The conventional kiwifruit is fine in mild climate, but you need extra-tough kiwis where winters are cold. Photo: homesteadersonline
Who wouldn’t recognize a kiwifruit, the goose egg-sized fruit with a fuzzy brown outer skin and delicious green flesh inside? They’re sold in supermarkets everywhere all year long. The fruit comes not from a tree, like an apple or cherry, but form a vigorous twining woody vine: the kiwi, kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry: Actinidia deliciosa, formerly A. chinensis.
While the kiwifruit is abundantly found in supermarkets ready to eat, it’s not all that hardy. It’s limited to hardiness zones 8 to 9; sometimes, with special care, to zone 7. Some of the readers of this blog can grow it, for example those in the southern US or on its west coast, milder parts of Europe and temperate regions of Afric, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, but most live in cool to cold temperate climates. The best you could do would be to grow this vigorous, domineering plant in a greenhouse. Good luck with that!
Fortunately, there are other species of Actinidia, ones with small fruit often called kiwiberries, that are very hardy and which can easily be grown in outdoors in all but the coldest climates, in particular A. kolomikta and A. arguta. Yet, they don’t absolutely require subzero winters, so can also adapt to mild climates. In other words, these hardier kiwis can be grown by just about anyone outside the tropics. Maybe there is a place for a few of these hardy kiwis in your garden?
Vigorous Climbers
Hardy kiwis are vigorous climbers with twining woody branches that twist around their support. They therefore require a solid support: a trellis, pergola, arbor or other. You can also let them climb a tree, but then, how will you harvest the fruits? Especially since kiwi vines can reach more than 35 feet (10 m) in height!
Another possibility is to grow them as large shrubs, 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 m) in height and as much in width. You can easily create this effect simply by regularly snipping off any branches that grow too long. By preventing the plant from climbing, it will reluctantly take on a shrublike form.
Kiwifruit blooms profusely in the spring, producing small, fragrant, but relatively inconspicuous white flowers, since they are produced among the leaves and are therefore rather hidden. They are best appreciated when grown on a pergola or arbor where they can be admired from below. Suddenly the otherwise hidden flowers dangle down over your head by the hundreds if not the thousands! Quite a display!
It Takes Two To…
However, it’s very important to plant hardy kiwis of both sexes. That’s because the male and female flowers are produced on separate plants (the’re dioecious). So, you need 1 male plant for a maximum of 9 female plants; otherwise you won’t have fruit.
Hardy kiwis can be grown in the sun or shade in almost any well-drained soil, but preferably in rich and rather moist conditions, as that gives the most abundant fruits. A kiwi plant can easily live 150 to 200 years. Just plant yours in spring or fall … and wait patiently, as, like most fruiting plants, they usually take a few years before they start to produce fruit.
Kiwiberries
The fruits of hardy kiwis are small and produced in clusters, like grapes. Since they aren’t covered with fuzz, there is no need to peel them: just pop them in your mouth and eat them whole. They ripen in late summer or fall and are often difficult to see, as most are green, almost the same color as the foliage. Few change color when ripe, although there are some exceptions to that rule, as some varieties of Actinidia arguta, like ‘Mirzan’, do turn red at maturity.
Usually, the best way to tell the fruits are ripe is to touch them. They soften a bit at maturity, so a bit of a squeeze will tell when to harvest.
Two Kiwis That Tolerate the Cold
Arctic kiwi
The hardiest kiwi is the so-called arctic kiwi, A. kolomikta, native to northern Asia, particularly Siberia and China. It doesn’t really grow in the Arctic (the common name is slightly exaggerated), but still, plants in the northernmost part of its range are not that far from the Arctic Circle. Plus, it can take temperatures down to -40 °F/C.
Oddly, I keep seeing websites that underestimate its hardiness: commonly, they give zone 4. Calculate instead hardiness zone 3 or even, for some cultivars, zone 2. In other words, if you can garden in your climate, you can likely grow this plant. (My apologies to the very rare people who do garden in zone 1!)
The arctic kiwi is actually more commonly grown as an ornamental plant, because its leaves are often abundantly variegated pink and white.
Unfortunately for fruit-loving gardeners, most of the arctic kiwis sold in garden centers are male plants, the claim being made that male plants have the most colorful foliage. In fact, though, leaf coloration seems to be spread unevenly through both male and female clones of hardy kiwi. Many females are variegated too and some male clones, barely so. However, the most heavily variegated cultivar on the market is indeed a male clone, often sold with no name or under the cultivar name ‘Arctic Beauty’. If you grow arctic kiwis from seed and choose plants with the greatest variegation, you’ll inevitably find female plants among the lot. So, if you want to play the role of hybridizer and produce a female plant with brilliantly colorful leaves, go for it!
