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arbo_retum

KIWI- anyone grow in z.5?

arbo_retum
13 years ago

someone is selling kiwi vines here. i grow ornamental actinidia but didn't know the fruiting kiwi would have a long enough growing season here in z.5 boston. Any experiences/advice?

thanks so much,

mindy

www.cottonarboretum.com/

a teaching website

http://usagardener.com/how_to_grow_fruits/how_to_grow_hardy_kiwi.php

Here is a link that might be useful: kiwi growing site

Comments (8)

  • firstyear
    13 years ago

    I believe Winchester is zone 6 these days (I'm in Melrose, which is 6a). This is my first year growing Kiwi, but you should be able to grow arguta or kolomikta in our area.

  • arbo_retum
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    thanks, but after 23 years gardening here, this particular property is still z.5. We have been successfully growing ornamental kiwi for the last 15 years, so i am not asking about zone tolerance. I am asking if anyone in z.5 has kiwi that has produced mature fruit.
    best,
    mindy
    www.cottonarboretum.com
    a teaching website

  • tyler_j
    13 years ago

    Ornamental as in Kolomikta (arctic beauty)??? I'm in zone 5 in s.w. Ontario and harvested my first arguta kiwi fruit last year. If you are talking about fuzzy grocery store kiwi (deliciosa) then no you can't grow it in your zone.

  • arbo_retum
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    tyler, are these they??!! they look like grapes in size!? how do you eat them? are they 'worth it'? (can you tell i know NOTHING about this and have not put on my research hat yet today?!)
    thanks for your help,
    mindy
    www.cottonarboretum.com

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:115703}}

  • tyler_j
    13 years ago

    Yes those are the ones. Actinidia Arguta. There are many different varieties of varying shapes and colours. Last year was my first year with fruit (not many) but the ones I had tasted great. They taste like the fuzzy grocery store kind without the mess of peeling the skin. Some say they are a bit sweeter. They are about the size of a large grape and you eat them the same way... skin and all. Some larger varieties would be Jumbo and MSU. There are also red fleshed hardy kiwis such as Ken's Red, Purpurea, hardy Red. I've read that Cordifolia and Forty-niner are great tasting varieties but I haven't tasted them myself.

    If you have the arctic kiwi variety now (ornamental with the white/red tipped leaves), you can get a female variety of Kolomikta and get fruit from it. They are smaller though than the Arguta variety but just as tasty.


    Tyler

  • tyler_j
    13 years ago

    Here is a great picture showing what the fruit looks like compared to the common fuzzy variety.

    Here is a link that might be useful: hardy kiwi

  • arbo_retum
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    tyler, meant to write and thank you for all your help. last wk i purchased a female kolomikta which i will grow over an arbor w/ a vigorous 5 yr old male.
    best and thanks again,
    mindy
    www.cottonarboretum.com/

  • logrock
    13 years ago

    You have a beautiful garden there Arbo!

    This is a little late but a few things worth mentioning for anyone who stumbles upon this thread.

    There are superior varieties of fruiting hardy kiwi (a.arguta) that were selected from breeding programs at Michigan State University and Cornell (Geneva) in NY which I think are both Zone5-ish or cooler. The true MSU variety is a hybrid with a.kolomikta, but is supposed to produce relatively large fruit. I have MSU growing here (in NW GA) that I obtained from NCGR in Corvallis and although it is growing very well, it did not flower this year.

    Also, the University of Minnesota currently has a long term research project going on with a.kolomikta varieties for northern climates.

    And as further evidence that they grow well in MA, this bulletin says they were evaluated for possible invasiveness.

    Good luck to all the other kiwigrowers out there,
    Ron (my garden blog)