dana mastro

I grew a kewi from the store and its like 2 feet tall now how do I know if its a boy or girl??? and do I have to get both sexes for kewis?

Richard

To identify standard kiwis, you have to observe the flowers:

http://www.farmingtongardens.com/pdf...tion/kiwis.pdf

Probably no surprise that the females produce the fruit! You only need about 1 male for 4 females, unless your vines are very long (100').

Another thing to consider - where was that kiwi fruit grown? There are hybrids available for different environments -- unfortunately no standard kiwis are going to survive outdoors in Idaho. But indoors ... there are some interesting choices if you can keep the vines contained and illuminated late spring through autumn.

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pmurphy

It's true that no store-bought kiwi will not survive however if you do wish to grow them outside there are a couple of kiwi that'll survive winter in Idaho...A. arguta and A. kolomikta

I recently acquired a pair of red-fruited a. arguta but have yet to find a pair of a. kolomikta; also known as artic beauty because the male has geen, white and pink leaves. And for this reason it is widely sold as an ornamental. The female however is not colorful and so not commonly sold (at least not up here).

"The kiwifruit found in grocery stores (Actinidia deliciosa) is a product of New Zealand that thrives where winter temperatures dip to just 30 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit, which includes USDA Hardiness Zones 7 through 9. Gardeners in northern zones can grow this exotic treat, too—hardy (A. arguta) and super-hardy kiwifruit (A. kolomikta) survive temperatures as low as -25˚F and -40˚F, respectively"

A. arguta & A. kolomikta
Category:
Vines and Climbers

Hardiness:
USDA Zone 4a: to -34.4 °C (-30 °F)
USDA Zone 4b: to -31.6 °C (-25 °F)
USDA Zone 5a: to -28.8 °C (-20 °F)
USDA Zone 5b: to -26.1 °C (-15 °F)
USDA Zone 6a: to -23.3 °C (-10 °F)
USDA Zone 6b: to -20.5 °C (-5 °F)
USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 °C (0 °F)
USDA Zone 7b: to -14.9 °C (5 °F)
USDA Zone 8a: to -12.2 °C (10 °F)
USDA Zone 8b: to -9.4 °C (15 °F)

Sun Exposure:
Full Sun

Richard

I'd be interested in how you like the taste of these alternate species. Everyone I've known who has grown them has removed the plants after observing the size and taste of the fruit.

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pmurphy

Being north of the 49th and in of the warmest zone in Canada (zone8b) there are only a few types of kiwi that can be grown here; A. arguta, A. kolomikta and the "fuzzy" A. deliciosa - I personally do not care for the taste of the fuzzy, where as I find the taste of these "Chinese Gooseberries" (as they are also known) very pleasant.
There is also the golden kiwi A. chinensis. It is large like the deliciosa with smooth skin which can be eaten entirely (no peeling), and it will also survive to about zone 7 but finding them is almost impossible (I have managed to sprout 4 seeds so far)......and if you haven't tasted these, you don't know what you're missing.

However if you are looking at growing in zone 6, A. arguta and A. kolomikta are your only options

dana mastro

um I got like green house and sun rooms all around Moscow its not a problem out here we work hard for our tropical fruits!

scottu

I have had Kiwi for 4 years now, zone 6, cold and tho I don't know the type, the wife got them at the home depot. They grow very small fruit and even though I give it more room to grow every season, it seems almost invasive in nature, it even competes with the 25 year old wisteria vine, and that is impressive

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RogerEvenBove

It's nice to hear from a fellow Pennsylvanian in the last post. I have a few hardy kiwis myself and got a small amount of delicious fruit from them. I also have had 'tender' kiwis for almost 20 years planted against the south side of my house. The first were taken from seeds from California (Hayward) kiwis from the supermarket. They grew well and survived winters without trouble, but produced no fruit.
I finally bought some grafted female vines from Edible Landscaping and a supplier in Washington state. They took over the south side of my ranch-style home and began to assault the roof. In the best years I had to give away fruit. Unfortunately, when I retired we upsized our house for the 4th time by putting on a second story. Since the entire south wall had to be reconstructed, the kiwis had to be cut to a foot tall. My wife didn't want kiwis on the siding any more so I had an arbor built which extends about five feet from the house. The best part of this was that a series of hardy fig bushes that had been planted about the same time as the kiwis rediscovered the sun and produced brilliantly this fall without having been properly protected for the winter. However. the kiwis, which covered the back and top of the arbor and started to assault my unusually high second floor have only produce a very small amount of fruit, though they and some more that I added to the 'jungle' behind my back yard were covered with blossoms this spring. My point is that kiwis will survive and fruit 15 miles north of the Mason-Dixon line, but I should warn that the season is not long enough to ripen them and they need a warm place to ripen. I ought to add that none of my bananas have ever fruited in my greenhouse, though my outdoor Basjoos are high and hardy without much care.

Richard

Wow, it's really great to hear from folks in colder climates and your experiences with the behavior and tastes of the other species. Perhaps the frozen winter is good for the Chinese gooseberries!? Alternately, it could be that our expectation of hairy kiwi taste biases all else. I know that when it comes to peaches and apricots, some of my SE Asian friends feel that they are too sour for human consumption.

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