Hello,
Haven't visited this forum before. I'm not certain that my question can be best answered here. If I'm not in the right spot lemme know.
I'm growing this kiwi from seed shared a couple years ago. It germinates readily but about now it has somewhat dramatically died in the past.
The seedlings are approx 3months old. Have the 6th set of true leaves and most have begun to grow side shoots. The normal color of the foliage is blue green with tiny white bumps on the upper side. When they begin to die, the first sign is like burning at the tips of the leaves. The leaves wilt. The condition is improved by watering but not cured. The dead plants look shriveled like drought or burn is the problem.
I have the seedlings in pots. They were started in peat pots which were transplanted intact into larger pots with potting mix. I read that kiwi will not tolerate drought or alkaline soil. So at the first sign of the above problem (the problem coincided with a heat wave-temps in mid 90's) this time around I repotted the seedlings with a peat based potting mix with perlite added for drainage. They still didn't look good. Then the weather got cool again so I brought inside over night and the plants perked right up.
Temps can get to 110's here. Winters can get down to low 20's.
Are kiwi seedlings ultra sensitive to cool/very hot weather? Until how old? Is soil ph that critical? If and when they can ever be planted to the garden.. what location would be best for my desert location. Would shade be better than full sun? What I can I do to alkaline soil for a long term ph cure.? Would it be best to just keep them in pots? Is that possible?
Help, this is the last batch of seed.
Chris
Actinidia kolomikta??
i have never grown them, i hope this site can give answer to some of ur question ... http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/codea/B150.shtml
Thanks for trying MaVie. I have pretty well exhausted the online resources. What I need is to talk with some one who has grown them from seed. Everything I've found discusses the plants themselves but isn't helpful for this kind of thing..I need someone who has seen it and resolved the problem. You know how it is.
Chris