I have recently been given a kiwi plant. I know that I will need another plant of the opposite sex to the one that I have received, but I do not know the sex of my plant. Can you please let me know as to how I could identify its sex. Thanks. Rubin M. Feldman. e-mail address - rfeldman@telus.net
Hi Rubin: You asked a very tough question to answer. It used to be that I could tell a male from a female by the shape and coloring of the leaves. The males generally have a more vibrant green coloration. Now, with the advent of Kiwi crosses, hardy versus non-hardy, fuzzy versus smooth skin, that issue has become clouded for me with my being out of touch with this fruit for about 12 years. There was a variety in the nursery trade years ago that was self fertile, meaning it could produce fruit without a male counterpart but I will have to do some real digging to find the name of it. I have not been able to find an answer for you online either from a variety of sources. I always felt the size of the flowers on the males could tell me what I needed to know as far as the sex of the plant. Here are some URLs for you to look at. I think the only real way to know if your plant is a male or a female is to see it in bloom. http://www.kiwiberry.com/plantsales.htm http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/kiwifruit.html http://www.kiwifruit.org/grow.htm http://berrygrape.oregonstate.edu/fruitgrowing/berrycrops/kiwifruit.htm Jim
Hi Rubin The Kiwi's I Have Are Actinidia Arguta About 8 Different Ones. Males Meader And 74-46. Tripple Brook Farm In Southampton Ma Has A Large Amount Of Different Plants. The Only Way I Can Tell The Difference Is By The Flowers. The Kiwi's I Have Are The Hardy Ones And There Are All Kinds Of Them. Solomon
