Content
- Worth knowing about the cultivation of kiwi
- Can you plant kiwis in Germany?
- Which location is optimal?
- Which floor is suitable?
- What should be considered when planting or sowing?
- planting distance
- Self-pollinated varieties
- How are kiwi plants propagated?
- When is the best time to plant kiwis?
- When does the kiwi shrub bloom?
- When is harvest time for kiwis?
- Tips
Kiwis need a trellis aid to grow well
Worth knowing about the cultivation of kiwi
Kiwi is the edible fruit of the Chinese ray-stylus. This Chinese-style, climbing, deciduous shrub has large, hairy leaves and whitish flowers. Although it is heat loving, the shrub in Germany can also be successfully cultivated.
Previous article Where does kiwi come from? Next article Kiwi crop mulching instead of fertilizingCan you plant kiwis in Germany?
Although the winter hardy shrub is native to the subtropical regions, the exotic climbing fruit is successfully bred in Germany by many hobby gardeners. Suitable varieties provide good yields, if some planting and care instructions are observed.
Which location is optimal?
A sheltered, warm location is ideal. In addition, the kiwi plants need a climbing aid. This could be z. B. attached to a south or southwest aligned arbor, pergolas or house wall. A high fence is also enough.
Which floor is suitable?
For good growth, the kiwi needs a slightly acidic, nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil. For an alkaline soil, add some rhododendron soil or peat to the planting hole for better growth. A mulch layer not only prevents dehydration, but keeps the ph value of the soil in the favorable acidic range.
What should be considered when planting or sowing?
The self-seeded kiwi plants often take up to ten years to flower first. The purchased young plants, however, already bear flowers and fruits after two to four years. If you want to harvest your own kiwifruit, it is also important to note that you have to plant at least one female and one male plant in the garden.
planting distance
The dioecious kiwi plants carry either only male or only female flowers. The fertilization process requires both types of flowers. which you do not plant too far away from each other. The distance between the two shrubs should ideally be between 1-4 meters. A male plant is able to fertilize up to seven female plants that grow in their immediate vicinity.
Self-pollinated varieties
The commercially available self-pollinated kiwi varieties also carry male and female flowers on a plant. Therefore, they do not need a fertilizer variety, but they provide better yields if more than one plant grows next to each other.
How are kiwi plants propagated?
The new kiwi plants are obtained from seeds or cuttings. In addition, the propagation by offshoot is recommended. The cuttings of about 10-15 cm in length is best cut in the spring of a lignified shoot and put it to root in the potting soil or in a sand-peat mixture. The substrate should be kept evenly moist.
From the long shoots of the kiwi plant can easily pull offs. Place one of the lower shoots on the ground and cover it with soil so that the shoot tip remains on the surface. By prior cutting of the shoot rooting can be accelerated. The daughter plant is separated after growth of the mother plant and implemented.
The black edible seeds of kiwi fruit can be sown. For this purpose, soak the seeds in warm water for several days, so that they can dissolve out of the pulp. Then the seeds are lightly pressed into the peat-containing soil, not covered. A room greenhouse or cling film over the planter provides the necessary moisture. The germination time is about 2 weeks.
When is the best time to plant kiwis?
The commercially available container plants can be planted from early spring to late autumn. If the shrubs are planted in early summer, they have better chances to survive the winter unscathed. The young shrubs planted in the fall should get a good winter protection or overwinter in the first year as a tub plant in a frost-free, dark room.
When does the kiwi shrub bloom?
With the first flowers you can often count only from the 3rd year or later. The yellowish-white flowers appear in May-June. If it is not known whether you have planted a male or female plant, you recognize it at the latest on the flower. Only female flowers produce fruits.
When is harvest time for kiwis?
The brown, hairy, oval fruits ripen in late autumn and are harvested mostly immature in temperate climates in October and November. During storage, kiwifruit ripen to full maturity. You can expect the first fruits in your own garden around the fourth year.
Tips
Originally introduced as a Chinese gooseberry to New Zealand fruit should have been renamed by the New Zealand farmers in Kiwi after the domestic bird kiwi. Under this name, the fruit spread first in England and later on the European continent.