woolly kiwi

Photo: Aaron Liston — CC BY 4.0 · 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.

Woolly kiwi — among the largest fruit and highest vitamin C content in the genus (reported several times that of A. chinensis). Flesh is bright green, flavour strong and slightly astringent (sweeter in cultivars like 'Ganlv-2'). Its 'easy-peel' skin has made it a significant parent species in breeding programs aimed at improving peelability and nutrition in commercial kiwifruit.

Hardiness

Zone 7–9

Habit

Vine

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Late Aug–Oct

Mature size

Vine 6–10 m; strong trellis. Container short-term only

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

5.0–6.5 (slightly acid)

Environment

Subtropical

Native range

SE China — Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangxi; low mountain forest and thickets, 200–1,000 m

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

3–5 yrs

Growth speed

Fast, climbing to about 10 m.

Spacing

400 cm (157 in) apart — about 16 m² (172 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Ovate to broadly ovate, 8–16 cm, papery, densely white-hairy underneath.

Root system

Thick, fleshy and shallow, densest in the top 30–60 cm and spreading sideways rather than down. This is the plant's weak point: fleshy roots plus a very high transpiration rate make it exceptionally intolerant of waterlogging, and saturated soil is exactly what Phytophthora crown and root rot needs. Plant on a slope or a raised bed, never in a hollow.

Fruit description

Elongated oval berries, 3.5–4.5 cm, skin densely covered in milky-white hairs, bright green flesh.

Propagation

Seed (stratify ~3 months, or sow fresh in autumn in a cold frame); commercial stock uses softwood cuttings and grafting onto seedling rootstock, as with other cultivated kiwis.

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.