Yes. 'Issai' blooms a bit later than many argutas, but 'Anna' is also a mid to late bloomer. 'Meader' should have more than enough overlap to do the job.

~kiwinut

Thanks kiwinut. :)

For the Geneva or Dumbarton Oaks varieties would the 74-46 male be an appropriate match? They fruit earlier than the Issai and Anna correct? I've also seen other males called 'Fave' and 'Cornell'.

Based on information from Kiwi Korners (see link), 'Fave' is early and similar to 74-46, and 'Cornell' is mid-blooming. Dumbarton Oaks is early to mid and the Geneva series are mid-blooming.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kiwi Korners

Actually the Issai doesn't need a pollinator. Mine pollinates itself! It currently has flower buds coming up! Last year it produced my first two little fruits! I can't wait for these to be ready!

Tania ~_~

Kiwinut, if an Issai sets fruit without a male kiwi pollinator the fruit would be seedless correct? If you cross pollinated so that the fruit had seeds and you grew those seeds, would you get both male and female plants that would be a hybrid of the Issai?

The only other kiwis near my Issai, are Annanasnayas, but they are young and haven't flowered, and they are females of course. The other plants that are near by are...Star Jasmine, papaya, and a Passiflora. The two fruits that set last year, were right next to eachother. So what exactly pollinated them, I don't know! But I hope it does it again! I've got many blossom buds coming up!

Tania ~_~

tylerj,

Very good questions. I have read reports of Issai fruits being seedless or nearly seedless or having many seeds, when fruiting without a known pollinator. There could be an unknown pollinator around (arguta pollen is wind-dispersed, and can travel miles), or the parthenocarpic fruit could be producing some empty seeds or if viable, they could be haploid (triploid in this case, as Issai is hexaploid), containing only maternal DNA (this has been shown to occur in fuzzy kiwifruit).

I have a couple of Issai plants close to blooming, and no males blooming now, so I will see if I get fruit this year by leaving them outdoors. I will bag some flowers, and leave others uncovered and see what happens. If there are any seeds, I'll see if any are viable.

Anyone else who has gotten seeds from an Issai they feel is isolated from any pollinator, see if the seeds float or sink in water. You could also try to germinate them. They would need about 3 months of cold stratification.

In the past, I have always hand pollinated my Issai vines with fuzzy kiwifruit pollen, and gotten excellent fruit set. The seeds are quite viable (close to 100%) and I have about 20 large hybrid vines growing right now. None bloomed this spring (they were planted out last spring), but there is no reason there won't be males and females. I have been very interested in finding a true self-fertile kiwi. If pollen from such a vine is used to pollinate another female, ALL seedlings will be female, and some will likely be self-fertile to various degrees. There are three readily available female kiwi that are claimed or suspected to be self-fertile, 'Issai', 'Hero' (A. kolomikta from One Green World), and A. arguta '119-40b' (Hartmann's). So far, pollen from both 'Hero' and 'Issai' have failed to ever set fruit, selfed or crossed, and appear to be non-viable. My 119-40b has not flowered for me, so I can't conclude anything yet. It is claimed to pollinate other females, so maybe it will be the "holy grail". New Zealand researchers have bred hundreds of fully self-fertile kiwifruit vines, so it is genetically possible. Unfortunately, they never share their material.

~kiwinut

That's very interesting information kiwinut. So the fuzzy/issai hybrids you have are they a hardy plant then? Are you able to grow fuzzy kiwi in your area? I have about 100 fuzzy sprouts growing in my window sill right now and plan to grow some in pots to move indoors in the winter.

If I saved some flowers/pollen from my male arctic beauty could I use that to pollinate my issai later when it blooms? One is an Arguta and the other Kolomikta so I'm not sure if they are compatible as cross pollinators. Its the only male I have at present that will be flowering this season. The 'meader' I just received from Vesseys was disappointingly small and will not be blooming anytime soon for me to experiment with.

The Issai x deliciosa hybrids are quite variable. Some look more like arguta, others more like deliciosa, most somewhere in between. Most came through winter with no problems, but a few were injured or even killed to the ground. Most then leafed out really early and got zapped by frost a few times. There were 4 of them with a later budbreak that had no problems. Most are extremely vigorous (think kudsu on steroids). I have one fuzzy kiwi, 'Elmwood'. It did suffer damage this winter to the trunk. So far, I would say it is very marginal here. Next year I will protect the trunk with white insulation.

I pollinated an Issai last year with kolomikta pollen. I got fruit set initially, but all the fruit dropped off within 4-5 weeks. There did appear to be many seeds forming in the fruits. You can give it a try yourself. If your male is different, you may get different results. Mine is from Tripple Brook Farm, so may be different than your Arctic Beauty.

~kiwinut

Kiwinut,

Do the leaves on the female arctic beauty change colour like the males? The reason I ask is that I notice my female has a couple leaves that have a frosty white appearance and look very similar to the pics I've seen of the male plant. I'm wondering if the nursery I bought them at labelled it wrong and I have 2 male plants?

Yes, the females can also develop the leaf colors. The males are said to develop the color more, but that could just be due to bias from having few selections to compare. My Sentyabraskaya (aka 'September Sun') is starting to develop white dipped leaf color now after 4 years. Exposure to more sunlight will enhance the effect.

Kiwinut,

Are you really in zone 6? I have fascinated with your plant list. I am in zone 6 in the Va mountains. How does your Nesbitt muscadine do? How long is your growing seaon?

