Shrub · Actinidiaceae
Hardy Kiwi
Actinidia arguta
It's a frost-tough vine that gives you little grape-sized fruits you eat whole, so why bother peeling?
Full sun
Every 5–7 days
USDA 3–8
25–30 ft · 7.6–9.1 m
Overview
Think of hardy kiwi as the tougher, smaller-fruited cousin of that fuzzy kiwi at the store. The berries are about grape size with smooth, hairless skin, sweet and aromatic, and you just pop them in whole. And here's the fun part: the vine laughs off cold that'd finish a regular kiwi, hanging in there through winters as low as -29°F (-34°C).
It's a climber, and boy does it climb. A settled vine can throw out 30 feet (about 9 meters) of growth and get heavy enough to yank down a flimsy support, so it really wants a serious arbor or T-bar trellis right from the start. That same get-up-and-go is why it's earned an invasive flag in parts of the northeastern US, so keep it clear of wild ground and check your local rules before you plant.
So what trips up new growers? Fruit set. Hardy kiwi is dioecious, which just means the male and female flowers grow on separate plants, so you need at least one male to pollinate your females. Give it a sunny, sheltered spot, something strong to climb, and a couple of patient years, and it'll pay you back with a big late-summer crop.
Care
The short version: full sun, rich well-drained soil kept evenly moist, and a trellis you build way heavier than feels necessary. Pop a male in beside your females, prune hard in winter, and give it a few years before that first real crop.
Light
Hardy kiwi fruits best in full sun, which ripens the berries and fuels all that heavy growth. It'll take partial shade if that's what you've got, but you'll get a lighter crop. A warm, sheltered corner helps too, keeping the early shoots safer from late frost.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist, especially while the vine's settling in and while it's carrying fruit, which usually means watering every 5 to 7 days. Go deep rather than often. But the one rule that beats all the others is drainage, because soggy ground is what invites root rot.
Soil
Give it fertile, well-drained loam with plenty of organic matter, though it's easygoing enough to handle clay, loam, or sand. It likes things a touch acidic, around pH 5.0 to 6.5. Drainage matters more than texture here, so mix in some compost and skip anywhere water tends to sit.
Temperature
This vine's genuinely tough in the cold, riding out winter lows near -29°F (-34°C) and summer heat up to about 86°F (30°C). Its soft spot is timing, not cold as such, since a late spring frost can burn the tender new shoots once it's leafed out.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor humidity in the 40% to 70% range suits it just fine, so there's really no number to fuss over. What counts more is good airflow around the trellis, which keeps that dense canopy from staying damp.
Feeding
Feed it a balanced complete fertilizer through spring and early summer while it's growing hard. Just go easy on the nitrogen. Too much and you'll get leafy vine instead of fruit, which is the last thing you want from a plant this pushy.
Pruning
Hardy kiwi needs proper pruning to stay productive and in bounds. In winter, cut each fruiting stem back to 8 to 10 buds. Then come summer, shorten those long, vigorous shoots again and keep the whole vine trained snug to its trellis.
Repotting
This is an in-ground plant, grown on a trellis instead of in a pot, so it's rarely repotted. If you do start one in a container, move it along before the roots circle, stall, or dry out unusually fast, then get it into the ground.
Size & spacing
Plan big, because it gets big. It runs 25 to 30 feet (7.5 to 9 m) long and spreads 7 to 20 feet (2.1 to 6 m) wide, so give it a sturdy, dedicated frame and plenty of room to stretch out.
When to plant
Hardy kiwi runs on the calendar, so it's easy to plan around. Start seed in late winter after a good long chill, put young plants out in spring once hard frost's behind you, then keep an eye out for fragrant flowers around June and grape-sized fruit ripening from late summer into fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Late winter (Feb-Mar) after 30-60 days cold stratification of seed
- Plant: Spring, after danger of hard frost has passed
- Harvest: Fragrant greenish-white flowers in late spring (around June); grape-sized fruit ripens late summer into fall (Sep-Oct)
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 3–8
Temperature: down to -40°C
Troubleshooting
Almost every hardy kiwi headache comes down to one of three things: no fruit, wet feet, or a late frost. Read the early signs below and you'll figure out fast which one you're dealing with. Spot the symptom, then act before it costs you a whole season.
Wilting and yellowing where it stays wet
Wondering why it's drooping when the ground's clearly not dry? Soggy soil chokes the roots of air and lets root rot move in, and that's what brings on the wilting, yellowing, and slow dieback. Dig down for a look, and you'll find the roots gone brown and mushy instead of firm and white. Ease off the water and sort out the drainage, or shift the vine to a raised, free-draining spot before things get worse.
Fix:
- Improve drainage or move to a raised, well-drained site
- Reduce watering frequency
Loads of leaves but where's the fruit?
Here's the thing: hardy kiwi is dioecious, so a female vine can't do it alone and needs a male growing close by, and one plant by itself won't ever fruit. And even with both, a young vine can take 3 to 5 years to get going. So plant one male for every 6 to 8 females, make sure bees can get at the flowers, and give it time to grow up.
