Tips for Growing Kiwi in the South

Enjoy your own sweet harvest by providing plants with strong supports, regular feeding, and winter protection

Did you know you’re able to grow your own kiwi fruit pretty easily in our part of theSouth ? kiwi fruit plants can be slow to get start but are generally long - livedvines . They postulate a little extra care because they are fruiting plants , but if you ’re a kiwi vine buff , it ’s deserving it .

With patience and strong supports, kiwis are worth the effort

Fuzzy kiwi fruit ( Actinidiadeliciosaand cvs . , syn . A. chinensis , Zones 7–9 ) are mostly dioecian . This mean you call for a male plant and up to four female for good yield set . ‘ Tomuri ’ is a popular male and ‘ Vincent ’ , ‘ Saanichton ’ , and ‘ Hayward ’ are popular female varieties . Plant the vines about 15 foot apart , and verify you pronounce them . If something encounter to one , you will involve to hump what to replant , especially since kiwi vines can be slow to flower , shoot three to five years .

Kiwi produce big vines that want a strong support organisation to grow on . Unlike grapes , which can be grown on a single telegram , kiwis are better on a across-the-board frame with five to seven bear wire spread out like a table for them . They can also be grown in the landscape on very sturdy pergola . They have attractive big leave-taking , yellow fall color , and very fragrant flowers . In the winter , the strange curling brown vine are sculpturally attractive .

Regular feeding and winter protection get the best kiwi results

To keep your plants producing good yield , it is important that they be well fed . We practice a balanced fertilizer twice a yr inFebruaryandJune . Kiwis have few problems in our field other than an casual foliage disease . Otherwise , they are fairly low maintenance . We prune them in the summer when we can see and debar the fruit , or in the winter when they are completely abeyant .

The yield mature inOctober . It can be allowed to stay put on the vine until soft , or it can be harvested once it is good but before it is cushy . The latter may be the case if we have an unexpected other freeze . Storing yield shape better if it is harvested when advanced but still solid . It can be stored for months in the icebox . Kiwis are one of the few fruit that edulcorate as they are stored .

In our area , we are near the top of the growing realm , so wintertime shelter is usually necessary . To protect the trunks in case of very cold night , we wrap up them in 2 - oz . frost fabric ahead of the first surd frost . The roots rarely freeze , but the trunks can freeze , and that means a year or two of waiting for flowering again .

Even though kiwis take a little fourth dimension and commitment , they cater a deliciously worthwhile advantage .

— Shelley and Jason Powell own and pull off Petals from the yesteryear , a garden center in Jemison , Alabama .

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growing kiwi