As I prepared my garden for the dormant season this year during a snowfall, I was reminded, perhaps like many in our eastern temperate climate, that the first blanket of snow often stokes our childhood memories. The arrival of snow reminded me of being swaddled in wool blankets in front of a wood burning stove, dreaming and drooling over seed catalogs in winter's early darkness. At nine I was already smitten with the treasure-seeking rhythm of seeking unique plants and with the wonder of feeding ourselves from the humble beginnings of a seed packet transferred and cared for in our home garden plot.
I wanted a fruiting kiwi vine, one so hardy that it would survive the 300+ inches of lake effect snow we endured (and shoveled) each year. As I grew to adulthood, it made my wishlist every year. It became my elusive hobby obsession. After forty years of first dreaming of kiwi in the northern climate of my childhood home, I finally had my wish granted. This year I harvested my first kiwi fruits (or kiwi "berries," as they are sometimes called) from my five-year-old vines.
Hardy kiwi will survive much colder temperatures than their tropical counterparts that are responsible for our grocery store choices of fuzzy gold and green. Hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta) is a cold-tolerant cultivar that can be grown in USDA zones 3 through 8, depending on the variety. It can survive winter in most areas, but is susceptible to early season frost damage, so avoiding frost pockets or cold spring winds when planting is key. Wind can also damage vines, so a sheltered location is important. Once a vine is dormant, however, it can tolerate temperatures as low as -25 degrees Fahrenheit.
This woody vine is grown for fruit, shade, and visual interest (some varieties have variegated leaves). Hardy kiwi is not a fussy plant. The vine will grow in full and part sun, but will fruit most productively in full sun. It will grow in any soil, but does best in soil with a pH around 5 - 6.5. The planting site must be well-drained or plant loss is likely to occur the first year. The plant relies on an inch of rainfall every ten days, so planting the vine within watering range to allow supplemental watering during dry spells is important. A gallon of water or so per plant through drip irrigation should suffice. With our hardiness zones slowly shifting north as our average annual temperatures climb, attention to the heat zone map is helpful, too, when deciding where to plant a hardy kiwi vine. Sustained temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit in full sun can scald leaves and cause heat stress, which
diminishes fruit production.
Hardy kiwi is a vigorous grower. The vines can gain 20 feet in a single season, and will cover any sturdy support it is given: fences, arbors, pergolas, trellises. It is not invasive, but can overtake small trees and shrubs if left unchecked. The vine can be manipulated into a horizontal canopy or espaliered. Pruning should be done in the winter to promote fruit production. In the first year or two after planting, select the most vigorous and straight shoot as the permanent trunk. Cut back other shoots to encourage trunk growth. In the following summers, remove excessively long shoots (they will be obvious) or overgrown sections. As winter arrives, cut back the stems, leaving only a dozen or so nodes on a stem. Attention to terminal node location while pruning will help you train the vine in the shape/direction you prefer.
Hardy kiwi is a heavy nitrogen feeder. Three inches of compost such as aged manure or a rotted pine bark and aged manure mixture added each spring to the base of the plant should provide the nutrients necessary for a season.
There are several common varieties of hardy kiwi:
- Actinidia arguta 'Anananzaya' is a vigorous grower with very sweet fruit. Also called 'Anna,' this female plant is hardy down to USDA zone 4.
- Actinidia kolomikta 'Arctic Beauty' is a male cultivar used to pollinate female plants, hardy to USDA zone 4. It has white and green variegated foliage.
- Actinidia arguta 'Issai' is self-pollinating. It is hardy to USDA zone 5 and requires less pruning than other varieties. The fruit is smaller than other hardy kiwi.
Gardening is an exercise in delayed gratification and hardy kiwi is no exception. It requires more patience than tomatoes, but less patience than a nut tree. Hardy kiwi produce fruit after their third year (some varieties do not produce until their fifth year). Fruit production can be confounded by the fact that hardy kiwi is dioecious, so you must have male and female plants that flower to have fruit. Unsexed seedlings cannot be sexed until they are old enough to flower. Propagation is preferred by cuttings, not seeds, since cuttings may be taken from known-sexed plants. If nursery plants are grown from cuttings, then the sex of the plant may be labeled. Gardeners often must plant 3 or 4 and hope that the law of probability takes over and you get at least one of either sex that survives. 'Issai' is the only self-pollinating hardy kiwi that does not need a separate male plant for pollination.
Hardy kiwi fruits taste very similar to store-purchased kiwi, except they are smaller (roughly the size of a large grape), and hairless, so they do not need to be peeled. Hardy kiwi fruits do not ripen all at the same time. Like raspberries, fruit ripen gradually, allowing you to harvest the fruits over an extended period. But, unlike raspberries, color is not an indication of hardy kiwi ripeness. Instead, you must gently apply a bit of "squeeze" pressure to each berry. Those that "give" a tiny bit are ready to pick.
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