Robert

Robert,

We are more like zone 7b most years now, and only have a zone 6 winter maybe every 4-5 years. Twenty years ago it typically got below zero every winter, but now it seems rare. The last time we got below zero was in 2003, when we hit -5 twice. Most of the plants on my list were planted after we moved in winter of 2004, so have not really been tested yet. The Nesbitt is still small and blooming for the first time now, but seems to be doing well. Historically, our frost-free growing season is ~188 days long, but over the past few years, it has ranged from ~195 days up to ~240 days. Global warming?

Kiwinut and Tania, please PLEASE update me/us on the latest with your Issai kiwis. I'm thinking hard about picking one up. I have a teeny yard here in the Emerald City and so have to get max bang for the space. I want a hardy kiwi bad but no way do I have room for two so that means no male pollinator. If Issai can produce by itself, I REALLY want to know it.

Thanks!

Issai is a more compact and less vigorous vine than other arguta types, so it would be good for smaller spaces. Please give a try and let us know in a couple of years if it sets fruit. There is now research in Japan showing that Issai is parthenocarpic. I suspect the vines need to get large and mature before they start to set fruit when no pollinator is around. Mine was in a container, which may have prevented it from maturing. It appears to have died this winter.

~kiwinut

Kiwinut.. just curious how your issai/deliciosa hybrids are doing? Any flowering this year??

Tyler,

They *WERE* doing quite well. Six of them had flower buds this spring, but like all my kiwi vines, were killed to near the ground by the Easter freeze. A couple of them had a foot or two of trunk survive, something that even the pure argutas did not manage. All but one is growing back vigorously now, and will reach the wire soon if I can keep the deer from eating the new shoots. The flower buds were quite large, much larger than pure arguta buds. I was able to determine that one was definitely female and another possibly male, but that was about it. Maybe next year will be more normal and I'll get some fruit on them.

My 'Issai' finally came back. I'll try to get it out in the ground, after I finish re-building my trellises.

~kiwinut

It will be interesting to see what kind of fruit they produce (larger size of fuzzy with hardiness of issai would be awesome!!)

We moved last summer and the location I put my issai's proved to be not a good one. It turned out to be a very wet area and this spring they were not looking to good. I potted the plants to relocate them later (not thinking they would survive) but they slowly came back and new shoots emerged from the base. I have about 20 flower buds just blooming right now but unfortunately no male currently blooming.

On a side note, my Arctic Beauty male (also planted in the wet zone) suffered major rot at the base and the bark peeled right off. I noticed the previous years growth still looked okay so I clipped several 8" pieces of those branches and stuck them in a pot after dipping them in rooting hormone and covered with plastic. They all broke out in bud and started growing new vines and actually bloomed flowers all without any roots forming whatsoever on the cuttings!!

I've added to my collection now with Meader(f) and Dumbarton's Oaks(f) to go along with my Anna and Issai.

Have you had any experience with the 'A. Jumbo' variety???

The Easter Freeze finished what the 06 summer heat/drought didn't. I think the anna male and one of my anna females is gone. One anna female is still limping along.

I struggle to keep these guys cool and wet during the 100-degree OK summers. I may need to do something with the root zone so that the roots can expand into more favorable soil...thus increasing the nutrient and water uptake.

Sorry for the delay! I had forgotten about this thread!

My Issai currently has some fruits on it. It had more but it suffered a bit of drought....I didn't have time to water it as I should have due to a heavy work load. And since it was already outgrowing the pot it was in, watering everyother day wasn't enough. I had to water it everyday. I kept debating on whether I should transplant it in the ground or re-pot it into a bigger pot, but finally after so many months of pondering the thought, I finally made up my mind and planted it in the ground. I had allowed two vines to grow quite tall, so once I made up my mind, I'd be able to chose the final trunk and final height. I planted it along a 6ft concrete wall. I'll be hanging up a bamboo trellis near the top of the fence and the Issai will be free to spread itself all over it. It seems to be adjusting quite well in it's new location. Now the roots will have plenty of room to spread around and grow! And I don't have to water it so often anymore!
I still have no other flowering kiwis. Just the other plants I had mentioned before. I'm eager to see if this fruit will have any seeds in them.

Hi Kiwinut / all
Hopefully people wonÂt mind me bringing up an old post.
I recently purchased a supposedly self-fertile female Issai hardy Kiwi. According to this post though, it looks like I should also plant a male pollinator of some sort. Do you have a favorite variety for zone 6b? IÂd prefer to keep the size smaller if possible. IÂd probably have to order it Bareroot next spring.
2nd question I had planned to grow the vine on a vertical, extendible piece of painted galvanized iron pipe with smaller horizontal steps on it (using "T"). The base of the pipe is down about 3-4 feet in the ground. I had seen somewhere that this plant only got to 10 or so tall, but now I just saw elsewhere that it can get to 25Â. Is my way of attempting to grow this plant unadvisable? IÂm afraid I donÂt have any fences that I could grow it on. Anybody have any pictures of the growing asaii that theyÂd like to share? Thanks,
-Glenn

Not sure why my post didn't make it back to the top of list. Bumping it to see if that helps. -Glenn

hi
I have had a ISSAI for about 15 years and it had 7 years guaranteed to fruit when i purchased it
last winter i cut it down almost to the ground and it grew back the way it was in a few weeks,and gave me tousands of flowers,unfortunately they all dried and falled down
i did try manuel pollinisation on about 10 flowers with his own pollen just to see what it would give
the result is one (1) fruit on all 10 flowers
i wish i could find the way to convert all these flowers into fruit

I am having the exact same problem but never got a fruit bigger than a skittle..... Male plant needed?