Two plants, usually
Most kiwis are either male or female, and a female with no male within about
thirty feet will flower beautifully every year and never set a single fruit.
This is the commonest kiwi disappointment and it is entirely avoidable: buy a
pair, or buy one of the self-fertile varieties such as Issai, and be certain
which you have before you plant.
One male pollinates up to about six females, so a pair is the minimum rather
than the ratio.
Chill, and which kiwi this is
The fuzzy kiwi of the supermarket wants six hundred or more chill hours and
will not fruit in Central Florida. What does work here is the lower-chill
end of the family: hardy kiwi and some Actinidia deliciosa selections bred for
warm winters. The chill requirement is the number to ask about, in the same
way it is for peaches, and a vine that is wrong for the climate cannot be
managed into fruiting.
Build the structure first
A mature kiwi is a genuinely heavy plant. It will pull down a trellis built
for a grape, and it will demolish a garden arch. Posts set in concrete, with
wire you would be happy to hang a hammock from, is the right standard. Build
it before the vine goes in.
Then prune twice a year, which is what keeps a kiwi a plant rather than an
event. In summer you shorten the long whips that run off into the garden. In
winter you take out the wood that has already fruited and tie in the canes
that will fruit next year. Skip two years of this and you will need a saw and
a day.
Kiwis are thirsty, with large thin leaves and shallow roots, and they wilt
fast in a Florida dry spell. Mulch and consistent water, rather than rescue
soakings.
Spring
Budbreak and then flowering, which is the moment the male plant earns its place in the garden.
- Feed once as growth starts.
- Tie new shoots in while they are soft and will still bend where you want them.
- Check that male and female are flowering at the same time. If they are not overlapping, say so and we will sort out a better match.
- Water generously. A kiwi in a dry Florida spring wilts before anything else in the garden.
Summer
Enormous growth. Shoots of ten feet are normal and most of them need to come off.
- Summer prune: shorten the long whips running away from the trellis, back to a few leaves beyond the last fruit.
- Water deeply and often, and keep the mulch topped up.
- Feed once early in the season, then stop.
- Keep the fruit shaded by its own leaves rather than exposing it; kiwi fruit scalds in full Florida sun.
Fall
The fruit fills and finishes. Kiwi is one of the last harvests of the year.
- Test rather than guess: cut one open, and when the seeds are black the fruit is ready to pick even though it is still hard.
- Pick the whole crop at once and ripen it indoors. A kiwi softens off the vine.
- Stop feeding.
- Keep watering until the vine slows.
Winter
Dormancy, the chill the variety needs, and the main pruning.
- Prune out the canes that fruited this year and tie in the one-year-old wood that will fruit next year.
- Prune in the depths of dormancy. A kiwi pruned as the sap rises bleeds badly.
- Check the posts and wires while you can see them.
- Do not feed.
We are not listing kiwi online at the moment.
What goes to the booth and what is on the website are not always the same
thing. Come and see us at the booth, or reply to any reminder email and ask,
and we will tell you what we have.
