Will my kiwi plants produce fruit?

[Nathan Reed]

I got three kiwi plants, I ordered them online and they got here May 13th. The first picture was taken the day after I got them. I put them in the ground not long after that, but they have barely grown at all.

I got pictures of each one today, you can see they've barely grown- in fact, the "hardy male" (middle one) got REALLY BAD, all the leaves fell off and it was just a bare twig sticking out of the ground!! but it had some new buds near the bottom so I guessed there was hope, and now it has made a comeback as you can see.

That's great, but it's almost September now and I'm worried. If I can't get them to grow, how will these little things survive the winter?! I'm wondering if they will even produce fruit at all, even if I get them to grow. I was thinking I may have to dig them up and put them in pots so I can take them in for winter...but I'm not sure if that's a good idea, and it won't get cold for awhile yet, so I don't know.

Does anyone have any ideas? I would be most greatful!!

[pepperhead212]

I can't help you with any possible diseases that the kiwi might have, but I can tell you this - you won't be getting any fruits this year. When I researched kiwis a while back, since I was thinking of planting some, and building something to grow them on, I discovered that they don't produce fruits until five to seven years after planting! One source stated that one variety may produce a small number in three years, but I didn't want to wait even that long.

[applestar]

It's possible that all this time, they've been concentrating on establishing their roots. What are the USDA Zones for the varieties you've purchased? I'm pretty sure most hardy varieties are well able to handle Zone 7B winters.

If it takes as long as 3-5 years minimum to mature and fruit, I wouldn't dig them up snd set them back. Just plan on mulching heavily. If they are susceptible to rodents, rabbits, and deer munching on them during the winter, put a hardware cloth tube over them to protect them.

[Nathan Reed]

Oh yes I know they don't produce fruit the first year silly! :p I just thought maybe since their growth is stunted (?) they might not produce fruit at all? It seems like I read something like that but maybe it was about passion fruit (which I also have) or maybe I misread something, lol. I think this variety is the one that's supposed to make fruit in 2-3 years or so. I don't want to wait either! But I decided my future self will probably thank me LOL. I actually got a bunch of fruit trees, 5 fig trees, mulberry (those can take TEN YEARS to produce fruit) and a couple blueberry bushes. I just hope I can get them all to make it. I'm a noob, I only started gardening this year o_o

edit: ^ that was at pepperhead212

applestar: I hope that's true, I'll leave them where they are then. I got these from rareseeds.com, I forgot where all it's hardy but I know my zone is in there. It's just "hardy kiwi" I guess, and the Ananasnaja and Ogden Point are females and then of course there's the male. Well, I feel better, I'll keep an eye on them and maybe check the PH...and thanks for the tip about the hardware cloth!

[ButterflyLady29]

There's a rule about vines. The first year they sleep, meaning they don't grow much at all above ground. The second year they creep, meaning they put on a little top growth while spreading the root system further. The third year they leap, meaning stand back so you don't get wrapped up in them. This applies only to woody vines like hardy kiwi, grape, bittersweet, etc. Perennial vines that die back to the ground every winter grow much faster.

[Nathan Reed]

Thanks ButterflyLady! I'll keep that in mind. I'm thinking about growing grapes too next year so that's good to know.