The arctic kiwi begins to produce fruit at a relatively young age, after about 3 years. The fruits ripen early, in August or September, as befits a fruit adapted to cold climates where summers are often short. The main flaw of this kiwi, though, is that the fruits drop off the plant soon after ripening, so it’s easy to miss the harvest window if you are not there at just the right time.
As mentioned, the most common cultivar is the heavily variegated male cultivar ‘Arctic Beauty’, but there are other male clones. And, of course, you’ll want a male plant to pollinate your females. Among the female cultivars are ‘Aromatnaya’, ‘Krupnopladnay’, ‘Pavlovskaya’ and ‘Sentyabraskaya’ (‘September Sun’). And there is one cultivar I’ve heard of of that produces both male and female flowers on the same plant, the ideal choice if you only have room for one plant: the Finnish hybrid ‘Annikki’.
If the names seem Russian to you, you’re right. This fruit has been, until recently, largely developed in Russia.
Hardy Kiwi
Another kiwi to try in colder regions is A. arguta, often referred to simply as “hardy kiwi”, although it’s not nearly as hardy as the arctic kiwi.
Its foliage is entirely green, it’s so is less ornamental than the foliage of the arctic kiwi, and it’s slower to start producing fruit, usually only doing so after 5 to 9 years. It’s not actually that well adapted to truly cold climates, either. Perhaps zone 4b, max. North of that, the late-maturing fruits (they often don’t ripen until the end of September or October) are often killed by frost. If frost threatens yours, harvest them: they will continue to ripen indoors, but won’t be as sweet as fruits that ripened on the vine.
Male cultivars for pollination include ‘Weiki’ and ‘Meader’, but are often sold without a name other than “male”. There are dozens of female cultivars, including ‘Ananasnaya’ (‘Anna’), ‘Dunbarton Oaks’, ‘Geneva’, ‘Ken’s Red’ and ‘Mirzan’.
The Least Hardy Hardy Kiwi
The most popular hardy kiwi, widely sold everywhere and often the only hardy kiwi offered, is ‘Issai’, a Japanese hybrid. However, it doesn’t live up to its reputation, especially in cold climates, and, in many situations, is a very poor choice indeed.
You hear a lot about the advantages of ‘Issai’ and at least one is true. It’s claimed to be able to set fruit when very young. Indeed, ‘Issai’ means “first year” in Japanese. Actually, it usually takes 2 to 3 years to produce its first fruits, but that’s still very young for a kiwifruit. So, give it full points for speed to first fruiting.
Next, merchants often claim it’s both male and female and self-pollinates. Thus, it’s a space saver: you only need one plant to get fruit. In fact, though, ‘Issai’ is 100% female, but somewhat parthenocarpic: it can produce a limited amount of fruit without pollination. However, if you want abundant production, you still need to plant a male A. arguta plant as a pollinator. So, take off a few points there.
And thirdly, the claim that most bothers me, since I live in a colder zone myself, is that ‘Issai’ is a hardy kiwi. In fact, it is not a true hardy kiwi (A. arguta), but a hybrid between the hardy kiwi (A. arguta) and the subtropical russet kiwi (A. rufa). It seems to have inherited enough subtropical genes from its A. rufa parent to make it unsuitable for growing beyond zone 6. North of that and it gets killed back by the cold most winters or, at least, its dormant flower buds are killed, and therefore it neither blooms nor fruits most years. Still, the label says zone 4 and gardeners in zones 4 and 5 plant it, confidently awaiting a good harvest. Most never get to taste a single fruit. Take off any remaining points there!
You’d think garden centers in colder climates would pull it from their shelves and only offer truly hardy varieties, but no such luck. Most still offer ‘Issai’ to gullible gardeners and, indeed, it’s generally the only “hardy” kiwi they sell. I must point out that this happens not only in those know-nothing box stores that regularly sell climatically inappropriate plants, but in local garden centers and nurseries in cold climates that should know better. Shame on you for scamming your clients!
In short, in cold climates, zones 2 to 5, ‘Issai’ isn’t as much a kiwifruit as a real lemon!
Where to Find Hardy Kiwi Plants
Sadly, you won’t often find acceptable hardy kiwis in local garden centers. You’ll have to turn to a specialist fruit nursery and very likely will need to order them by mail. Here are a few sources:
Canada
Nutcracker Nursery & Tree Farm
BambooPlants.ca.
USA
Planting Justice, Raintree Nursery
One Green World.
Europe
Pépinières Quissac
Pépinière Villeroy.
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Good luck with your cold-climate kiwis! They can be truly easy-to-grow plants with abundant and delicious fruit that any gardener would be proud to grow … but you still have to choose the right ones!
