I have 2 kiwis that are about 4/5 years old. They bloomed last spring for the first time and I discovered they are both male. I have rooted some females from a friend and plan to put one out in place of one of the males this spring. My problem is that I have done a horrible job pruning the ones I have and want to try to fix it as well as do better on the female. Today I pruned the one I am going to keep and would like advice on what I have done. The other picture is the one I plan to replace, but I could maybe learn something about pruning by working on it. Please help.
Well, I will post the pics if someone can tell me how.
I assume they’re “Fuzzy Kiwis� If you’ve rooted female Fuzzy’s - you’ve done well. From what I’ve heard they’re difficult to start that way.
I can envision it ... having untangled a few. I suspect you have a trellis for them to grow across? If so, follow up the trunk of your best male. When you reach a spot where it has begun to be strangled by another vine, carefully saw the strangler off. It may take several cuts to remove a deeply ingrown competitor… Follow the vine out, doing the same as you go. If you are starting a new female, you can remove a large amount of the remaining male while you’re at it; you won’t need the pollination this year and the smaller female will need plenty of sun.
If you were to ‘top out’ the tangled male, you’d get all the sucker growth you'd need to reestablished it across your trellis; complementing the females new growth. Though I strive to keep my male Fuzzy kiwi healthy, I also try to take up as little trellis space as possible with his ‘nonproductive’ vines. I’d say leave 2/3’s of the surface area for the female.
I’m glad to hear you’ve already pruned the male you plan to keep. They ‘bleed’ bad, and it’s getting late – around here. They’re best pruned earlier; I'd say a month ago would have been perfect. Mine have bled from late pruning, but other than feel sorry for them - it hasn’t shown any damage.
My adventures in pruning kiwi have been just that – an Adventure! …and I’m always guessing at how long they’ve been in, too lazy to run across the wet field to check their label; I'll guess from 8 to 10 years. I’ve posted and answered several threads on kiwi pruning, you can backtrack through the forum to find them; I don’t mind repeating myself – it’s when I begin to contradict myself it gets embarrassing
I am in zone 7, according to the map link you sent. <My friend who lives nearby in Opelika, AL grows a wheelbarrow load of fuzzy kiwis some years. I have been trying them for the better part of 15 years without success. I have finally managed a bloom and discovered 2 males as I told you. The info about limiting male growth was good.
From your advice and looking at the male I am getting rid of, if I were keeping it, maybe the best thing would be to cut everything off except the water sprout from the base.? that way I could at least make it straight? At present it leans away from the trellis. The trellis is made of cable stretched between posts. It seems like it should have been made of wood to keep the vine from tightening over it through the years? What do you suggest about this?
I sure wish there was a way to send a picture. says more than 1000 words, y'know.
http://picasaweb.google.com/crystalhrog ... ROynTX2ZIg
Ahh.. here are the pics of my kiwis. Now what do you say?
By the way, I did root several females but I did not say how many pieces I started with!! Many many. I have had trouble with rooted vines not leafing out after the first year when they wintered outside so now the first year I overwinter in the g'house.
Alaska? Wow! Zone 7? …must be down south along the coast… Good for you -- do you know what variety you have? I purposely chose “Saanichton,†after learning they were productive in BC Canada. I’ve heard “Hayward†requires more heat … but I’m tempted to plant one anyway. – And is that a Fig in the background?
Actually, your male kiwi looks great, with plenty of room to roam. I’d just thin it out some; leaving decent vines and cutting back weak ones to a ‘trunk.’
By the looks of the male you cut back, as is, it will send up lots of long ‘shoots’ this year. If for any reason you wanted to leave it -- I’d let them sprawl! Next February, loosely tie them to the wires (but not too tight), allowing them to hang. They will send out lateral shoots the following year which you can loop up and across the wires, pruned to hang slightly over the edges.
I’d nail upright 2X4’s across / between your “T’s.†That will help keep the loaded kiwi vines from pulling your outside posts in… I’ve got a combination of wires and wood; just watch the new shoots aren’t wrapping themselves around the wires as they grow. But the largest shoots will grow nearly straight up; let them, just tie them over when dormant.
Here’s my kiwi arbor: Click on photo In the middle of last summer. The productive portions are tied down as the ‘replacement’ shoots grow wild! The left (rear) vines are my Fuzzy male & female; up front are two new 'cuttings' of Hardy kiwi.
Not Alaska- Alabama! Big difference I was digging up for a tiny square foot garden on the far end of the trellis and ran into lots of roots as big as my finer, so I would say these are well established.I will try to get those 2x4's put in. so just leave the one male I pruned and try to dig up the other one. THAT may be a real job.
I am getting a better idea of what to do from this that the earlier piece on pruning about the cordons, etc. I was having trouble relating that to my situation.
I will try to let you know how things progress
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