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Do you enjoy growing fruit? Perhaps you have a few blueberry bushes, a handful of strawberry plants, or some apple trees and you’re looking to expand your garden’s offerings? Consider growing kiwi fruit. It is a surprisingly easy fruit to grow in a home garden, as long as you have a sturdy trellis and a male and female plant. In this article, I’ll share all the information you’ll need to know to grow kiwi fruit and offer tips for success.
While you may be picturing the brown fuzzy kiwis you find at the grocery store, those aren’t the kiwi fruits I’m talking about. Grocery store kiwis (Actinidia chinensis) are native to southern Asia, and they don’t survive temperatures lower than 10 degrees F. But, hardy kiwis (Actinidia arguta) are native to northern China and Russia and can survive temperatures as low as -25 degrees F. And, best of all, hardy kiwi fruits do not have to be peeled! Their skin is beautiful and smooth, so they can go straight from the plant into your mouth. They taste much like their fuzzy-fruited cousins, but I find hardy kiwi to be sweeter and far more enjoyable to eat.
You may think that growing kiwi fruit is challenging, but I’m here to tell you it is one of the easiest fruits to grow, if you keep these few things in mind.
Choosing the right kiwi varieties
Variety selection is everything. Most hardy kiwi varieties are hardy from USDA zones 5-9, but if you live where it gets very cold in the winter, your best bet is to plant Russian selections like ‘Natasha’, ‘Tatyana’, and ‘Ananasnaja’ (a favorite for its aromatic fruit and extremely productive nature). These Russian varieties are said to be hardy all the way down to -35 degrees F! Other good varieties for growing kiwi fruit just about anywhere include ‘Anna‘, ‘Meader‘, and ‘Michigan State’, a larger fruited, hardy variety that I love, and ‘Ken’s Red’ which bears sweet-flavored fruits with reddish-plum colored skin.
What do hardy kiwis look like?
The fruits are smaller than the fuzzy kiwis at the grocery store. The green fruits of hardy kiwis are only slightly larger than a grape, but they’re produced prolifically. Expect dozens of one- to two-inch-long fruits to be produced within three or four years of planting. The best production occurs when the vines are about eight years old, and you can expect them to produce for forty years or more.
When growing kiwi fruits you need male and female vines
Only female vines produce fruits. Hardy kiwis are dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. So, for growing kiwi fruit, you’ll need to plant one male vine for every eight or nine female vines. Since vines are vegetatively propagated, the vines will be “sexed” when you purchase them.
Trellising kiwi vines
Hardy kiwis are fast growing (like, seriously fast!). You’ll need a sturdy pergola or trellis to support the growing vines. Each one can grow up to 40 feet tall!
Growing kiwi fruit means you’ll also be growing fragrant flowers. The flowers, which appear in early summer, are small and white. Their fragrance is similar to lily of the valley. The fruits continue to mature all summer long and are ready to harvest in late fall.
Where to plant hardy kiwi vines
When growing kiwi fruit, site the vines in full sun. Try to find a location that’s protected from late spring frosts that might damage newly emerged spring growth. Space vines about ten to twelve feet apart, on center. Make sure they’re regularly watered until established.
How to prune kiwi vines
Pruning is a must. For many people growing kiwi fruit, pruning is the most challenging task. The vines must be pruned with a sharp pair of high-quality pruners when they’re dormant in the winter, and again two or three times throughout the summer.
In winter, prune out any branches that produced fruit the previous season, as well as any dead or crossed branches. The one-year-old branches produce the most fruit, so don’t prune them out, instead trim them back to the eighth node up from the base of the plant (the nodes look like little nubs along the branch). These nodes will push out new fruiting spurs in the spring. Summer pruning involves removing any long, arching vines that extend beyond the developing fruits. Any non-flowering vines that extend off the trellis can be removed in the summer as well.
Caring for kiwi plants
Keep the vines well mulched. I like to use three inches of compost or shredded leaves. But, don’t pile the mulch against the base of the plant; keep it three inches away from the vine’s base.
If your hardy kiwi fruit aren’t ripe when frost threatens in the fall, harvest them and allow them to ripen on the kitchen counter. Make sure all the fruits are harvested before frost strikes.
