How to over winter hardy kiwi

I have two hardy kiwi plants in pots. I don't have time to plant them this Fall so I need to over winter them in their pots. How to I prepare them to weather the Winter?

Put them at the base of the Southern facing portion of the house that gets the most sun. Cover them with blankets when it gets really cold. Dont water them as much.

When I get more trees and bushes than I can plant right away I take the plants and "heel them in". This is commonly done in cold area like where I live in zone 4. You might want to find out if you should do this too. I just take a part of my garden that I know won't flood during the winter. I never lost a plant doing this. Well, except the apple tree that a deer chomped on.

I have kiwi plants that can grow in zone 4. I'd like to warn you that these vines can very quickly grow out of control. Keep up with the pruning!!!

My hardy kiwi, A. arguta, are in pots. I don't do anything to them to get them through our zone 5 winters. They are very hardy when dormant.

I must disagree with my friend jujubetexas regarding their treatment, if they are indeed hardy kiwi as opposed to fuzzy kiwi. Do not put them on southern exposure. You want them to stay dormant until the weather truly warms up. While arguta's are very winter hardy, they are also very vulnerable to frost/freeze damage once they sprout in the spring. Put them in a place where they will stay cold for as long as possible, such as a shaded area at the bottom of a hill.

You want them to stay dormant as long as possible in the spring.

The exception to this is 'Issai' which is actually a hybrid and is less vigorous than the typical arguta. They really don't mind the cold, but are somewhat fragile when young or in pots, so need some protection from extremes of cold (mulch base of vines if you can). My Issai suffer some winter die-back much more than the other arguta's They still have the need for delayed breaking dormancy like the others. Drying winds can be a problem for all of them. Some people also paint the base vines with diluted latex paint (white) to prevent sunscald during the winter.

Wow...ok If I put them in the cold barn they should be ok then?

MG, If I did anything to them, I would sink the pots into the ground (like healing them in) in a cold spot. I'm not sure what you mean by "cold barn" but assume that would be just an unheated barn. Your zone is a lot warmer than mine. You don't want the plants to get totally dry through the winter, but do not want to water them either, so storing them in a barn where they would not get snow cover could be a bad idea if the interior of the barn is dry.

Are they truly hardy kiwi, A. arguta, or are they one of the fuzzy kinds? If a fuzzy kiwi, follow jujubetexas's advice.

Good point! They are hardy.