I tried to root hardwood cutting of actinidia chinensis and was not successfull with roots production. Probably it needs specific condition to callus and roots production. Greenwood cuttings all rot and died. Any idea and experience of others how to propagate fuzzy kiwi from cuttings? Had not this problems with arguta.
2 Likes
A. arguta cuttings are easy to root, just stick in water. A. chinensis and deliciosa are harder and I have not had much success at all with dormant cuttings. Green shoots are not too bad if you have a mist system, but not sure that just sticking them in the ground would work very well. I would suggest putting the green cuttings in water, and change the water every 3-4 days. Bubbling air into the water will also help keep the cuttings oxygenated. Keep them out of direct sunlight, but with good, indirect light. If you do get roots, you then have to transplant to soil under high humidity (under a dome, tent, etc.) and very gradually expose to air to harden off. Water rooted cuttings are very sensitive to shock if you go too fast.
I’m testing another method right now for rooting dormant A. chinensis cuttings. I placed cuttings upside down in damp sand in a bucket, and buried the bucket with only the top 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) exposed. The bases were dipped in rooting hormone. The sun warms the top of the sand (near the base of the cuttings), while the deeper sand stays cool and prevents the buds from breaking. It may take 3-4 months, but you should eventually get some roots. The cuttings can then be planted pointing up in soil. I started some in mid February and it looks like I may be getting some small roots starting to show up.
6 Likes
I got cuttings of Ken’s Red a couple years back. I tried grafting a couple and watched them get popped off by the crazy weeping these vines are capable of when cut in the spring.
I took the remaining 2 and threw them potting soil, buried kitty-cornered with one end shallow and the other exposed. Both pushed growth and once that growth had reached about a foot I tried giving them a pull and found they were very well rooted.
Sadly I still haven’t planted them and they are sitting in a pot, pushing new growth as I type this today.
Maybe this year I will plant them, though I have a seedling yellow that I am awaiting flowering to see if its female and if it is, Ken’s Red will stay in its pot…
Scott
2 Likes
That’s why I always graft to green shoots, they don’t bleed. You can make cuts below the graft to relieve pressure, but it’s so much easier to just use green shoots later in spring that are not lignified. Green shoots heal really fast if it’s warm, and also have a less defined cambium, so alignment is not much of an issue. You can also just wait until the diameter of the shoot increases until it matches the scion, and do whip and tongue grafts.
4 Likes
Let us know about rooting progress of your actinidia chinensis upside down method. Last year I tried rooting greenwood cuttings, but without mist system and cuttings exposed to high temperatures did not produce roots neither callus. Hardwood cuttings taken in spring made short shoots with leaves but neither after 4 months cuttings did not make roots and in autumn died. Was problem how to force cuttings to make roots, any idea? Maybe some special concetration of auxins could help, but I have no experience with right hormones composition.
2 Likes
I checked on the A. chinensis cuttings in the sand bucket today. There were 3 cuttings of ‘Hongyang’, 3 from a Hort16A seedling male, and one cutting from ‘Bliss Yellow male’. I also had included 4 cuttings from a very hard to root grape vine. Cuttings were buried in late February. Here are pictures of the results.
As you can see, there were some roots, so the method does seem to work! One of the Honyang cuttings had several nice roots, and all three of the Hort16A male had roots. The Bliss male did not, unfortunately. Three of the four grape cuttings also had one small root present. I put the Bliss male cutting and the two Hongyang without roots back in the bucket and buried it again to see if they will root in the next 2-3 weeks before it gets too hot out. I now wish I had included some other varieties, but at least I now have a method for rooting dormant A. chinensis cuttings. 
7 Likes
Kiwinut
Wow, really suprised with your rooting result, it seems that it works for deliciosa, thumb up! Pity, that i had not read this message early this year:grin: will try to root some cuttings of mine fuzzy kiwi next spring. Bottom heat seems to be crucial for rooting and to slow down sprouting buds. Thank you so much for your experience sharing 
i put some cuttings in perlite 2 months ago, bud sprouting but no roots 
will try to install bottom heat…
2 Likes
Just ordered heating pads and will put them around pots to increase bottom temperature and hope it will evoke root production.
