It’s not hard finding nurseries willing to claim that the Actinidia kolomikta cultivar called ‘Dr. Szymanowski’ is self-fruitful, needing no male vine to set fruit (though they will often suggest it’s more productive with a male vine). Whether or not this is true, I’m trying to find out by growing one in isolation. I’ll update when I feel I know either way, but on a related note I just saw One Green World is now listing a new cultivar as self-fruitful which they’re calling ‘Bailey’s’. However, they list it as the first vine of its type they’ve “found” so far despite an archived page on their website in which they essentially make the same claim for ‘Dr. Szymanowski’.
Does anyone know if they’ve just re-branded ‘Dr. Szymanowski’ as ‘Bailey’s’ as a way to make it look like they have a variety no one else has, or is it truly a new and distinct cultivar?
The following is a side by side comparison screenshot from their website.
i just put in a bailey kiwi a friend rooted from hers but its still pretty small. its also not too far from my other kiwis so the male may still pollinate it.
I was growing mine in a container and it appears that they hate it when its too wet. Been growing for 2 yrs still like 6 inches. Leaves keep dying. I thought they were easy vines to grow. The vines are like toothpicks! I have had to repot to 4 inches pot to save it.
Preliminary pollen assessment of different actinidia genotypes (Actinidia Lindl.)
Olszewska Kaczynska, I.; Latocha, P.
Abstract
“Pollen viability and germination in male and considered bisexual (acting as females/self-pollinating) flowers of 21 frost-resistant Actinidia sp. genotypes were investigated in Poland. Male flowers were also evaluated for their use as pollen donors in the field. Bisexual flowers acting as females produced pollen but these usually failed to germinate. Cultivars Issai and Dr Szymanowski, considered to be self-pollinating cultivars, turned out to be only female-acting, were not able to produce germinating pollen, and were not able to self-pollinate.”
The paper also shows that ‘Dr Szymanowski’ is also not parthenocarpic like Issai. You can PM me if you want the full paper. I don’t know anything about ‘Bailey’s’. If it really is self-fruitful, then it is probably something else, and not a re-branded ‘Dr Szymanowski’.
My Actinidia arguta and Actinidia kolomikta both put on about 12” their first year (potted). They are now both in ground.
The arguta put on similar growth their first year in ground. It could be a little greater than 12” as they wrap around the tree branches surrounding them.
The arguta were a false advertisement order (as I ordered kolomikta), and aren’t meant for my growing zone, so they will likely winter kill when they grow beyond my abilities to protect them.
I find that the kolomikta were not a big fan of my brief, sunny summer and the leaves suffered greatly from sun burn. I am hoping that it was more a lack of hardening off than something I will continually experience.
The kiwi are planted in semi-shade, a fairly well draining clay loam. I do live in an area with heavy clay soils, but this spot was fairly nice clay loam for 8” before hitting pure clay.
If all of the plants survive the winter, I’ll update with their love or hate of the planting location.
