How to Plant Kiwi Vines

Although commonly associated with New Zealand, the kiwifruit originally comes from China. Kiwi vines are voracious growers, and in the wild they can reach heights of 100 feet and produce as much as 200 pounds of fuzzy fruit in one year. Kiwi grow best in zones five through nine, or from Des Moines, Iowa, to Brownsville, Texas. Kiwi plants require at least one male plant to every three females in order to bear fruit.

Things You'll Need

• 5-gallon container with drainage holes
• Trellis or host plant
• Garden shears
• Garden twine

Instructions

1. Plant a kiwi vine in a five-gallon container for the beginning of the first season to improve its chances of survival. Transplant them into the ground before the first frost to prevent the roots from freezing.

2. Plant an established kiwi vine in a sunny location near a trellis. This can be a patio cover, a wire or T-bar system, a host plant, or any otherwise permanent and stable place for growth. Try to keep this trellis shorter than 6 feet to make annual pruning and harvesting easy.

3. Fertilize with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer in mid-March, then water the plant well. Thorough watering is necessary in hot summer months. Insufficient watering is one of the primary culprits in kiwi plant death.

4. Prune the plant during the last week of January or the first week of February. Create one main trunk during the first year. In the second year, allow cordons to grow off the main trunk, and evenly spaced laterals to grow off the cordons. Kiwifruit will grow off vines that are at least one year old, so don't trim back further than 1/3 inch each season.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid rot by keeping vines away from fresh mulch.

• Kiwi vine trunks emit an odor similar to catnip. Cats love to run against the vines and can harm young plants. Kiwis are not harmful to pets.

References

• Hardy Kiwifruit Fruit Facts
• Kiwi - growing kiwi - how to grow kiwi
• National Arboretum