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Hardy Kiwis
 (Actinidia sp.)


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The kiwi is a small, soft-fleshed fruit with a delectable and distinctive taste. The kiwi is really a vine not a tree, but it grows so large that one needs to treat it much like a tree, so we include it in this tree-fruit section.

Kiwis come in two broad classes: the "standard" kiwi (often called the "fuzzy kiwi"), A. deliciosa, which is perhaps lemon-sized and which has a fuzzy skin requiring that it be peeled before use, and the smaller "hardy kiwis", A. arguta and A. kolomikta, which can be eaten entire, rather like a good-sized grape. (There is another, the "Chinese kiwi", A chinensis, not yet much seen outside of China, though it is very popular there.)

The fuzy kiwi, though it long dominated the rapidly growing kiwifruit market, is the least flavorsome of the types, and also the greatest nuisance to prepare or eat, owing to its skin. The so-called "hardy kiwi" types are now emerging as the preferred alternative, inasmuch as they may be eaten out of hand, are better tasting, and have a wider growing zone.

Four important things to know about growing hardy kiwis:

But, as one source says, Despite the challenges, once one has sampled the fruit, kiwi growing seems well worth the trouble. The fruit is aromatic, with fuzzy kiwi, banana, strawberry, and pear flavors all wrapped up in one delightful package.

Fortunately, Actinidia kolomikta is not only described as "best suited to short-season and cold-winter areas"--that's us--but is said to fruit in its first year after planting [Yeesss, Pinky!]. The species is hardy to Zone 3, and only needs about 130 frost-free days to ripen its fruit, which sometimes drop when ripe.

One source, albeit speaking of commercial operations, states that "Under optimum conditions, yields of . . . about 200 pounds per vine can be expected". Cut that even by ten to allow for home-growing, plant two vines, and you've got 40 pounds a season--and probably more--when the vines are mature.


Hardy Kiwi Cultivars

Hardy kiwis

The typical "hardy kiwi" used to be the A. arguta species; what held its development back was fear by the commercial growers that its smaller size would be a marketing handicap--but its special and superior flavor has made it a success anyway. Regrettably, though A. arguta is significantly hardier than the old standard kiwifruit, it is not quite hardy enough for really northerly climates. Fortunately, the other hardy kiwi species, A. kolomikta is, with only modest grower care, hardy enough for regions like ours. The choice of A. kolomikta for our kiwi species is really a no-brainer.

That said, what of particular cultivars?

At least in North America, there seems so far little cultivar distinction. One reads of "Arctic Beauty", but that seems to be mostly or entirely just a nickname for the entire kolomikta species, rather than any cultivar of it.

The few named varieties (all female--the males seem to have no cultivar names) mentioned in the literature, not counting things identified only by codes, are:

The USDA classes two of those--Krupnopladnaya and Pautske--as "economically important".

The particular variety we are putting in is called by the nursery September Sun A. kolomitka (the male being simply known as "Artic Beauty"). Of that female (under its old, original name of Sentiabrskaya), one source says:

Exceptionally proliferating very hardy Ukraine female cultivar. White slightly lemon scented flowers borne In May. In order to bear fruit a plant requires about 130 days without frost. Tasty berries ripen in August and fall to the ground. Leaves either green or green-white slpashed with pink. The variegation appears in its second, third year after planting and is more prominent on leaves in full sun. It grows up to 4m [c. 13'] tall (1-2 m [c. 3' to 6'] of annual growth). Pruning is best done in late autumn or winter (before the vegetation period), or in summer after the stems have partially grown thick and woody; otherwise the vine will bleed sap.

Kiwi Culture

These are just a few summary notes--consult the varous web pages linked farther below for more detail.


Conditions

The hardy kiwi prefers a sound, loamy, pH-neutral soil. Above all, the soil drainage must be perfect. Full sun is said to be best for good fruit production, but many sources recommend partial shade for optimum overall success. Either way, it should definitely be well-sheltered from wind, especially in the colder months.

