Hi all, I live in southwestern Ontario and have picked up a Kiwi vine. Two small kiwis formed and all the leaves have fallen off, but the plant is inside now for the winter. I want to know how to keep it alive indoors, and whether the small kiwis are enough to propagate. I live in a small apartment, on the ground floor and my only windows face west. Thank you Margo amberwolf_ca@yahoo.com
Hi Ya, Kiwifruit need both male and female plants to bare fruit. So you need a male plant. Once dormant they are pretty cold hardy but they are very suseptible to frost damage once they start growing in the early spring. Propagation from pretty much any hardened or dormant wood is extremely easy. Just stick em in sand and cover with plastic. They get VERY big and very rampant, I wouldn't grow them in a small apartment. But they are easily pruned anytime so its possible. Flowers form from one year old wood. ciao Karl
Hi thanks for info on kiwi. I don't know whether I have a male or female plant, but there were two kiwis on it when I brought it inside. will the seeds propagate? I have the vine kiwi, do I just take a cutting from it and put it in sand, or? what type of fertilizer does it require and when. Thanks again ......Margo amberwolf_ca@yahoo.com
Hi Amber, There are quite a few different types of Kiwifruit. If you have the conventional type (which I know about) the seeds are easily grown after a bit of stratification. But they take a very long time before they flower. For cuttings: Take either hardwood (winter) or just hardened wood (late summer) cuttings (the bigger the diameter the better, but anything from 0.5 cm up will easily root). These should be 2 to 3 nodes long. Trim any lower leaves and any soft tips back so that the top leaf is a mature leaf ( I also cut this leaf in half to cut down transpiration). Put these with one node above the surface into any clean propagation mix (sand is good) with a plastic bag to keep the humidity up. Depending on the temperature they should root in a minimum of about four weeks or if its winter they'll root when temperatures rise in the spring. Protect new growth from any frosts and plant out when you feel they are big enough to do so. ciao Karl
Karl Thankyou for the info on Kiwi propagation. It is very helpful for me to get all the info available. Margo
Just as a followup to Karl's post, I use a 2L plastic pop bottle and cut the bottom off. I place that over the cuttings and they root very nicely. Just make sure you don't put your little greenhouse/humidome in direct sunlight or it will fry the cuttings. That's if you are doing this outside in the summer months.
