How to Grow Kiwifruit at Home: Cuttings Give a Higher Survival Rate

Kiwifruit, a fruit that is very helpful for cardiovascular disease, although its appearance is not that attractive, its green flesh is still very tempting, and if the kiwifruit is fully ripe, the taste is also quite good. How should kiwifruit be grown at home? Which growing method gives a higher survival rate? What should be noted when growing it?

1. Methods for growing kiwifruit at home

1. Kiwifruit is dioecious, so in a courtyard or container you cannot choose just one plant, otherwise it cannot pollinate and bear fruit. Of course, if you can graft a branch of a male plant onto an appropriate part of a female plant, that is also a way to get the best of both worlds.

So, how do you tell male from female?

Male plants have shorter internode spacing, smooth branches, and a compact plant shape; female plants have longer internodes, hairy branches, and a more spreading plant shape. The simplest and most accurate way to tell them apart is by the flowers: a node on a female plant bears at most three flowers, the flowers are large, and the stamens are degenerated and very short; a node on a male plant bears at least three flowers, the flowers are small, the pistil is degenerated with no style, and the stamens are long and numerous.

2. For kiwifruit propagation by seed, the flesh must be removed from the seeds, then they are rinsed clean, dried in the shade, and stored in sand, then sown in spring. After sowing, keep them moist and avoid direct strong light.

3. For home cultivation, cuttings are simpler and have a high survival rate. Generally, in combination with winter pruning, choose vigorous one-year-old branches and insert them as soon as they are cut. The cuttings should be 10-15 cm long, with 2-3 buds, and the upper cut should be 1.5 cm from a bud. To increase the rooting rate, the base of the cuttings can be soaked in 0.01%-0.03% indoleacetic acid for 12 hours. Use pure sand and vermiculite as the cutting medium, insert to a depth of 1/3-1/2, water after inserting and shade them; they usually root in 30 days.

4. Grafting is the use of sown seedlings to cultivate improved varieties, and it is generally carried out in early spring. If you have a better variety, you might as well use grafting to switch varieties by branch grafting or root grafting.

2. Points to note when planting kiwifruit at home

(1) Choose fresh-eating varieties with moderate vigor and short, compact internodes, such as Kuimi and Wuzhi No. 2 among Chinese kiwifruit, and Xuxiang among delicious kiwifruit; other ornamental and fresh-eating dual-purpose types such as Fanhua kiwifruit and Maohua kiwifruit can also be used for balcony container fruiting.

(2) The growing container should be chosen somewhat larger to meet the requirements of kiwifruit's vigorous growth, large leaves, and many fruits, which consume more water and fertilizer.

(3) Kiwifruit is dioecious, so to bear fruit normally, one female and one male plant with the same flowering period must be planted together, or a male branch must be grafted onto the female plant, to solve the pollination problem.

(4) Pay attention to the supply and regulation of water and fertilizer. During the rainy season and dormant period, keep the potting soil slightly dry; during the summer and autumn growing seasons, water frequently to keep it moist.

3. How to prevent and control kiwifruit canker?

Kiwifruit canker is one of the most dangerous bacterial diseases in kiwifruit production. Its spread is hidden, its occurrence is explosive, and its damage is devastating. Flowers, leaves, branches, and vines can all be infected, leading to weak tree vigor, poor fruit quality, and even dead trees. How do you prevent and control kiwifruit canker?

1. For kiwifruit trees with canker, cut them down promptly, do not throw them around in the orchard, and destroy them promptly;

2. Disinfect used farm tools such as scissors and hoes promptly. Bud rubbing, flower and fruit thinning, and pruning easily cause wounds, so spray promptly for prevention. When spraying, add foliar fertilizer to reduce wounds and transmission routes and increase leaf nutrition;

3. Set a reasonable fruit load, and winter pruning should be done early rather than late.

4. Fertilize in a balanced way, cultivate strong tree vigor, and pay attention to supplementing trace elements.