Kiwi Fruit

[John P]

Ive been given a KIwi Fruit ( Jenny ) as a present, its about 2 foot tall at the moment, bought from T and M. I believe planting time is from Sept to Feb, no further instructions. Anyone on the forum got any experience on growing these plants. I would be grateful for any suggestions or help. JP.

[Primrose]

Some useful advice from the RHS here

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=600

[John P]

Thanks Primrose. very useful,all the info I needed. JP.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've had a kiwi Jenny for about 5 years now. It's in a large tub outside now although it started off in the greenhouse. It flowers well but doesn't set many fruit despite the bees loving the pollen. It produces grape sized fruits or slightly larger but these need a long season to ripen. It looks pretty when its flowering but I wouldn't expect fruit like you can buy in the supermarket.

I think thefull sized plants grown with two female and a male pollinator would probably do better.

I've seen kiwis grown abroad trained very similarly to grape vines with a two foot high thick main stem and the new shoots trained along wires on either side. These are cut back each year to the main stem and the next year's new shoots trained the same way. If you leave them to their own devices they produce a long tangle of shoots and only fruit on new growth anyway so need pruning annually.

[Primrose]

I've occasionally wondered about getting a Jenny to cover some bare fencing but wondered exactly what one would do if you were lucky enough to crop a multitude of fruit the size of a grape. However, from what you say, it rather sounds as if the size of the crop is not an issue one would need to worry about. What texture are the skins like - slightly hairy like the full size ones, or smoother and edible like the skin of a gooseberry? Sounds as if maturity is a longer term project.

[PLUMPUDDING]

They have the same thick fuzzy skin as the large ones unfortunately. I tried growing the small smooth skinned Isai variety but this didn't survive it's first winter despite being well mulched and in a sheltered corner. I don't want to be negative and am always optimistic when I try new plants but they haven't done very well here. Perhaps they do better further south. My garden is about 560 feet above sea level.