Shrub · Actinidiaceae
Kiwi
Actinidia deliciosa
Give it full sun, a strong trellis, and a male partner, and a kiwi vine rewards the patience with fruit.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
USDA 7–9
10–20 ft · 3–6 m
Overview
The kiwi is a big, fast woody vine from the hills of southern China, where it grew as the Chinese gooseberry long before it became a New Zealand export. Left alone it climbs hard and wide, easily filling a 200 square foot trellis with twisting cane and broad leaves. The fuzzy brown fruit most people know comes from female vines after a few patient years.
The one thing that catches new growers out is sex. Most kiwi are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, so a single vine on its own will flower and never fruit. You plant a male alongside your females, roughly one male for several, and let the bees carry pollen between them.
This is not a quick crop. A young vine spends its first 3 to 5 years building structure before it fruits, and it needs a serious trellis to carry the weight of a mature plant. Give it sun, steady water, and yearly pruning, though, and it keeps producing for decades.
Care
The short version: full sun, deep and fertile well-drained soil on the acidic side, steady moisture over shallow roots, a strong trellis to climb, and both a male and female vine if you want fruit.
Light
Kiwi crops best in full sun, which ripens the fruit and feeds the vine's heavy growth. It will take partial sun or light shade, but expect less fruit and softer, leggier canes the more shade it sits in.
Water
The roots run shallow, so the vine needs steady, even moisture and feels a dry spell quickly. Water deeply through fruit development and hot weather, and mulch to hold moisture, keeping the mulch pulled back off the trunk.
Soil
Plant in deep, fertile, well-drained loam with plenty of organic matter. Kiwi wants it on the acidic side, around a pH of 5.0 to 6.5, and it hates waterlogged ground as well as salty or alkaline soils.
Temperature
The vine handles a wide range, roughly 14°F to 95°F (-10°C to 35°C) through the year, but the soft spring shoots are the weak point. A late frost after growth starts can wipe out the new season's wood overnight.
Humidity
Average outdoor humidity, somewhere around 40% to 70%, suits kiwi fine. There's no number to chase outdoors, so put your effort into watering and airflow instead.
Feeding
Feed a balanced or nitrogen-rich fertilizer around the root zone monthly through spring and midsummer while the vine is growing hard. Stop by late summer so the new growth firms up and hardens off before winter.
Pruning
Kiwi needs regular, confident pruning to stay in bounds and keep fruiting. Cut female vines hard in winter while fully dormant, renewing the fruiting wood each year, since fruit forms on current-season shoots off one-year-old wood. Summer-prune the vigorous canes for light, prune males lightly after they flower, and train young vines to a single trunk up the trellis.
Repotting
Kiwi is a ground plant, not a container one, so repotting rarely comes up. If you do start a young vine in a pot, move it on before the roots circle, then get it into its permanent spot on a trellis.
Size & spacing
These vines grow huge, reaching 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) tall and spreading 7 to 13 feet (2 to 4 m) wide. Give each one a strong, well-anchored trellis and plenty of room, because a mature plant can fill a 200 square foot frame and pull down anything flimsy.
When to plant
Kiwi runs on a long, slow calendar. Plant in spring once the last hard frost has passed, since the fresh shoots are badly frost-tender, then wait through several seasons of growth before the late-spring flowers give way to fruit picked in mid to late fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring after the last hard frost; new shoots are very frost-tender.
- Harvest: Slightly fragrant greenish-white flowers in late spring; fuzzy brown fruit harvested mid to late fall (about October to November).
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 7–9
Temperature: down to -18°C
Troubleshooting
Most kiwi problems trace back to three things: frost on tender new growth, a missing male vine, or thirsty shallow roots. Read the early signs on the shoots, flowers, and leaves and you can usually fix the cause before the season is lost.
New spring shoots turning black and limp
This is frost damage, and kiwi shoots are some of the most cold-tender growth in the garden. A single cold night after the vine breaks dormancy can blacken soft new shoots while older wood comes through fine. Once growth picks back up, cut the killed shoots back to live wood, and throw frost cloth over the vine whenever a late frost is forecast.
Fix:
- Prune out killed shoots back to healthy wood once growth resumes
- Cover vines with frost cloth when frost is forecast
Plenty of flowers but no fruit forming
Kiwi is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers grow on separate plants, so a lone female blooms beautifully and sets nothing. The other common cause is simple youth, since a vine often takes 3 to 5 years before it fruits at all. Grow at least one male within range of your females and give the bees something to work with at bloom time.
