I live in Northewestern Illinois zone 5 and want to start growing hardy kiwi. Is anyone using the espalier method of trellising?
What is the optimum height and width to grow the hardy’s without stressing the plant but getting the maximum fruit production? I would love any feed back or advice.
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Hardy kiwi will get as big as you allow, so optimum size depends on how much you are willing to spend, and how much space and time you have, and how much fruit you want. Mature vines can carry hundreds of pounds of fruit, so the strongest and most manageable option is probably some sort of pergola. Something less robust can be used, but you will need to prune frequently to keep things under control, and production may be low if you don’t prune correctly.
The shade from a pergola will also keep the weeds from growing, and fruit can be easily accessed from underneath.
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Thanks for your advice!
Ok I need to know just how big and wide the hardy kiwi can get and not hurt the integrity and health of the plant. I’ve read where if they get too big the plant suffers and won’t produce. Does anyone know someone who’s an expert on hardy kiwi or books I can get that tell me everything I need to know about these plants?
Here’s a pic I made years ago when I did my 2nd hardy kiwi planting. My first planting was too close (10’ spacing) and I was never able to keep up with them. I also only had access from certain directions and had other plants in the area that they kept climbing on and smothering.
When first built in 2013:
So, give it a TON of space. Space which is clear on all sides from obstructions. The one I have above is much better than my first planting, but the male did get away and grow past the corner of the fence. But, given that it is the male, I’m not too concerned about reigning it in.
My trellis is built with 8’ posts which are about 2" into the ground, so it is just above the bill of my hat but low enough to hit my head, And I’ve hit it a lot. So, if you can, make it at least a couple inches taller than you, at least if you plan to walk under it to harvest and prune.
I mow under mine, but the grass doesn’t grow as much now that the vines are more mature. There is more moss.
The above is definitely not too big. I wouldn’t mind it being 5’ longer on both ends.
In the older planting, I ended up removing several vines and making a much larger trellis for one that I thought produced good fruit (Cordifolia). It has 4 bars/wires leading out from the central point and going 10’ for the 2 bars and ~15’ for the wires. So, that is about 50’ of kiwi vine. It seems much easier to prune, but I’ll need to get back to you on productivity. The male for that planting got cut down when I had someone removing some trees. It is growing back, but the only pollination this spring was me waving a branch (from the other planting, ~150+ feet away) around a couple times. There is some set, but not as much as the Cordifolia graft I made in the newer planting (replacing Chico, as Chico and Jumbo are actually the same cultivar, and not that great).
Rossana is the other good cultivar. Issai is productive and precocious. Geneva is just OK. 49er was pretty good, but not productive at all (may be my fault as it got so large it shades itself- that may be why there is a recommendation against massive vines). Ken’s Red is finally fruiting (a bit) now, after 10 years (it had 1-2 fruit last year, that I must have picked at the wrong time…).
Well, “kiwi” is Kiwinut’s first name 
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i realize that a lot of hardy kiwi is grown flat, overhead, but can it be grown like grapes? in my case i would train it up a fence post and then branch horizontally by running cabling through fence posts. the downside in my case would be only one side gets sun as the picture is taken facing north:
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Hardy kiwi can be grown anyway you want, as long as you give it enough space and a sturdy supporting structure. I grow both hardy and fuzzy kiwis flat on the south-facing side of my house using a frame and wires. It works fine; it’s just a bit harder to maintain with access from only one side. Your method wouldn’t have that problem.
wouldnt it have the exact same problem 
do you have a picture of your vines?
If you are growing it like a row of grapes, you can access both sides of the row. I assumed that you wouldn’t grow the vines flat against the fence; but, even if you did, it wouldn’t be a big problem because it looks like the top wire isn’t significantly higher than 6 ft. My top wire is about 15 ft up and needs ladder work.
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ya i was going to drill through the posts and run wire to as long as i want the trellis. which makes me wonder how many wire “levels” would you have? or a better question would be how much space should there be between levels? also, are all the directions the fence faces ok or would the west side of the yard not going to get enough light?
what brought this up was it would be easier and cheaper to use the current fence but also i thought that they trellis like that commercially because it protects the berries from the sun or something. its probably for ease of harvesting but grapes arent grown that way 
What about someone who just has 1 Issai plant? Is that one as vigorous or could a cattle panel suffice,
I have 1 Issai vine. It grows vigorously, but the vines are thinner than fuzzy kiwi vines. So, the supporting structure doesn’t need to be as strong.
Would it cling to a shed wall like ivy would?
I have at least 6 levels at variable heights because the vines are growing between two decks at different levels and behind stairs between the decks. I think 18" between wires works OK for Issai and Anna hardy kiwi vines.
These varieties have done well even with some shade from the adjacent decks and stairs; so, they should tolerate both facing east and west, which won’t be as productive as facing south but still should be useful.
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i thought it might be a good idea to stick the male on the west side, that way the N and NE could get better sun from two other plants. or run the male on its own level like the bottom one or something.
Are you planning on only 3 vines? It appears that you have enough room for a lot more. Recommended spacing varies from 6’ to 20’, depending on the variety. You could allocate only 6’ to each male and have one on each side. Most recommendations for females are around 10’ to 15’. With 2 wires, you could even grow a female on the upper wire of a section and a male on the lower wire of part of the same section. I grow male arms on every 3rd arm of a single section.
My Issai does well without any male hardy kiwis.
i only have 3 plants coming, 2 females and one male. figured running the male north to south on the west fence since it would start to get shaded after noon. the the other two on the north fence or the northeast fence. i would have to figure out how they are going to fruit on the wires before i can say putting a male on the same trellis sections as the females.
How long is the north fence?
probably 40’ + gate. 3 8’ sections on the left of the gate and 2 on the right.
That’s more than enough room for all 3 vines on the north fence. If you want to discuss this some more, we should probably use personal messages.
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