I bought two kiwis last year and am finally putting them in the ground. I was waiting to try to identify them as male or female so I knew how to plant them. So if you can tell by looking at them, please let me know. I need the help.
I planted the one I think is female where she can have more space to fruit. I plan to plant the male in close proximity but also in a smaller space so that I get pollinating flowers but can keep the plant a more manageable size. Did I plant the female?
you probably wont know until they flower. males usually flower the 1st year so you should know this summer. i got my 1st 2 from hirts and they sent me 2 females so i had to order a male.
Yeah. I was hoping to find out sooner as the person I bought them from was quite adamant that they were two different genders. I don’t know enough about kiwis yet but they look very different to me. I think he said one was a Vincent but he was hard to understand and nothing was labeled so keeping track of stuff I got from him is very difficult. I love a mystery just not when it comes to fruit. haha
i just let my male run up into a large spruce near my trellis where i have the females so it doesn’t take up fruiting space. mine are arctics though so they don’t get as big vines as the other kiwi types do.
You don’t just have two sexes, you have two different species of kiwi there. The fuzzy one is Actinidia deliciosa, the kiwi you find most commonly in stores. The one with relatively smooth leaves is A. arguta, the hardy kiwi. If the vendor was correct in them being two different sexes and that one of them is Vincent, the fuzzy one is the female since Vincent is a female A. deliciosa variety.
Male hardy kiwi will not pollenize female fuzzy kiwi. Bloom periods won’t overlap and even if you save pollen, the cross typically fails to set fruit. The reciprocal cross will work provided the bloom periods overlap, but most fuzzy males bloom too late.
I guess I’ll be buying 1-2 more kiwi plants come flowering time. Once they flower will I be able to determine good pollinating varieties?
Also, Anyone want to share pictures of their kiwi trellis or other setup? I was going to try espalier/fence but I’m rethinking it all now that I might have to get more plants.
While not optimal, a pergola like this can handle 2-4 vines. There a 5 parallel wires running length wise. I would avoid any trellis with T posts like one would grow grapes on, as they will eventually get pulled down. Kiwi vines can get huge.
I have another one like this but twice as long. It has 30 vines on it! They are seedlings and will gradually be culled, so this is really just for selection and not fruit production. Several are going to bloom this spring if they can survive the tornadoes, hail and late freezes.
i have 2 female arctics on a 6’ x 8’ pergola and i have to cut them back hard every spring. hardys grow 2xs more so 1 would probably be enough for a pergola the size of mine.
