Seed preparation
If you take seed from fruit, mash a ripe kiwi in water, sieve out the seeds and wash them until no pulp remains; the pulp inhibits germination. Dry them on paper before storing.
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Climbing fruit growing guide
Kiwi seed needs a few weeks of moist cold before it will sprout in warmth. Seedlings make vigorous vines and good rootstocks, but each one is male or female, so plan for both.
If you take seed from fruit, mash a ripe kiwi in water, sieve out the seeds and wash them until no pulp remains; the pulp inhibits germination. Dry them on paper before storing.
Not needed. The small seed takes up water readily.
Needed. Mix the seed with damp sand or wrap it in a damp paper towel in a bag and keep it in the refrigerator at 2-5 °C (36-41 °F) for at least three weeks. Research shows hydrated kiwi seed needs this cold period to break dormancy.
Soak dry seed in water for a few hours before stratifying so it is fully hydrated; the cold works only on moist seed.
After chilling, give warmth with a day/night swing: 20 °C (68 °F) at night and 30 °C (86 °F) by day releases remaining dormancy. Bottom heat on a peat-based mix gave the highest germination in one study.
Press the seed onto the surface and dust it with fine mix or vermiculite at most.
Fine, moist, peat-based or coir seed compost; peat moss outperformed perlite and soil mixtures in trials.
Keep the surface constantly moist; cover the tray with clear plastic until seedlings appear.
Bright, indirect light. Shade from leaves (rich in far-red light) strongly suppresses germination.
Seedlings usually emerge in about 10-14 days after the move into warmth; some come later.
When seedlings have two or three true leaves, move them to individual pots of sterile, well-drained mix. Grow them on in warmth at about 16-27 °C (60-80 °F) for 3-4 months, then harden them off under light shade.
Plant after the last spring frost into a sheltered, sunny site. Put up a strong support first: a T-bar trellis (vines about 4 x 5 m apart) or a pergola (about 6 x 6 m).
Train one strong stem up the support and pinch side shoots until it reaches the wires. Protect new shoots from late frost and drying wind.
Kiwi needs winter chilling: about 700-800 hours below 7 °C (45 °F). In India it suits mid-hills at about 800-1,500 m, such as the north-eastern hill states (the ICAR sheet reports harvest in late November at Barapani, Meghalaya); it will not fruit on the hot plains.
Kiwi is dioecious. Seedlings show their sex only when they flower, which can take years, so raise several and keep one male per six females. For fruit sooner, graft female varieties such as Hayward, Allison or Bruno onto seedlings.
Prune in winter and summer. Fruit forms on new shoots from the base of last year's growth, so keep that part. Unpruned vines reach 8 m (26 ft) or more.
Pick fruit firm before the first hard frost and ripen it indoors; ripe fruit yields slightly when squeezed.
Chill kiwi seed for three weeks, then sow it on the surface in warm light.
Yes. Moist seed needs at least about three weeks at 2-5 °C before it germinates well in warmth.
Only by the flowers: female flowers have a large central ovary with styles, male flowers only stamens. Seedlings may take several years, up to seven, to flower.
The vine will grow, but without 700-800 hours of winter chill it does not flower properly. In India, plant it in the mid-hills rather than on the plains.