HOW TO GROW KIWI FRUITS THE RIGHT WAY 🥝 - Taming Kiwi Vines! | Building a HARDY KIWI TRELLIS

Hardy Kiwis are Amazing Fruits that Grow on a Very Vigorous Vine!

Join Edible Landscape Designer & Author Michael Judd on this Hardy Kiwi Trellis Venture.

Judd has been growing all kinds of fruits, nuts and useful plants for over 25 years and has honed down his extensive experience into what works and what doesn’t - giving you a head start into the edible landscape journey.

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Actinidia arguta

The hardy kiwi, a cousin of the fuzzy version, grows well in northern climates and is smooth and sweet, rather than hairy and tart. The hardy kiwi is not as well known commercially because of its short shelf life and wrinkled look when ripened; however, it is a fantastic and productive fruit for the home grower. Best of all hardy kiwis pump an amazing amount of tasty fruit and grow a gorgeous vine.

I am asked about how to grow hardy kiwis more than any other fruit. Folks are naturally curious when they see kiwis for sale at the box stores and grab one or two. They take them home and plant along their chain link fence, not knowing what is soon to com. What a surprise once these vigorous vines get going…and cover their neighbors fence, trees, and house! /Think wisteria on steroids/ Plus, each plant can produce 100 pounds of fruit (if you’ve gotten your male and female ratio right). Awesome plant!! Just don’t plant it and forget about it!!

My Hardy Kiwi Story

My love affair with hardy kiwi’s hit its climax when I visited Mike McConkey’s Edible Landscaping Nursery* in Afton Virginia one ripe September day. Mike was part of brining in the cultivated varieties of hardy kiwi in the 70’s and has selected and grown out his favorites as a center piece of his nursery. Amongst his cornucopia of uncommon, funky and delicious fruits is a hardy kiwi walk of fame. The kiwi walk starts with a trellised arbor covered in kiwi vine and hanging fruit, like the entrance to an Alice and Wonderland of Fruit that leads you on to a vining hedge packed with hanging fruit where every lift of the vine reveals a stacked cluster of delectable kiwi ready for popping into your mouth. I was nearly crippled with sugar belly by the end of the row before I realized the other side was just as packed with hanging fruit! I took a deep breath and like any bona fide rare fruit explorer I munched on. *


Selecting and Trellising

To begin, determine if you have an adequate growing area that is able to support the Hardy Kiwi’s vigorous growth and weight. Then be sure you are selecting a male and a female plant, or at least one male per eight female plants (all plants sold in stores should be marked either male or female).The variety called “Issai” is self-fertile, meaning it can be planted alone, but adding a male will increase fruit size and yield.

As with grapes, the Hardy Kiwi vine makes a fruitful cover for a sturdy pergola or arbor. A minimum requirement is for the plants to be at least 6 feet off the ground, with room to spread laterally. I have seen this done in a variety of ways; from a single wire between well-anchored posts, to a hedge;from T-bone trellises with multiple wires (such as a clothes line), to top-sturdy woody arbors. I have even witnessed wild ramblings on top of a carport—the key being to have strength, height, and space.

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