H. Hwang is an international expert in Kiwi.
No paywall.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590157526002828
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I can confirm that Ruby Red is a fantastic variety - large size and excellent flavor. I’m growing Hongyang - fruit size is small but it ripens here in Seattle area. I just got Chuhong this year - hopefully will survive.
Hwang has an excellent book too. It is available free as pdf. But the color printed book is great to get if possible.
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I’ll second this.
These are a bit overripe so they’re kinda soft, but the flavor is great and the sweetness is good. Not much kiwi flavor, for sure more berry like.
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Argh, I passed them up at Trader Joe’s because the packaging picture looked like they were seedless.
Are you going to plant the seeds?
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@xendula
Kiwis do not grow true to type from seed, nor will you know if the seedlings are male or female until they flower.
Nah, didn’t save any seed. I’m occupied with some other breeding projects and I really don’t have the space or time for large plantings of kiwis.
I got those from Costco and they are really good. They have almost a berry flavor instead of kiwi.
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Yeah that was my impression too, surprising flavor that’s more berry than kiwi. And quite a pulpy texture with fairly low acid and high sugar.
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Yea. If you scoop close to the skin it gets more kiwi, but I’d say about 80% of it from the center out is like a very sweet berry flavor. Was super happy with them even tho they were like 8? 10? Bucks for the box.
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I bought two packs of these at separate times and both packages contained kiwis that had no red tint to them at all whatsoever, despite the advertisement. I was bummed. 
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Given their price, I’d honestly probably return them if they aren’t red like they’re supposed to be.
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The store was too far away. I just let my children eat them. But, now I”m super hesitant to try them again, because like you said, they were expensive (to me)!
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I’m aware. And yet I plant golden kiwi seeds 
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I got some of the Ruby Reds a few weeks ago. They were very tasty! I thought they were a bit better than Hongyang, and much bigger. I’m saving some seeds and may try sprouting them for fun.
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I bought them once and just got some greenish kiwi and slightly poorer.
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Do you have suggestions on how to sprout them? I’ve tried to do kiwi seeds before and it’s been a flop
I’ve had great success and great failure and haven’t figured out why yet. Here are some tips I have picked up which I have not always done.
- Cold stratify for three months in the fridge, keeping a slightly damp towel or similar to keep the seeds from drying out
- Scarify the seed coats with sandpaper to make it easier to germinate
- Germinate at 70-80F or so under light (yes, they apparently germinate better with light exposure)
@kiwinut is the expert so maybe he has some other suggestions.
It looks like I have about 500 seeds so after they have stratified I can probably share some if people are not finding them in their local grocery. Actually I just looked and FreshGoGo has them for mail-order now. Probably other places as well.
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I have never scarified the seeds. I have found that sometimes you get good germination without any stratification, and other times they may need 1-3 months. I assume it may depend on how long the fruit was in cold storage. You can also soak seeds for 24-48 hours in 500-1000 ppm GA3 and bypass any need for stratification.
I soak seeds overnight in water, then sprinkle the seeds on top of some lightly damp seed starting mix in a small container and cover with sand/starter mix on top no more than about 1-2 mm deep. I then cover the container with plastic wrap or a ziplock bag (folded over loosely-not completely sealed) and place in the refrigerator. Once the seeds have had enough time, I move the container under a light (16-18 hours on) with the plastic still on loosely covering everything so it doesn’t dry out, but not so much that it gets soggy. Seeds should start sprouting in a few days up to a couple of weeks. Once I have a bunch of seedlings up, I gradually remove the covering to harden them off and then transplant individual seedlings.
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Following up on this topic, I’ve been sprouting Ruby Red seeds for fun and have seen some interesting results. I usually sprout seeds by putting them on a wet paper towel in a baggie, then I can watch how they are doing. The first batches I had inside without much light around and I had very low odds, like one in 50. Then I did the same thing but put the baggie by a south-facing window and I got about half of them to sprout! The seeds could have had more stratification so that could be a factor but I think they are responding to the day/night light and temperature fluctuations. It took maybe two weeks to see action on the seeds.
I should have some extra seeds if anyone wants to try some.. I think I harvested around 500 and have used up around half. I have maybe 30 seeds sprouting now which should be plenty for me.
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