'Morning all: About 6 years ago we put in 3 female and 1 male of the above kiwi fruit. So far no fruit. The plants are just now showing the first signs of leafing out. I asked Brian Minter a couple of years ago why we were not getting fruit. At that time he suggested that perhaps 4 years was too young for the plant to produce any. Now that they are 6 years, is there anything I can do to help them along in fruit production? Heck, even 1 fruit would be nice!! They are growing on an arbour about 8' high and 20' long, so they have lots of room. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Named selections grown from cuttings should have flowered while comparatively small. You may have a labeling issue, them actually all being the same sex. You can tell by looking at the flowers which sex each plant is, there are probably web pages that show flowers of each gender and point out the differences. As might be expected the male flowers have prominent, fully developed stamens and the female do not.
Ron, many thanks for your reply. As strange as it may seem, I do not think we have seen any flowers on any of the plants yet. Other than the labels, would there be some definitive way in which I could determine which was male or female? Other than the flowers, I mean.
Hi Ron: Actually the plants have never been pruned. Could this be the problem? I would say that the vines are around 20' or so long, give or take.
The mystery is why they have yet to bloom. No bloom, no possibility of fruit. Either they are actually seedlings and not clones of plants already mature enough to flower - as would be the case most of the time, and always the case if they were received with cultivar names (and were true-to-name) or you have not noticed the flowers hanging among the leaves. If they have, in fact been blooming without this being noticed then that takes us back to a pollination issue being likely, them being all the same gender or perhaps cross-incompatible for some other reason.
Hmmmmm...interesting. All the plants came from Art Knapps nursery up in Nanaimo, and I had quite a discussion with the fellow there when we got the plants. It looks like I am just going to have to wait and see what happens this year I guess. My sister, over in Nanaimo, has just moved into a new house [new to her] and there are, I think, 3 kiwis on the south side of the house which were absolutely loaded with fruit last year. I would guess those plants were put in at the time of construction, some 14 years ago. Can you take cuttings from such plants?
Hi Daniel: Currently, they get good sun in the late spring/summer, I would say from about 10am to 4 pm. We have got them in about the warmest place in the garden. I am actually in the process of removing some of the trees which are south of the arbor as they are not in good condition. In the late fall and winter I am not sure if the arbor gets any direct sun at all. I think the removal of the trees in question may help with respect to sun. Now that I think about it, my sisters plants get at least some sun all winter,and lots in the other 3 seasons. So, it sounds like that could be the problem then?
No, that should be sufficient sun - it sounds comparable to what some of the plants here at the garden receive throughout the year.
Thank you Daniel: The plants certainly all look as though they are doing well, although I must let you know that our soil here is none too good. Should I feed the plants anything particular?