HELP....... I am looking for a female kiwi plant. I have a male I just got it but they were oout of the female. Please anyone.
NEED A FEMALE KIWI PLANT......
Not to be rude, but a good place to start here would be to tell us what kind of kiwi you are talking about. There are quite a few Actinidia species.
the kiwi plants I have is Meader kiwi (actinidia arguta 'meader'). I have 2 males.
krowten, do they all need mates? i have one too sidhe. had a pair but one of them died and can't remember which it was.
Mama & sidhe, Arctinidia arguta, the hardy kiwi (for fruit) does need a pollinator. The exception generally mentioned is Issai. However, Issai is actually a hybrid with another closely related Actinidia species. Issai would produce more fruit if partnered with your Meader male.
I have a "Hardy Red" arguta female that I have to trim back substantially every year and could easily supply cuttings or start a plant or two for you for next year. (Actually casually tried to start a couple last year but they did not take). A fellow NAFEX member told me that arguta kiwis will not start blooming until their root mass gets to a certain size and that can take 4-5 years. That matches my personal experience, so you might be well advised to try to get a more established plant from a commercial source.
I always recommend Issai to people because it is self-fruitful, but many kiwi experts (and I am far from one!) do not like that choice because Issai is more delicate. Still I have had Issai fruit without a male while2 years old in a pot. Issai is also easier to start from cuttings. I would have had a plant to offer a month ago, put planted mine out to increase my crop.
Lastly, Mama, in Texas you likely should be able to grow the fuzzy varieties. I do not know how well the arguta's would handle the heat that far south.
Krowten, thanks for the info it is lots of help. Mammajack, sorry to hear about your kiwi's. I know my kids love em. bummer, I cant find a female anywhere. oh well I will just have to keep tryin.
krowten, thanks for the information. sidhe, there is an ebay seller that i would have to look up but has plants for cheap. they are all rooted cuttings but all i have gotten from them are very well rooted. but he usually has the male and female every year. also, kathy ann on daves had a pair for sale a while back. don't know if she has more.
but sidhe, how can you tell your plant is a male? did you buy it that way or can you see something that lets you know what it is?
krowten, you are saying that the issai can produce fruit on it's own. what do you mean by "delicate"?
mammajack,
when i bought mine they still had their tads on them. I wish i knew how to tell the difference. Krowten, do you know?
You can tell by looking at the flowers. But part of what I was trying to get at in the post above is that it can take years before they will start to flower, then you need to know how to tell from looking at the flower. Just google "kiwi flowers" and you'll find a number of references that will tell you how. About five years back, I bought a cheap set of kiwis from Wal-mart claiming there was a male and female in the tube. I planted both but one died. It (the survivor) still has not flowered so I can relate to you as I do not know if it is a mail or female..
Yes, Issai will produce fruit on its own. I have about 5 kinds of female kiwi, but my male plant has yet to start producing flowers. However, my Issai has now fruited 3 years without any male flowering.
Try Edible Landscaping as a source for a female kiwi. They ship year 'round and were among the first companies to offer argutas (hardy kiwis)
Mama, Issai does not appear to grow as fast or as large as the other argutas. I think it is a great choice for the backyard gardener that wants to grow kiwi because it fruits earlier, does not need as much space, can be grown in a large pot (at least for a few years) and will fruit without a pollinator. It is less vigorous in that it does not get as large as fast as the others, and I experience some winter die-back of the vine. Mine are only a few years old, so I cannot speak to what a longer period of time will bring. However, I grew kiwi for years before I learned about Issai and was greatly disappointed in not being able to produce fruit with the other kinds.
Thanks krowten.