Fix:
- Plant at least one male kiwi within pollinating range of the females
- Encourage bee activity at bloom time
Scorched leaf edges and wilting in the heat of the day
Kiwi roots sit shallow, so the plant feels a dry spell fast and shows it as scorched leaf margins and midday droop. Hot, dry wind makes it worse. Water deeply through any dry stretch and lay down a thick organic mulch over the root zone, keeping it clear of the trunk.
Fix:
- Water deeply and regularly during dry spells
- Apply organic mulch over the root zone
Toxicity
Good news for pet owners: the kiwi vine is safe all round. The fruit is an everyday food, and nothing in the leaves or stems is poisonous to cats, dogs, or livestock. Cats may even take a strong liking to the vine the way they do to catnip, which is harmless fun rather than a hazard.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Kiwi is safe for cats, though many are powerfully drawn to the vine the same way they are to catnip, since the genus includes silver vine. That pull is harmless, so a cat rolling on the canes is nothing to worry about.
Dogs None
Dogs can be around the vine and fruit without any risk. A dog that gulps a lot of fuzzy skin or unripe fruit might get a passing stomach ache, but that is the usual reaction to overeating, not poisoning.
Horses Safe
Nothing in the leaves, stems, or fruit poses a danger to horses. Grazing near a kiwi vine carries no toxic risk.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can nibble the foliage safely, and a small piece of ripe fruit makes a fine occasional treat. There is no toxin here to worry about.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep face no poisoning from kiwi leaves or fruit. The plant is simply not toxic to grazing animals.
Birds Safe
Birds can peck at ripe kiwi without harm, and wild birds will happily take fallen fruit. None of the plant is toxic to them.
People Safe
Ripe kiwifruit is a healthy, everyday food that is safe to eat. The only thing to note is that some people are allergic to the fruit, which is a separate matter from any toxicity.
Fruit and foliage are harmless if nibbled. Note that cats are often strongly drawn to Actinidia vines because the genus includes silver vine (Actinidia polygama), a catnip-like attractant; this is attraction, not poisoning.
Varieties
Kiwi varieties split into fruiting females and the males that pollinate them, so you choose them as a pair. These are the ones worth knowing.
Hayward
The dominant commercial female cultivar, prized for large, well-flavored fruit that stores well into winter.
Tomuri
A late-flowering male pollinizer chosen because its bloom overlaps Hayward's, though it bears no fruit of its own.
Blake
A more self-fertile female with smaller, earlier fruit, handy where there isn't room for a separate male.
Companions
Kiwi keeps its own company more than most plants, since the one partner it truly needs is a male vine of its own kind to set fruit.
Plant near
Male kiwi (pollinizer cultivar such as Tomuri): Required near female vines for pollination; one male can pollinate several females.
How to propagate
You can multiply kiwi several ways, but only the vegetative methods keep a cultivar and its sex true, which matters when you're matching males to females.
GraftingDemanding
Late winter to early spring · 1 to 2 growing seasons
Named cultivars are usually grafted or budded onto seedling rootstock in late winter to early spring, which locks in both the cultivar and its sex. A grafted vine takes one to two growing seasons to settle in. This is the demanding end of kiwi propagation and the route nurseries lean on.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Softwood/semi-hardwood in summer; hardwood in winter · Several weeks to a few months to root
Take softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings in summer, or hardwood cuttings in winter, and they come true to the parent. Under mist or in a humid frame they root fairly readily, taking anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. It's a solid middle ground if grafting feels like too much.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · One season
This is the easiest method by far. Pin a low cane down against moist soil in spring or summer, and it roots where it touches the ground over a single season. Once rooted, sever it from the parent and move your new vine.
SeedModerate
Spring after cold stratification · 3 to 5 years to first flowering
Seed works, but it's a gamble. After cold stratification you sow in spring, and the seedlings come up variable, not true to type, with their sex unknown until they finally flower 3 to 5 years on. For a known cultivar, stick to grafting or cuttings.
Myths
Kiwi vines are poisonous to cats.
The fruit and the whole plant are non-toxic. Cats go for Actinidia vines because the genus includes silver vine, a catnip-like attractant, so what looks like trouble is just a cat enjoying itself. Attraction is not poisoning.
A single kiwi plant will fruit on its own.
Most kiwifruit are dioecious, so a female vine can flower for years and still set nothing without a male nearby. You need both a male and a female plant for pollination and a crop.