02 March 2010

kiwi

The second bunch of Kiwi seeds has started to sprout.

I moved all of the earlier ones into one larger pot, as they were running out of root room in the shallow tray.
Did a bit more reading about Kiwi- found that the two different-looking seedlings I got are probably male and female plants, but apparently the only way to tell the difference is when they mature and make flowers. Also, kiwis can grow fine in our climate, but they spread and cling as much as kudzu, and can pull down structures- one guy on a forum said his neighbor's kiwi vine growing up their house pulled the gutters off! However, our winter cold might kill the vines, so perhaps if I cut them down each fall, mulched over and let grow again in spring they'd never get too large?

Anyway, I'm not expecting kiwi fruits (don't even like to eat them much), just wanted to see if I could grow them. Funny, a lot of the info I read online said kiwis are difficult to germinate from seed taken from fruit bought in the grocery store- have to be kept at a cold temperature for four months or so! I don't know what I did that worked- just stuck them in damp soil, put in a warm place and waited. Maybe because I let the fruits get slightly rotten first, not removing the seeds when eaten fresh had something to do with it?

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