Rooting hardy kiwi in water.
6 Likes
Has anyone had success with Hardy Kiwi in SoCal near the ocean? Zone 10b I think. Im wondering if I should take cuttings of my hardy kiwi with me on my move to Cali.
So I have only been successful by mistake. I had two store-bought plants that I pruned heavily two years ago. I trimmed up several 8 inch dormant cuttings about the thickness of a pencil and stuck them in a jar of water and set them on my livingroom window sill. They soon pushed out leaves and then branches up to 12 inches long! I was excited about how vigorous they were but puzzled why there were no roots. For 2 months, they sat in the window until I noticed the growth was starting to wilt. One by one, they wilted until I only had one left with green growth. Discouraged, I decided I was unsuccessful and placed it in a cabinet under my sink to deal with later. About 4 weeks later, I was cleaning up and pulled out the jar. To my surprise, there were plenty of roots. I planted it in a moist soil and then once it was warm outside into the ground. It is a thriving vine today. My conclusion is that maybe the darkness under the sink was the key. Anyone else have these results?
3 Likes
Cuttings should not be exposed to direct light but shadow is better!
By the way I made shopping todayā¦rooting hormone 3300ppm iba acid (the suggested one for kiwi), plastic box to build the āpropagation boxā, agriperlite and vermiculite for substrate and black plastic pots.
I have two 7w heating plates with a thermostat recycled from an old germination box.
I will put it onto my heated home floor so that it will reach easier the necessary temperature.
Now, my only wonder is about watering.
How to water the agriperlite+vermiculite substrate?
Should I saturate it with water, drain off and put the cuttings inside or should I lightly water when the cuttings are inside?
How frequently should I water?
Andā¦to avoid fungus, should I treat cuttings and the box with fungicide or some specific product?
1 Like
Just noticed that you talk about hardy kiwi. Iām talking about Actinidia chinensis and Actinidia deliciosa, would it work the same?
kiwi are not easy to root but dormant cuttings are best. Rooting hormone is a must and the trick is to plant as deep as possible. Cuttings 10 inches or longer work best but Leave only 1 or 2 buds above the soil. Iāve tried and tried over the years and this is what I have found works best. Like vitis, all Actinidia are easily propagated by layering. The problem is you canāt layer a plant until you own the plant unless you have a friend that is willing to layer a plant for you. Good luck with everyoneās cuttings I hope you keep us updated.
1 Like
Thank you for your reply!
Can I ask you how do you make winter hardwood kiwi cuttings?
Do you use heating mat or do you put them outside in pots?
How do you cut the base?
You cut just beneath a bud and put two buds in the soil?
Do you scratch the base with a knife to expose cambium layer?
Somewhere I read that itās better to cut a bud at its center, do you use to do this?
I store plant material in the fridge until spring then root them outside in pots placed a shady area, with no bottom heat. I like to seal the top and bottom of the cuttings with wax and do a scrape on one side about 2 inch long exposing the cambium and dusting with rooting hormone. The scrape goes over the 2 lowest buds. I get about 1 in 4 cuttings to take but again itās not a super easy plant to root via cuttings. I would think an Aeroponic cloner would work great also and maybe even better than rooting in soil but Iām old school and too cheap to get a setup like that, so I just do it this way. Hope this helps.
Can I ask you where do you make the lower cut?
I read that someone cuts the lower bud at the middleā¦someone just under the lower budā¦
The cut goes over the 2 lowest buds or lowest bud if the buds are spaced far apart. donāt cut the buds off just scrape the wood to expose the cambium and dust with hormone. Youāll need a deep pot because roots will form from the wounded area at the bottom of the cuttings first then once rooted secondary roots will form at the other buds under the soil this is why itās important to plant them deep. If you have a shallow pot the roots wonāt have any soil below them. You want those roots to have all the room they need. I find the 3 gallon poly grow bags work great for kiwi cuttings you can find them on ebay but if you just need a couple I can send you some for postage if you are in the US
2 Likes
Stupid question. I just got some kiwi cuttings, and Iām trying to make sure Iāve got the right end up. These little bumps are the buds, right? Itās much less obvious than most other buds. And Iām assuming the buds should be above the leaf scars?
5 Likes
@jcguarneri
Buds are above the leaf scar.
Yes those are the dormant buds the arrow is pointing at.
3 Likes
Great, thank you!
1 Like
Yeah, kiwis donāt feel right. I think its because the leaf scar points away from the growing tip.
3 Likes
Yeah, I know! I had read the orientation is counterintuitive, but I lost where I read that (which also said which way was up). I thought I could figure it out, but then I started second-guessing my second-guessing. Thatās the nice thing about this forum; thereās usually someone who knows the answer!
3 Likes
My trick to remember is every time I graft kiwis I look at one of my existing plants to make sure I have the scion orientation correct. It is easy to mess upā¦
2 Likes
You can look at my kiwi rooting and watch for the node. The bud is always on top of the old leaf bump.
6 Likes
Well, I got them started. And only put 2 in upside downā¦
Hopefully, it goes as well for me as it did for @tonyOmahaz5
3 Likes
Starting to get buds breaking, and maybe roots (didnāt want to tug too hard just yet). I have them in a sealed bag for humidity (because Iām paranoid), and they appear to be callusing and trying to root on the top end, too! I should probably pull them out of the bag soon.
5 Likes
I would leave the bag on until you see roots formation.
3 Likes