Kiwi is one fruit with the highest levels of vitamin C and E. It also provides other nutrients such as lutein, and minerals such as copper, phosphate and magnesium. The fruit of the Kiwi plant also has anti-inflammatory, soothing and digestive properties. Its delicious flavor has made this berry one of the essential culinary recipes around the world, appearing in desserts such as ice cream and even fruit salads.
Would you like to get all the benefits of the kiwi plant in your home, but you don’t know how to plant it? Do not worry. We will teach you how to grow kiwi and everything related to their care, flowering times and more.
How to grow kiwi?
The kiwi or Actinia delicious plant is a deciduous and shrub-like semi-woody climbing species, native to China and has spread throughout the world due to its delicious fruit. The kiwi plant can reach up to 9 m long. Its leaves are oval petiolate and coveted from the base, dark green with light green ribs. This plant, in modern crops, is usually monoecious or hermaphrodite. That is, it has female and male organs in the same flower. Some species are self-fertile plants.
There are also kiwi plants that are dioecious. It is unisexual and that need each other to reproduce through the pollen. That expels the flower from the male plant and fertilizes the flower of the female plant, giving as a consequence the development of the fruits — the flowers of the kiwi tree. They are fragrant and arise alone or in groups of up to 3. The flowers of the kiwi plant, female and male, have between 5 and 6 yellowish-white petals.
The only way to distinguish a female kiwi plant from a male is through the flowers. The flowering of the female kiwi plant is distinguished by the white pistils surrounded by yellow pistils, inside the flower. The flower of the male kiwi is distinguished by having only yellow pistils on the tip that protrude from the petals.
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How to plant kiwi?
To plant kiwis, you need to take into account specific details and advice, so you can get a healthy crop and according to your needs. We present a simple step by step to plant kiwis below:
- Choose the right seeds, taking them out of the fruit or buying them from a nursery in your area or a specialized store. Keep in mind that if you don’t know if the seeds you will plant will be male or female, then you run the risk of all plants growing from one genus and there is no fertilization or harvest. Therefore, it is recommended that you buy the seeds and so you will know exactly what you are going to grow male and female plants. There is also the option of planting hermaphrodite kiwifruit. They all have the same planting process.
- Germinate the kiwi seeds using the stratification method to wake them from dormancy.
- Take the absorbent paper and form several layers with it. Then, moisten it completely, but preventing it from weakening too much to break.
- Separate the layers of paper and place the kiwi seeds inside them. Subsequently, proceed to cover the seeds with the layers of wet paper.
- Put the paper with the seeds in a bowl and cover it.
- Take the seeds to the refrigerator at about 3 ° C or 4 ° C and leave them there for 5 weeks.
- Remember that, every 3 days, you have to take out the bowl with the seeds and leave it about 30 minutes out of the refrigerator. In addition, uncover the bowl and remove one of the layers that cover the seeds in order to aerate them.
- After 5 weeks, you will notice that some seeds have already sprouted their first roots. These will be ready for planting.
- Already having the seeds germinated, he proceeds to prepare the ground for final planting. Prepare substrate for seedlings or 50% peat and 40% organic fertilizer and earthworm humus with cow manure, also add 10% sand to improve drainage.
- Open holes about 4 mm deep in the prepared substrate. Place one seed per hole and cover it with a very thin layer of the substrate of a maximum of 2 mm.
- Water abundantly in the form of dew so that the seeds are not exposed to water. Be sure to moisten the entire earth, but without flooding. It is done!
How to plant kiwifruit by cutting?
Another way to plant these fruits is through cuttings, and for this, you must use supports for kiwis. These can be made of wood or metal, the latter recommended for their long durability. Now, to know how to plant kiwifruit by cutting follow the steps:
- Cut the cuttings you want to plant at the end of winter. You should cut 4 to 7 inches and have some leaves. The cut must be completely straight and must not have buds.
- Scrape approximately 2.5 cm long from the bark of the pattern or base plant on which you will graft the kiwi cuttings. For kiwi cuttings, the pattern can also be a rooting hormone.
- Insert the exposed part into the cut of the cut into the pattern or the rooting hormone, making sure that the exposed bark of the cut is completely in contact with the pattern or the hormone.
- Spray the base of each cut with cold water by pressing on the rooting hormone.
- You have to make sure that the cuttings will be at a constant temperature between 20 ºC and 24 ºC. For this, you can use a heating mat for plants.
- Every day you have to spray the cuttings of the base of the cut of the kiwi with an atomizer.
- After about 50 days, the roots of the cuttings should have sprouted.
- Once the cutting begins to grow, you must make sure you have the appropriate supports for kiwis, since the species is climbing and will need a guide to develop and bear fruit. For this, you must build the supports for kiwis with resistant and durable materials because the plant will go through several processes before giving its first harvest.
The first flowering of a kiwi plant occurs after the first 3 years of life and always in the spring, although, depending on the region and the weather, they can also bloom in late August or early September.
Once the flowers are pollinated and fertilized, it takes around 5 months to develop and ripen their fruits. Another interesting fact is that the fruits of the kiwi develop from the 6 years of the life of the plant.
Kiwi care
The kiwi plant requires special care so that, from germination to maturity, it can develop healthy and trouble-free. Therefore, we give you a guide of tips so that you keep your kiwi crops healthy and fruitful:
- The first care you should take to make your kiwi plant grow with little effort is in the weather since this plant prefers temperate climates. Also, if the area where it develops is exposed to gusts of wind, it will be difficult for the plant to bear a fruit because the insects cannot pollinate them.
- The soil where you are going to grow your kiwi plants should be slightly acidic and add fertilizers only during spring and in small portions.
- The kiwi plant requires a lot of indirect sunlight. So you should plant it in a semi-shade place for most of the day.
- As for irrigation, it needs constant humidity. To do this, make sure to water it daily in the form of fine rain only to moisten the earth, never flooding.
- It also needs pruning so that the new branches grow strong. To do this, you will be removing the leaves that are withered or dry. Pruning is usually done in winter.
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