Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga) Copyright: GFDL (GNU Free Documentation License) Publicada por/Publish by: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Survives zone 7 through 9
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
Green kiwifruit — the classic fuzzy-skinned supermarket kiwi. Brought to New Zealand as seed in 1904, first fruited 1910, and refined into the modern 'Hayward' cultivar; renamed from 'Chinese gooseberry' to 'kiwifruit' in 1959 for export marketing. Current taxonomy (POWO) treats this as Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa rather than a fully separate species, though horticultural and commercial usage still treats it under its own name.
Spread warning. Occasional garden escapes documented in the US; not classified as invasive by any regulatory body found — a much thinner record than A. arguta's.
- Hardiness
- Zone 7–9
- Habit
- Vine
- Edible part
- Fruit
- Ripens
- Late Aug–Oct
- Mature size
- Vine 8–10 m, to 15 m unpruned; strong trellis. Container short-term only
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.3 (mildly acid to neutral)
- Environment
- Subtropical forest
- Native range
- Central and southern China (Chongqing, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan), mountain forest 800–1,400 m
- Status
- Cultivated
- Years to fruit
- 3–5 yrs from a grafted vine; 8+ yrs from seed
- Growth speed
- Vigorous, fast-growing once established.
- Spacing
- 457 cm (180 in) apart — about 21 m² (225 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Heart-shaped to broadly ovate, over 15 cm long, shiny dark green above, silvery-grey beneath with dense star-shaped hairs.
- Root system
- Large and wide-spreading; sensitive to waterlogging and prone to Phytophthora root rot in poorly drained soil, and roots burn easily if fertilizer is placed too close to the trunk.
- Fruit description
- Large egg-shaped berries (about 60–90 g, roughly 7–8 cm long), brown skin covered in dense fuzz, green flesh, sweet-tart flavor.
- Propagation
- Commercial standard is grafting (whip-graft or T-bud) onto seedling rootstock — 'Bruno' is favoured over 'Hayward' as rootstock for its stronger rooting; seed-grown rootstock is grown on for about a year before grafting.
- Pollination
- DIOECIOUS — needs male and female plants
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Moderately heavy feeder — apply a balanced fertilizer split between early spring (before growth starts) and after fruit set in June, increasing the annual amount as the vine matures; potassium is particularly important for fruit quality. Vines are chloride-sensitive — avoid muriate of potash and other chloride-based fertilizers.
How it spreads. Not a colonizer, but an extremely vigorous woody vine (20–30 ft of new growth per season) that will overrun any support or nearby planting without a strong, permanent structure and annual pruning.
Growing tips. Requires a sturdy trellis or arbor built to carry a mature vine's weight and up to roughly 45 kg of fruit; prune hard during winter dormancy since fruit forms on the previous season's wood; watch for bacterial canker (Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae), Botrytis grey mould in humid post-harvest storage, and root/crown rot in poorly drained soil.
Grow journal
Sign in to keep a dated log of when you planted, bloomed and harvested this plant.