HOW TO GROW KIWI FRUITS THE RIGHT WAY 🥝 - Taming Kiwi Vines! | Building a HARDY KIWI TRELLIS

Hardy Kiwis are Amazing Fruits that Grow on a Very Vigorous Vine!
Join Edible Landscape Designer & Author Michael Judd on this Hardy Kiwi Trellis Venture.
Judd has been growing all kinds of fruits, nuts and useful plants for over 25 years and has honed down his extensive experience into what works and what doesn’t - giving you a head start into the edible landscape journey.
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Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist' - available in print & kindle - amzn.to/3l8LRBP
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Actinidia arguta
The hardy kiwi, a cousin of the fuzzy version, grows well in northern climates and is smooth and sweet, rather than hairy and tart. The hardy kiwi is not as well known commercially because of its short shelf life and wrinkled look when ripened; however, it is a fantastic and productive fruit for the home grower. Best of all hardy kiwis pump an amazing amount of tasty fruit and grow a gorgeous vine.
I am asked about how to grow hardy kiwis more than any other fruit. Folks are naturally curious when they see kiwis for sale at the box stores and grab one or two. They take them home and plant along their chain link fence, not knowing what is soon to com. What a surprise once these vigorous vines get going…and cover their neighbors fence, trees, and house! /Think wisteria on steroids/ Plus, each plant can produce 100 pounds of fruit (if you’ve gotten your male and female ratio right). Awesome plant!! Just don’t plant it and forget about it!!
My Hardy Kiwi Story
My love affair with hardy kiwi’s hit its climax when I visited Mike McConkey’s Edible Landscaping Nursery* in Afton Virginia one ripe September day. Mike was part of brining in the cultivated varieties of hardy kiwi in the 70’s and has selected and grown out his favorites as a center piece of his nursery. Amongst his cornucopia of uncommon, funky and delicious fruits is a hardy kiwi walk of fame. The kiwi walk starts with a trellised arbor covered in kiwi vine and hanging fruit, like the entrance to an Alice and Wonderland of Fruit that leads you on to a vining hedge packed with hanging fruit where every lift of the vine reveals a stacked cluster of delectable kiwi ready for popping into your mouth. I was nearly crippled with sugar belly by the end of the row before I realized the other side was just as packed with hanging fruit! I took a deep breath and like any bona fide rare fruit explorer I munched on. *
Selecting and Trellising
To begin, determine if you have an adequate growing area that is able to support the Hardy Kiwi’s vigorous growth and weight. Then be sure you are selecting a male and a female plant, or at least one male per eight female plants (all plants sold in stores should be marked either male or female).The variety called “Issai” is self-fertile, meaning it can be planted alone, but adding a male will increase fruit size and yield.
As with grapes, the Hardy Kiwi vine makes a fruitful cover for a sturdy pergola or arbor. A minimum requirement is for the plants to be at least 6 feet off the ground, with room to spread laterally. I have seen this done in a variety of ways; from a single wire between well-anchored posts, to a hedge;from T-bone trellises with multiple wires (such as a clothes line), to top-sturdy woody arbors. I have even witnessed wild ramblings on top of a carport-the key being to have strength, height, and space.
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Thanks for watching the video HOW TO GROW KIWI FRUITS THE RIGHT WAY 🥝 - Taming Kiwi Vines! | Building a HARDY KIWI TRELLIS

[@Howwerelivingfishing]

I just bought an Issai kiwi vine and I’m also in zone 6b, Nova Scotia

[@buckbeaksgarden761]

I'm in zone 4 and my issai is huge and super productive. I throw a tarp over it for winter and in spring it grows like a monster!

[@myxomatosisity9977]

Mine had brown gross looking leaves and I cant figure out what is wrong!

[@SkyeRiv]

Thank you!!!! Great video!!! And beautiful stuff!!!!!!!

[@jesusiscoming8237]

Thank you for this video. The bush idea could be the one for me.

[@DerkWehler]

I'm thinking of trying your umbrella idea with the Issai, as I do not have a massive space, or a wall to grow against. Would be interested to see how that one is progressing....

[@southafricanrhino]

I LOVE THIS THANK YOU!

[@mikecf1]

Great video, thanks! I'm building a T trellis using black locust. I have 6x6 posts. I hope they are strong enough!

[@user-gq3ho3kb6e]

I have a Issai that has survived 4 winters here in Northern Michigan.

[@permacultureninja]

Wow! That’s news. Whats your usda zone? Are you buffered by the lake or other micro climate?

[@user-gq3ho3kb6e]

@@permacultureninja 5B between Traverse City and Cadillac in Northeast Wexford county. Kiwis do great,not so good for Pawpaw's.