Hello Fellow Kiwiberry Growers,
Firstly, my sincere condolences to the Hodgson family. I just came across Larry’s article tonight, and was all excited to find someone with ‘local’ information, only to read further, and hear of his passing. 🙁
I just wanted to share my ‘new’ news with the group none the less:
We just received our skid of 7 kiwi varieties, 5 arguta (Anna, Chang bai, Geneva, Issai, and male Meader), and 2 kolomikta (September sun, and male arctic beauty), totalling 95 kiwi plants (along with another 55 various berry plants) from Vegetolab in Alma, QC. (Super happy with my first experience with this supplier! Perhaps they can be added if this site is kept up).
So excited to see what does well, or not, on our farm in Shakespeare, Ontario (zone 6a). We have two Issai (one gallon pots) that went in the ground last fall, made it thru the winter, and have set fruit already.
Look me up on LinkedIn, or FB. I’d love to connect on this marathon, not sprint, to a successful kiwiberry crop in the coming years. (Already the Issai look to be SUPER vigorous and early fruiter, but might not be the best commercial variety, as a higher than average vine maintenance (vine training)). I’d love to hear your experiences and tips.
Cheers,
Jason Harvey
Living in the south of England I have planted September Scarlet, Geneva and pink Bingo with a male that I can’t remember the name. They are yet to flower as only been in the ground for 2 years. My question is that they have been hard hit twice this spring and the same last year by late frosts and all growth was lost but does that mean that all the dormant flowers will also be lost? They quickly opened up new buds and within a couple of weeks and were back to full growth. They come from a colder climate than the south of England so I was surprised that frost knocked them back as they must also have frosts in their native territory.
In their native land, these plants have a very long winter and by the time the ground has thawed out and growth has begun, there is little danger of late frost. Last frost will not kill the plant – it will produce new leaves -, but might kill the flowers if they are in bud at the time. Mulching might keep the soil cooler and slow down growth too early in the spring.
For additional info, there is a Finnish variety of Arctic Kiwi called ‘Annikki’ which is actually monoicous, so you only need the one plant to produce fruit.
Very interesting! I’ll add this to the article. It doesn’t seem to be available in North America yet, but hopefully will be soon.
Omg thankyou. Nearly bought issai in hamilton ontario! Trying out the arctic ones instead.
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Hello Rowan,
Just wondering how your arctic kiwi are progressing!?
Jason
The ‘common’ kiwi does reasonably well here, but is uncommon because it needs SO much space, but does not reliably produce much fruit. (Of course, when it is in the mood, it can produce too much.) If I were to grow it, I would let the female vine get much larger since the male vine is only there for pollination. The two could actually grow together, if pruned accordingly. (The male may not bloom enough if too overwhelmed.) So-called ‘gardeners’ allow the male to get as big as the female, which just wastes space.
I have harvested kiwis for around 15 years now . Bought male and female plants from an Ontario horitculture centre perhaps 25 years ago. Took many years to fruit but worth the wait. Have learned to prune the green shoots and leave some for next year fruiting.
Hello Ophera Hallis,
I am interested to connect and hear more about your kiwiberry success. What varieties do you have, growing method (trellis, pergola, etc.)
Jason
There was no specific variety name when I bought the kiwis at a mail order Ontario nursery.
I have a deck so added a strong wood ‘arbour’ (?) on top ( 2×4 beams spaced every 2-3 feet on 2×4 posts). This plan was based on a New York Times article in the 1980’s about kiwis. ‘they need a strong structure’.
Some years I have a harvest of many hundred. Last year perhaps 200.
I had bought a 2 for one sale thus 2 male and 2 female . I later learned that only one male plant needed for many females so I tracked the extra male plant with blue wool after it bloomed but did not fruit and cut it at the base.
I did not originally consider the electricity lines and landline tel. wire that the kiwi drapes over .So I have to be extra vigilant trimming that area on ladder with safety glasses on a dry day.
Not sure how many more years I can do this acrobatic act to trim the vines.
The birds would mess up the area when there was a grape vine as a sun shade on the deck in Sept. for their harvest. The kiwis seem to be less affected though the cardinal ate a few. The racoon had to be sprayed away with water jet at 10 at night when it thought it could share the bounty.
Ophera
My 4 year old Issai has been weathering our mild West Coast winters just fine. If the abundant crop it has produced the last two years all by itself is anything to go by, then I don’t even want to think what might happen if we planted another for pollination!
It’s a fine plant in mild enough climates, but elsewhere…
Thank you for finally enlightening me on ‘Issai’! Now I know why my attempts have failed twice. It’s information like you provide that is so valuable to gardeners, and especially to gardeners in colder zones. Keep up the good work!
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