Hardy Kiwi

I live in Southern Eastern Pa. zone 6 is anybody harvesting berries in this area ?

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Hardy kiwis will grow well in PA but they are prone to leafing out and flowering early which will likely affect fruiting most years.

Are they worse than fuzzy kiwi about getting freeze damage?

The fuzzy kiwis tend to be a little worse with dieback after they leaf out but both are prone to early flowering. If the plants are not sheltered from freezing temps after flowering early don’t expect any fruit. Ours are waking up now and for it being just 2/23 I doubt we will see fruit, our last expected frost date is around mid April. They tend to do a little better about not breaking dormancy in places where snow sticks around until later in spring. The snow helps keep them dormant just long enough to often escape freezes but even these areas can get late frost and can loose fruit from their hardy kiwis.

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I’m located in Lancaster County. I have two varieties of Hardy Kiwi that I have harvested fruit from. They have been very easy and trouble free to grow. I haven’t had any problems with freeze damage on the blooms.

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One of the main commercial growers of hardy Kiwi is located in Danville, Pa. Kiwi Korners KiwiBerry Farm

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Southeast Michigan here. When I prune well I get plenty of fruit. Freeze has only been an issue once in almost 20 years.

Scott

I’m glad to hear PA is getting fruit. I’m surprised plants flowering early is not an issue for you too. My friends in Leola PA where saying they seen several days this month in the upper 50’s and mid 60’s and that her plum tree’s buds where swelling. I wish SC was so lucky, my plums started blooming almost 2 weeks ago. :disappointed_relieved:
I figured Michigan would be a great place for hardy kiwi. I grow arguta, chinensis, deliciosa, kolomikta, melanandra, purpurea, polygama, and some hybrids. Most are still young and in pots but I have fruiting size arguta, chinensis, and deliciosa that that have flowered for the past 3 years or so but then after a frost the flowers get destroyed and foliage too. With A. deliciosa I’ve lost wood from late frost. I think melanandra has suffered dieback in the past too but not as noticeable as deliciosa . I keep calling it late frost but it’s flowering early that keeps me from getting fruit. If they would wait until April to flower I might could get a good harvest.

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With arguta, at least, you might find as the vines get older that they’re still able to flower and produce some fruit even if the first growth is killed back by a late frost.

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Keep some frost blankets on hand to cover them in the spring. Bear that in mind when deciding how to trellis them.

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I’m very surprised to hear that someone in Leola would have plum buds swelling. Our trees aren’t and I don’t expect that they will for a couple weeks yet. It is true that we had a few days in the 50’s and 60’s but there weren’t enough consecutive days to cause any problems on any of our fruit that I have seen. I spent most of my life in TN. We had much more trouble there with late frosts freezing blooms then we do here. We had a hard time with peaches and plums there almost every year but in the 8 years we have been here we haven’t had a single year that we didn’t have fruit on both peaches and plums. There have been a couple years when some varieties would have some frost damage but not a total crop failure like we had in TN a number of years. Our weather seems to be considerably more stable here then in TN which I attribute to being the reason for our better success here.

My Kiwi vines are young so I have only a couple years experience with them so we may still have trouble but I would expect it to be minimal. I only have Arguta here,

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I know her peonies and roses always look fantastic compared to mine. They must really like it up there too. I’m glad to hear your plum trees are still nice and dormant, hopefully she’ll get some plums too. I sent her that plum tree along with some pomegranates a few years back. Every single pomegranate died so I’m hoping the Chickasaw seedling does good for her. She wants to try some non astringent Asian persimmons but I told her I doubted they would grow well up there. Do you have any experience with them? I figured Jiro would be her best bet but still have my doubts. I’d love to hear what’s doing well for you if you grow any.

I think I’m going to give up on pomegranates. I have Kazake and Wonderful. Both of them froze back to the ground last winter but came back from the roots. I will see what happens this year yet.

Is her Chickasaw the one that is pushing buds?

Yes, I have been trying to grow non astringent as well as astringent persimmons here. I have been trying Jiro for the last 4-5 years and I have had freeze back almost every year and haven’t gotten any fruit except one that I kept in a pot. I planted an Izu last year. I also planted some astringent varieties last year (Kassandra, Mikusu, Saijo & Miss Kim). I planted a Rosseyanka 3 years ago I think but I have’t gotten any fruit from it yet. I’m hoping to get some this year. We do have a large american persimmon tree that we get lots of persimmons off of each year. I honestly think we are just a bit too far north to grow the non astringents here. I am interested in the two varieties that Cliff England says have made it there at his farm, but I don’t know of any one around here that has them.

I sent her Kazake, Sumbar, and some of my numbered Russian poms. I can tell you wonderful doesn’t do good even for us here in 7b/8a but I think maybe it would be okay for 8b. Kazake is proven in colder areas but it didn’t live for her.
Yes the chickasaw is what’s pushing buds.
You grow a good bit of persimmons. I told her to try an astringent type but she is completely against it. I’m guessing she had a bad experience once lol. Thanks for filling me in on Jiro, I was going to graft her a plant this spring and still may just because she wants one but I’ll let her know what you said.
If you want to try any other persimmons next year please feel free to reach out to me I’ll have some scions from a few others you can try. I don’t have too much wood left this year except for Fuyu, Chocolate, and Yates but if you want to try any of them shoot me a message and I’ll be happy to send you some. I would ask for a few of your plum scions for her to try but I know she don’t know how to graft.
Do you live in rural Lancaster county PA or are you in the city?
It’s funny, I live just outside Lancaster county South Carolina in York county SC :slightly_smiling_face:

Can Hardy Kiwi grow in Zone 7a?

Thank you for the offer of persimmon scions. I may be interested in trying some next year.

I will gladly share some of my plum scions with your friend. I would be happy to teach her how to graft, if she is interested.

Yes, I live in rural Lancaster county. We have 12 acres here. I’m located about 15 miles north of Leola.

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Yes

Hi, jesse/Wizzard here
I’am responding to everybody that returned feedback on my account. When I asked about the Hardy Kiwi if anybody was harvesting berries in Pa. I’am more wondering if it’s going to happen. If others were getting fruit. My problem is, I’am not getting male flowers yet. The female 2 females Anna (6 years old) hang full of flowers. When I had Donkeys they, ate the male kiwi to death. And the male I have now, this year should be around 4 years old. Though I 'll watch the weather channel for frost. And cover if need be. Last year I added Kens Red, Hardy Red, and Michigan State. Just was wondering how others in my area are doing. Hamburg Pa.
Thank Everybody for their time. Jesse

You are going to have to get a male

Hi, Jesse/Wizzard her
When dormant will live in zone 4 at -25 degrees F below zero.
Must be patient I am still waiting for friut. But I believe it’s going to be worth the wait.