A. kolomikta is inherently quite cold resistant (but see farther below), with dormant plants hardy down to at least -20°F. The chief problem encountered in growing hardy kiwi is that they are fairly low-chill plants, meaning that they are all too likely to break bud a lot sooner than we'd like, and consequently encounter late-spring-freeze damage to the developing buds (even though the plants are safe enough). In a bad year, spring freeze damage can mean no crop that year.

The vines grow well on a wall, and can also be grown into trees. (Beware: cats are very fond of this plant, and can easily damage it by scratching at it.) They are vigorous climbers, and require a sturdy support.


Growing

Plant the largest vines available, allowing one (nonfruiting) male for up to eight (fruiting) females. The vines can be supported on a T-trellis that is about six feet high and wide, with 3-5 wires strung between the arms of the T. In that scheme, space posts sixteen feet apart, with plants at half that distance.

Although hardy kiwifruits are, as their name implies, cold hardy, that cold-hardiness comes only with age; young plants commonly freeze back, delaying production. So plant the largest vines you can get hold of, and protect the developing trunks from winter sun and cold with "Tree-Shelters", corn stalks, burlap, pipe insulation, or tree-wrap material. Keep in mind that the trunks of hardy kiwifruits are rarely exposed to full sunlight in the wild, so don't be afraid to wrap them well.

Fruit is produced on second-year wood, or on fruit spurs on older wood; pruning is best carried out in the winter, while the plant is dormant.

Prune annually. Remove 70% of the wood--all the spent, misplaced, and tangled wood--leaving approximately 30% percent, composed of the previous year's new growth. When plants are young, be sure you have one trunk, two cordons, and last year's pencil-sized new lateral growth (fruit spurs - close nodules). Removing more than about 70% will throw the plant out of balance and it will become vegetative the following year: you need last year's fruit spurs present. [adapted from a post by David Jackson & Holly Laubach, Kiwi Korners.]


More

Relevant Links

Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially helpful:

(And don't forget that we have listings of nurseries on our suppliers page.)


Odds and Ends

Biology

The genus Actinidia contains about 60 often quite various species. All Actinidia species are perennial, climbing, or scrambling plants; most are deciduous, though a few from warmer areas are evergreens. All species appear to be dioecious: that is, the flowers on male vines produce viable pollen but lack a properly developed ovary, ovules, or styles, while the flowers of female vines appear perfect, but the pollen they release is shrivelled and non-viable. That all means that one must have both male and females vines present to produce fruit.

The fruits of the various Actinidia species are all berries, in that they are fleshy, have many seed embedded in the flesh, and do not split open at maturity. Horticulturally, however, they display great diversity, often in the attributes that are important to growers. For example, the fruit can occur singly, in small bunches of three to five fruit, or sometimes in larger bunches or infructescences containing up to 30 or more fruit. They can vary in size, shape, hairiness, and external color. Some species change color as they ripen. The flesh can also vary in color, juiciness, texture, and composition. The fruits of some species are basically inedible or, at best, unpalatable, whereas the flavor of the fruit of others is considered superb.

The four species of use for edible fruit are A. deliciosa, the "standard" kiwifruit; A. chinensis (only recognized as a distinct species in the early 1980s), a type a bit smaller, and much more nearly hairless, than A. deliciosa and reportedly of much better flavor, and now very popular in China; A. arguta, which is the more common sort of what is now called the "hardy kiwi", and has a significantly better flavor than the "standard" kiwi; and A. kolomikta, another "hardy kiwi" that is even hardier than A. arguta.


History

The kiwi, unlike most common fruits, is a strikingly modern development. A mere century ago it was just a wild plant growing in China; by 1970, it had been developed into a major new fruit crop in New Zealand. Today, the kiwi is an important commercial crop grown in several regions of the world: it has also become an important element of international trade , the three biggest producer countries exporting almost all the kiwifruit they produce. Total world production now exceeds that of such well-established crops as raspberries and currants, and is likely to soon exceed the production of strawberries and apricots.

Almost all kiwifruit cultivars being grown in orchards outside China are descended from just three plants--two female and one male--themselves derived from a single seed introduced to New Zealand in 1904, a seed probably collected at Hubei or Sichuan in China.


Envoi

Kiwifruit contain large quantities of the enzyme actinidin, which will tenderize meat, for those who still eat dead animals.





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