Hardy kiwis are among the most pest-free fruits you can grow. The plants are not fussy, nor do they require any spraying. Oh, and they’re pretty, too!
Kiwis for the win!
In many ways, growing kiwi fruit is much like growing grapes. They are vigorous growers and need to be properly pruned, trained, and trellised. But, when they’re treated right, you’ll have more fruit than you can handle. Growing kiwi fruit should be on every gardeners to-do list!
For more on growing fruit successfully, check out the following articles:
- How to prune blueberries for more fruit
- Pruning raspberries
- Fertilizing blueberries
- Growing dwarf berries in containers
- Fig tree pruning tips
Are you growing kiwi fruit? Tell us about it in the comments below.
I’m planning on planting kiwis using the fence around my house for support. The fence is 4 feet tall. Should I provide additional height with a trellis, or just train the vines along the fence. Also, how far apart can the male be from the female for pollination? I’m thinking one on each side of the yard.
You can train them to grow out the fence, but their natural growth habit is to grow up, so you’ll have to keep after them quite a bit to keep them growing horizontally. The males and females should be within 20 feet of each other.
Nice site! You mention that by thinning one gets more even yield year to year. Does this mean that kiwi (fuzzy) are alternate year bearing? I wondered as last year we got like 50 lbs and this year looks like maybe 2 lbs (estimate by counting the female flowers). Last year too many to count. Did a heavy pruning over winter but plenty of branches did not flower.
Thanks!
Hi Peter – For most perennial fruit-bearing plants, including tree fruits like apples, pears, and peaches, as well as vine fruits like kiwis and grapes, if the fruits are not thinned when they’re young, the plants tend to only have high fruit production every other year. Alternating years the plants will only have so-so production. That may be why your kiwi vines produced so heavily last year but not this. It takes a lot of the plant’s energy to produce such a heavy yield, so the following year is almost like a “recovery year” for them.
Any chance you have a photo of a mature kiwi vine on a trellis just after it has had its winter pruning? My female vine is 6 years old and the male, although that old, almost was lost the first 2 years, but is growing well now. Each have been pruned, but I only got the first flowers on the female last year and none yet on the male. I suspect the pruning is an issue and would like to see an example of the proper dormant pruning.
Thanks for any help!
Fruit-growing guru Lee Reich has some photos of before and after kiwi pruning on his website that might be helpful to you. Here’s a link to one of his articles with photos: http://www.leereich.com/2014/01/hardy-kiwifruits-better-than-fuzzies.html
I bought several kiwi plants, about 5 years ago. None of them have done any flowering. How long does it take to flower? What do
i need to do to get them to flower?ew
Be sure to prune them correctly and be patient. They often take several years to flower; yours will probably start soon.
I bought 4 kiwi plants and planted them but don’t know whether they’re Male or female. Will I have to wait years until I find out and possibly have to replant if I don’t have a male?
You can tell the males from the females by carefully inspecting the flowers of each vine. Female flowers have a single “tube” at the center of the flower and the base of the flower (the ovary) is a little enlarged. Male flowers have multiple smaller tube-like anthers at the center of the flowers.
Are all seeds from one kiwi fruit the same sex?
Nope. Each kiwi is a mixed bag.
My kiwi vines run along a iron railing around my pool but they always seem to be a tangled mess and no flowers or fruit for 2 1/2 years now.?? Is it too late to prune?
As long as they are not in leaf, you can prune them. In your case, I’d say you can prune them back pretty hard.
Will the ASSIA kiwi stand hot climate (we get 35deg)
Yes. Assia is heat tolerant.
if a full grown kiwi plant can produce 100 lb of fruit, what is the best way to store it after picking?
Pick them when they barely begin to soften and they store well in the fridge in a plastic container. Take them out of the fridge a day or two before you plan to eat them and they’ll soften. If you wait too long to pick them and they’re already soft when you harvest, they won’t store as long.
So I have a question. Is it possible for my kiwi plant to self pollinate? I have a 6 month old Golden Kiwi fruit plant (1 Ft) that I grew. It has flowers and at the the mid section of the plant you will have some pods hanging kinda like very small kiwis… Very confused, I’m new to this.
Yes. There are a few self-fertile kiwi varieties, including ‘Issai’. I’m not sure about the variety you reference and can’t find any info on it, but there’s a chance it could be self-fertile.