I have 3 female hardy kiwi vines and one male. The most mature female, Ken's Red, is going to bloom this spring but the male isn't.
Does anybody have a male they could spare some flowers from so I can get some pollen? I haven't checked with the arboretum yet, but I know the hardy kiwis got cut way back to repair the trellis.
My hardy female (possibly Anna?), an Issai, and Matua fuzzy male are blooming this week. Matua is blooming for first time this year. The vines are planted a ways apart in the yard so I picked a male blossom each night for the last three nights and I am trying hand pollinizing the hardy and Issai. I did this several years ago and had success but my friend who had the fuzzy male tore out his plants.
I have Vincent, Kens Hardy Red, Prolific, hardy male, some store-bought fuzzy kiwifruit seedlings, and Saanichton also but they aren't as mature and have not bloomed yet.
Large bloom in photo is Matua male blossom. Small flowers are Anna hardy female.
Dubyadee, congrats. Those look great. Issai is purportedly self-fertile, so you should be in good shape.
I never got any male flowers to go with my blooming Ken's Red. But the petals have fallen off and the ovaries remain. I'm hoping that I'll get a few fruit again in spite of the fact that Ken's Red is supposed to not be self-fertile.
I have read and heard that kiwi are the most sensitive plant to depth of planting. I have had super productive kiwi vines, but at my new house, I'm not paying enough attention to them to make it productive. I think I'm hurting their feelings and they feel neglected. I've got to prioritize whose feelings I'm massaging these days.
John S
PDX OR
My kiwis are in bloom this week. I've been repeating my hand pollination of the females using male blossoms like paintbrushes on the female blossoms. Tonight I came up with an idea of how to trick the bumblebees into doing some pollination for me. I made a bee feeder that resembles a hummingbird feeder but with an open tray filled with rocks. The bumblebees immediately took to feeding at the feeder. Then I moved the feeder in amongst the female vines and placed some male blooms in the feeder tray. To further entice the bees to visit the flowers on both vines directly, I mixed up some sugar water and sprayed both male and female blossoms with sugar water mixture.
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
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