Anyone grow Kiwi Fruits?

[OllieC]

I have 14 fruits on mine - the first year of fruit... but they're still as hard as bullets! Does anyone have any tips?

[OllieC]

[manicscousers]

very jealous, oliec..we've had a kiwi for 4 years now, not a fruit to be seen, supposed to be jenny, self fertile, not a flower, I reckon we got a boy  ;D
I'm sure there are a couple of people on here who grow them, and get ripe fruit  ;D

[OllieC]

I have a boy and a girl, and have had them for 4 years although we've lost the names... cuttings are supposed to be pretty easy, so I may make a few next year & offer them out if anyone's interested...

Here they are:

[Baccy Man]

Put the kiwis in a paper bag with an apple or a banana, close it up tight, the ethylene gas given off by the apple or banana will ripen the kiwis.

[littlebabybird]

Ollie they look great, well done,
green doesnt suit me
lbb

[nilly71]

the two on the bottom right look like a dogs danglies ;D
Sorry could not resist ;)


I bought a kiwi about 6weeks ago, the leaves fell of about a week later, hopefully it was the way it was planted and next year come to life.

Neil

[artichoke]

I bought some rock hard kiwis from a roadside stall in Madeira....felt sorry for him all alone in the mist miles from anywhere. He said keep them for 4 weeks and they will ripen and go soft - and they did! Almost to the day. I did not store them with bananas but I suppose that might speed it up.

[OllieC]

Being a born cynic, I once tried a bagfull of green tomatoes with a banana skin, and one without. They both went mouldy. The ones picked & left out went on to ripen over time...

[Robert_Brenchley]

It sounds as though the ones in the bags were too damp. Did you use paper or plastic?

[OllieC]

 ::)   er, plastic...

[littlebabybird]

::)   er, plastic...

hahaha haha honestly Ollie

[asbean]

What do you expect you great g*t ??? ??? ???   PLASTIC ????????

[OllieC]

yeah but no but ..... it all seemed very dry, and ... oh sod it. I just didn't think about it enough.

oh, leave me alone. We're all allowed to be divvies now & again...

[Robert_Brenchley]

Paper bags aren't so easy to find these days, since all the shops use plastic. eBay is the place to look.

[OllieC]

Well actually I'm double stoopitarded because we buy most of our food on the market, in good old paper bags...

[OllieC]

Picked today due to the frost forecast... Enough to make a dog's eyes water!!

[cornykev]

They look great ollie, plastic bags indeed.  :o :o ??? :-X       ;D ;D ;D

[calendula]

I really admire Ollie's honesty

plastic plonker  ;D  :-*

fruit looks great - we expect a ripening update in 4 weeks

[flossy]

   I really want to try and grow Kiwis, sooo - here come the questions'

   Do they need to be in a green house or can they be grown outside,
   What root system ,ie  soil depth,   are they a vine , and  - I gather , you need a girl and a fella ?

    Please and thank you ,

     floss

[OllieC]

This is the first year of fruit, and we've had the plants for 4 years so I'm no expert (although this is the normal timescale)...

The plants are absolute monsters - especially the woman (yes, this type needs boy & girl near to each other)! I've pruned as I would a grape - so get the framework (a couple of good solid stems in each direction) & then cut new growth back to a couple of leaves at the end of the year. The odd bit of summer pruning has been essential too, just to keep things tidyish. It still looks a mess, although any gardener would appreciate it.

It's on a SE facing fence and grows round to a S facing wall, outside and in the South of England. The boy is on a West facing wall, and only produced 3 flowers so I picked them & hand pollinated these fruit which wasn't too hard. That's it really...

I'm thinking of taking some cuttings next year & if they root you (or anyone else) would be welcome to some, but if you buy some you'll save a year & mine might not work.

Oh, mine is growing at the end of a soak-away in good, well drained soil. It has a Rhubarb at it's base which competes a bit but also stops other weeds & I empty the fishtank water at it's base plus feed a bit of Rose fertiliser in summer.

Let me know if I haven't explained it well or you have any more questions!

O