[@heisrisen1113]

Ope, i just planted 3 anna kiwis on a trellis made from 3 4x4s 😬💀

[@SiCaRiI_DaGgEr]

I have a Anna and Male set on a 12 foot length of cattle panel fence bent into an arch, both vines are only 2yrs old and it seems they will outgrow the arch by the end of this summer. No wood yet so I hopefully will get flowers\fruit next year. After watching this vid I think I'll let them grow into a bush hanging off the arch instead of attempting to prune

[@permacultureninja]

They are amazingly vigorous. But if you’re willing to work with them, you can shape them to meet your site design. Main thing is youplanted them, congratulations.

[@justice528hz3]

Do they take longer to come back after winter and why does the bark come off after winter on the male plant? There is a little die back on the ends of the vines which is understandable but is the rest of the plant still alive?

[@MrsVParker]

How can you tell which plant is the male? I have a 6 inch plant that is nowhere near flowering

[@garymcdonald595]

I didn't know they had tendrils, much less 10-12 foot long ones!

[@1of2shoes]

Do the male plants grow as prolifically as the females? Can they be pruned back harder to save space in my garden?

[@myakyi8957]

How long does it take to fruit s?

[@amanda69]

Im having so much trouble with my kiwi plants. Last year i bought one male and 3 females. I lost two over the winter which i don't know why im in zone 8a. So this spring I ordered 3 more , 2 females and one male. Those aren't doing well at all they start turning black leaves And then they wilt and that part of the plant just dies. I also bought one at Tractor Supply and that never came out. Can anyone help me. I looked on their leafs to see if there were bugs but i couldn't see anything on them. Im so sad i really want to grow them. I can't find any information on Diseases they might have. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Thank you.

[@cinaannie7338]

Hey, Amanda. I saw your post. I was told that we could grow these plants in 5 gallon buckets and then let them climb which is what I am going to do for the first few years. I am thinking that maybe JUST MAYBE, you could start with fresh soil and keep it contained in that 5 gallon bucket JUST IN CASE there is actually something in your soil? 🤷🏻‍♀️ I don't know what else to tell you... I just noticed that nobody has answered your question.

[@permacultureninja]

Often fruit plants from large distributors have been mighty stressed by the time they get to you. Some folks will grow their hardy kiwis out in a larger pot for a season to get them more established before planting. Also make sure that your soil drains as they do not like a wet Site. You can create raised mounds that drain if your soil is super dense You can also protect the young trunk for the first couple of winters with pipe foam. These tricks ought help you have success. Keep working at it. They’re worth it.

[@helenkenna5364]

Hi! Is there any instruction on how to maintain a hardy kiwi shrub/bush with more details and pictures of fruit?

[@permacultureninja]

Yes, in my book - Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist - linked in video description

[@dannyadventurer1172]

I have 3 new plants here in western NC. I have an Anna, Ken & a male. I have a T trellis with the main vine shoot grown 7 feet up to the trellis. Should I prune now at the top of the trellis to promote a split cordone now or wait until the winter? I've pruned both females to have a single main vine.

[@permacultureninja]

I would wait and prune at end of winter. Just let it gain its strength now.

[@dannyadventurer1172]

@@permacultureninja Too late. I pruned Anna & she has 2 shoots for the cordon & are about 3" long already. I pruned Ken a few days ago, but waiting for the new sprouts. Anna was going crazy at 9', so I pruned about 12" off. Ken, was over 7.5'. They are growing crazy. They like it here. I've let the male do its thing without pruning.

[@RayH-]

StarkBros is selling Issai kiwi as a zone 5 plant.

[@permacultureninja]

Wow. Haven’t heard that!

[@gardenofseeden]

I have hardy kiwi 1 male 1 female about 7 years old. Thick stems and grows like mad. I have only seen 1 flower on the whole thing. They grow super good and healthy no idea why it is not producing.

[@thomasjcorson7502]

Maybe to much fertilizer

[@melody-RN-BSN]

How do you know which is male which is female?

[@permacultureninja]

Male flowers will have numerous stamens. Female flowers also have stamensbut not as many and are sterile.

[@cinaannie7338]

Sir? I just purchased a little Actinidia Arguta "Prolific" off of eBay with the plans of letting it run up my NEWLY built covered front porch that faces the west with 6 ft of railing open and exposed to the north sun. I live here in Texas zone 8a. But after seeing this video of yours, I now have to wonder if I am doing the right thing?🫣 I really REALLY want it to cover our new front porch open area and have the plant supported by a new trellis on all three sides. What do you think? It is a self polinator so I won't need more than one plant. The porch sits about 5 ft off the ground and the actual porch is 6 ft on eachbside with 15 ft width facing the west. What do YOU think? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Will there be enough sun with the majority of the leaves being exposed tonthe west? There is nothing in the way to block the sun from shining on the bine. (Hence the reason I need that bine there! Lol?!)

[@permacultureninja]

Should be fine. One of the beauties with Hardy kiwis is you can constantly cut them back during the growing season, which can often help it fruit as it turns its energy more toward fruit than growing its shoots. So if you don’t mind some summer pruning, it’ll make a nice shady place.