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w w w . g a r d e n w o r k s . c aG ARDEN W ORKSTM

Everything to Make Your Garden Work!

POLLINATIONKiwifruit is dioecious which means that male andfemale owers are found on different plants. Maleplants do not produce fruit but they can pollinate upto eight female vines. See diagram for a detailedillustration of both female and male owers. Tagthem to ensure that you always know which is which.If you have both female and male plants in bloomin your garden then hand pollination is probably notnecessary. However if you don’t have a male owerin bloom hand pollination is very easy. You will haveto pick a handful of just-opened local male blos-soms including the stem. Fold back the petals of themale ower and hold it by the stem end. Make faceto face contact with a freshly opened female blos-som. Rub the male ower around in a circular mo-tion several times until all of the female pistils havemade contact with the male stamens. On average,

depending on the species, each male ower can pol-

Kiwifruit Actinidia which was once listed as ‘Chinese Gooseberry’ are native to the mountains and hills ofsouthwestern China. They are a very successful fruiting plant to grow on the Mainland and Victoria Island notonly for the delicious fruits but also for the ornamental nature of the vine. The rampant, twining climber will

reach 10m (30ft) or more if left unchecked. The leaves are large and heart-shaped and the cream colouredowers are 1 1/2 ” across. The Kiwi vine is most succesfully grown in areas where Grapes grow well. In factthere are very few differences between Grapes and Kiwis as far as planting, pruning and care goes.

Growing Kiwifruit

GROWING CONDITIONSKiwifruit prefer a site in full sun or partial shade witha minimum of six hours of sun. The vine prefers rich,well-drained loam, but will tolerate heavy soil. Gooddrainage is very important - avoid soggy low areas.Water adequately, but not excessively and feed often.The shoot tips are susceptible to frost in the springand prolonged sunshine is necessary to ensureproper ripening. Choose an area that is protectedfrom high winds and is not frost prone. Set plantsaproximately 5-6m (15-18ft) apart in a row.

FERTILIZINGKiwi vines are heavy feeders but the roots are verysensitive to fertilizer burn, so over fertilization shouldbe avoided. They bene t from a top dressing ofcompost as well as well-rotted manure in late winterand spring. Do not fertilize past mid-June. The plantrequires high potassium and also magnesium to

prevent potassium induced de ciency. G ARDEN W ORKS Fruit and Berry Food, supplemented with FrittedTrace Elements (F.T.E) is a great choice for a fertilizer.

TRAININGOne of the main pitfalls in growing kiwfruit is failureto support them. Supply sturdy supports to twineupon such as a trellis, arbor, pergola, wall or fence.They should be at least six feet tall. Guide and tievines to the support as necessary. Occcasionally thinvine to shape or control pattern.

IRRIGATIONShallow roots and a vigorous growth habit requiresregular irrigation. Water stress can delay the develop-ment of vine maturity and appears to reduce hardi-ness. Lack of water will induce leaf drop and earlyfruit ripening which leads to poor avour. Too littlewater will also reduce fruit size, ower numbers andinduce early fruit drop.

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PRUNING (MALE KIWIFRUIT)Male plants are pruned immediately after ower-ing. Cut back to vigorous new growth closer to theleader. Because male plants do not fruit they canbe particularly vigorous and are not pruned duringthe dormant season so that maximum owering is

achieved.SUMMER PRUNING

Remove all basal suckers, cut out all tangled andunwanted shoots that are only a few inches long.Don’t allow weak spindly branches to growunnecessarily long, it will only weaken the vine.

HARVESTING Kiwi vines can bear fruit for 40-50 years. If thelocation is suitable you can expect at least 20lb offruit from a mature plant, but you will have to waitabout seven years before you get a worthwile crop.The fruit quickly sizes after pollination reaching fullsize in mid-summer. The remainder of the seasonis needed to mature and ripen the fruit. Fruit tastesbetter when picked at the very rst signs of soften-ing; then refrigerated and ripened as opposed tofully ripening on the vine. Fruit should only give alittle with nger pressure. Harvest usually takesplace late September to early October. Make sureall fruit is picked before the rst frost arrives.

Snap off the kiwi fruit, leaving the stem on the vine.Even minor damage causes ethylene production,which prematurely softens other fruit.Kiwi fruit can be stored for ve to six weeks afterpicking. Removal from the refrigerator (or cool stor-age area) initiates softening and ripening.

Female

ower

Male

ower

DORMANT PRUNING(FEMALE KIWIFRUIT)

Yield and fruit set is optimized by light pruning andfruit thinning, rather than heavy pruning and nothinning.

Pruning is very important, if not done branchesower and fruit so heavily they hang down whereanimals can reach them. Unpruned vines may alsohave a reduced fruit yield because they stranglethemselves.

Kiwis are pruned similar to grapes. They fruitoff one-year-old wood on the rst six base buds.This year’s new wood becomes next year’s fruitingbranches.

Pruning should be done quite early in the winterwhile it is still very cold out, and well before growthstarts in the spring to prevent vine bleeding.

1. Remove any broken or twisted canes.2. Remove one third of the wood that is growing fromthe permanent arms. Cut the wood that has fruitedtwo seasons and the majority of wood that fruitedthe previous year.3. Keep any vigorous one-year-old canes that have