Fix:
- Plant at least one male per 6-8 females
- Be patient; vines fruit only after several years of growth
- Ensure bees and other pollinators can reach the flowers
New spring shoots go black and flop
Hardy kiwi wakes up early, so a late spring frost can catch those soft new shoots overnight and blacken them till they wilt and fold. It looks bad, but the vine usually shrugs it off, so just snip out the dead bits and let it try again. Pick a spot away from low frost pockets, and when a late cold snap's on the way, toss a cover over it.
Fix:
- Prune out blackened growth; vines usually resprout
- Cover or protect vines when late frost threatens
Toxicity
Good news if you've got pets: hardy kiwi is not toxic to cats, dogs, or anyone else in the house. The fruit's grown to be eaten, and the rest of the plant won't poison an animal that takes a nibble. The one thing worth knowing? Cats may be drawn to the foliage the way they are to catnip or silver vine, which is just harmless attraction, not any kind of danger.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Cats are totally fine around this one, and the fruit won't poison them. If anything, it's the opposite of a hazard: much like silver vine, the leaves can pull a cat in the way catnip does, so yours might roll on the vine or gnaw a young stem, which doesn't hurt a thing beyond the odd chewed shoot.
Dogs None
No worries with dogs either. One that grabs a few of the grape-sized berries will be just fine, though if it hoovers up a big pile of any new fruit, that could bring on a quick bout of loose stool.
Horses Safe
Horses are welcome to graze right by the vine, since there's nothing toxic to them in either the leaves or the fruit.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits are safe too, and a bit of the soft fruit makes a nice treat now and then, though the bulk of what they eat should stay hay and greens rather than sweet kiwi.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep can browse the leaves and any fallen fruit, and none of it will poison them.
Birds Safe
Birds love the ripe berries and come to no harm, and they actually help spread the seed around, which is part of why the vine gets around so easily.
People Safe
The smooth-skinned fruit is grown to eat whole like a grape, so there's no peeling to bother with, and it's perfectly safe for kids and grown-ups alike.
Fruit is safe if a pet nibbles a few; very large amounts of any novel fruit may cause mild, temporary stomach upset.
Varieties
Just a handful of named cultivars cover most home plantings, split between fruiting females and males grown purely to pollinate them. These are the ones worth knowing by name.
Ananasnaya (Anna)
A grower favorite, this heavy-cropping female is the one people pick for its sweet, aromatic fruit.
Issai
This partly self-fertile female can manage a bit of fruit even when there's no separate male vine around.
Geneva
An early-ripening female that crops well and gets the harvest to you a little sooner.
Meader Male
This male pollenizer won't give you any fruit of its own; it's just there to pollinate the females nearby.
Companions
Hardy kiwi grows best next to a male pollenizer and the bees that work its flowers, and worst when left to climb into trees and shrubs it can smother.
Plant near
Male Actinidia arguta cultivar: Required pollenizer; without a male nearby, female vines set no fruit.
Pollinator-attracting flowers: Bees and other pollinators improve fruit set on the kiwi flowers.
Keep apart
Trees and shrubs: The vigorous vine can climb and smother woody plants; keep it on a dedicated sturdy trellis.
How to propagate
There's more than one way to make more hardy kiwi, but only some keep the sex and quality of the parent. Pick whichever suits you, whether you're after a known cultivar or just want more plants.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Softwood cuttings in early to mid summer · About 6-10 weeks to root
Want a copy that stays true to a named male or female? Cuttings are your best bet. Take softwood ones in early to mid summer and they'll root in about 6 to 10 weeks, and since you already know the sex, you know you'll get fruit down the line.
SeedModerate
Sow in late winter after 30-60 days of cold stratification · Germinates in weeks; years to reach fruiting
Seed's a bit of a gamble, honestly. Sow it in late winter after 30 to 60 days of cold stratification and the seedlings pop up within weeks, but they come out all over the place and you won't know their sex until they finally flower years later, so male or female stays a mystery till then.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · Roots within one season
Layering's the easy one. Just pin a low cane down onto the soil any time from spring through summer and it'll root within a single season, and then you can cut it loose and move your new plant wherever you want it.
GraftingDemanding
Late winter to early spring · Takes within one growing season
Grafting's the fiddly one, mostly for putting a select cultivar onto vigorous rootstock. Do it in late winter to early spring, and if the graft catches, it'll take within one growing season.
Myths
If cats go for the plant like it is catnip, then surely the fruit is bad news for pets, right?
Sure, cats can be drawn to Actinidia foliage, since silver vine's in the same genus, but being into a plant isn't the same as being poisoned by it. The smooth-skinned, grape-sized fruit is edible and safe for cats and dogs both.
Just one hardy kiwi vine is all you need to get fruit.
Most hardy kiwis are dioecious, so you'll want a male and a female together, about one male for every 6 to 8 females, before any fruit shows up. The one exception? Partly self-fertile types like Issai, which manage at least a little fruit solo.
You have got to peel hardy kiwi like the fuzzy grocery kind, don't you?
Nope, the skin's smooth and hairless, nothing like the fuzzy kiwi at the store. You eat the whole berry like a grape, skin and all.