2 Likes
I bought a lot this year, from https://www.whiffletreefarmandnursery.ca/1st time trying Kiwi in Toronto. Can I grow it as a tree, 2m high, with spreading above driveway? I’ll use 15-20 gallon fabrics pots:
1 243-0282 Small Fruit: Arguta Kiwi - Anna, Female, 2 year old vine 19.95 19.95 H
1 243-0382 Small Fruit: Kolomitka Kiwi - Arctic Beauty, Male, 2 year old vine 19.95 19.95 H
2 243-4382 Small Fruit: Arguta Kiwi - Ken’s Red, Female, 2 year old vine 19.95 39.90 H
1 243-4782 Small Fruit: Arguta Kiwi - Meader, Male, 2 year old vine 19.95 19.95 H
2 243-2382 Small Fruit: Kolomitka Kiwi - Emerald, Female, 2 year old vine 21.95 43.90 H
1 243-7182 Small Fruit: Kolomitka Kiwi - September Sun, Female 2 year old vine 19.95 19.95 H
2 Likes
That is awesome, congratulations!
It could be possible to do a similar thing in a winter garage with a heating mat, but even there upside-down would be better since heat rises.
Re: kiwi grafting, I always do dormant scion / non-green stock grafts and they always work. I completely seal the grafts with Doc Farwells so they can’t bleed out the graft, and I put a bunch of cuts below the grafts. Overall they are one of the easiest things to graft for me. The only thing I have to do green grafts on is grapes.
4 Likes
I’m guessing that the best way to root the harder to root kiwis, is to take cuttings in the fall just after they go dormant. Stick the bottom of the cuttings into a bed with heating cables or in pots on heat mats and leave everything in a cool area. The buds will probably not break until they get a lot more chill, so you get a long period for roots to develop. I’m thinking I will try this in a minimally heated greenhouse this fall. If the heat is controlled by a thermostat, you can start high and gradually dial it back and let everything sit dormant until spring.
5 Likes
Any ideas what I can do about the Male gold Rocky opening too late for the female?
2 Likes
You can save pollen from your Rocky male and hand pollinate to get some fruit, but you really need a later blooming yellow male. I suspect your Rocky is a diploid, and your female is a tet, as diploids tend to bloom 1-3 weeks earlier than tetraploids. Some green (fuzzy) kiwi males bloom early enough to overlap with late blooming female tet yellow kiwis, but most are too late.
While the bloom periods may be more or less compressed in different climates, based on my experience and published work, the bloom periods are like this, with the last three usually overlapping to some extent, especially A. arguta and tet A. chinensis.
A. kolomikta<diploid A. chinensis<A. arguta<=tet A. chinensis<A. deliciosa
Tet A. chinensis males are sometimes good for pollinizing hardy A. arguta females, but hardy A. arguta males are typically not able to set fruit on A. chinensis females.
5 Likes
That’s very interesting. It’s the opposite problem with mine, the male is blooming too late. The green male cannot fertilize the yellow female?
3 Likes
Kiwinut could you help me identify the flowering hardy kiwi I have? Based on the flowers, it looks female to me. The leaves have a slight red tinge to them and have a rough texture, as if covered by minute hairs. I also have another hardy kiwi that is not blooming yet, but has many flower buds. It has longer shaped leaves which are pure green and shiny, not covered by tiny hairs. My label fell off the vine whose pictures I posted above. I suspect that it might be an arctic beauty female? Thank you
3 Likes
@TheNiceGuy
Put male tree in a warmer place (if it is in a pot); or buy new one. You can try to increase warmth around: more sun, more mulch around, some more protection, and it will wake up earlier. I have potted apple trees in a shade, adjacent to the wall of house, starting flowering soon; and dormant Apple trees in the middle of backyard.
2 Likes
This is a female A. kolomikta, which is most commonly called “Arctic Kiwi”. The term “Hardy Kiwi” usually refers to A. arguta. Argutas typically have longer narrower leaves, and the anthers are black. Kolomiktas have wider, heart shaped leaves, and yellow anthers.
3 Likes
They can if the bloom periods overlap, but most green males are too late for the yellow kiwis. When the males bloom too late, the only option is to save pollen and freeze it for the following year, or get an earlier blooming male.
3 Likes
Thank you!!!
2 Likes
Very good to hear! First yellow F ones are opening right now. The green F look very close behind. I’ll check the neighbors green M ASAP.
2 Likes