Hi, I'm new here... very happy to find this forum. I have 15 years experience in self-sufficiency, so I can surely give some tips, but first off... I wonder if anyone can help me identify and cure a serious problem I have with my kiwis. My farm is ecological so remedies have to fit with this. The kiwis are 7 years old, and last year gave their first good crop, but this year the bark splits open leaving gaping wounds. For a trial, I tried binding one up with grafting tape, but this has made things worse. The bark feels very loose on the wood, and although I can see some are already callousing, the outlook is not very good. Does anyone know the cause of this condition?
Do you have access to journal /text articles posted to the International Society for Horticultural Science? This one intrigued me: A New Disease: Leader Die-Back in Actinidia chinensis ‘Hort16A’ in Italy by Riccioni et al. from Proc. VIth IS on Kiwifruit, Eds. A.R. Ferguson et al., Acta Hort. 753, ISHS 2007 I can quote the abstract, but can't supply you with the whole article, unfortunately...
Hi Daniel, thanks for that, but I'm sure our problem is different, since there's no noticeable affect on the canes except that the plants with most split and loose bark are of course much less vigorous. The splits do not relate to pruning wounds, and they are gruesome, up to 5 or 6 centimetres wide and gaping open and stretching outwards. I could guess that it's some kind of deficiency, but don't understand that I can't find any clues as to the cause in the books I have consulted.
tanquian, Did you ever find the answer to your bark splitting problem? I have the same situation and the same problem... Paul
