with plain water in between. But, wait until the top surface dries out before the next watering.

Note that it's the regular watering and conditioning which brings the plant back into full health.

1. I feed the plants twice a year with Fish, Blood & Bone fertilizer: 6tbsp around mid March just as the new leaves start to appear, and again around mid June just as the plant finishes flowering.

2. I don't cover the flowers or fruit. I use home-made spinner/windmill/weathervanes instead to deter the birds, if required.

3. No, I don't prune the leader during the growing season. The reason being that I want the plant to twirl around the bamboo poles and take the overall shape of a giant mushroom. I do all the maintenance pruning around early March (similar to currants and blueberries).

 

@misterQ .....Very cute..We all know you are not "Barb". Thank you for all the advice about Kiwi. That is very good. I have done not a thing with our Kiwi and have tons of fruit. I agree that ripeness is very hard to tell...

You just may have talked me into trying to save the fruit with your last post.. Thank you..

 

Thank you misterq for comprehensive reply --- drat! i now have no excuse for not producing super fruit next year, i so look forward to it. may your fruit be sweet and leaders mushroom-length, karaman