Anyone else growing this ?

My plant (planted last autumn) has leaves and flowers, but so far it has
put out no new shoots, and the leaves look a bit on the yellow side.

I can't find any good pictures, so I'm not sure if it needs feeding (it's
had 2 good dressings of horse and chicken manure), if it needs something
else, or if it is just supposed to look like that!

Any tips most welcome.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Anyone else growing this ?

My plant (planted last autumn) has leaves and flowers, but so far it has
put out no new shoots, and the leaves look a bit on the yellow side.

I haven't grown that one, but actinidia kolomikta also does absolutely
nothing for a season or two ime. Once it has established itself it grows
like a mad thing, metres every year.

Janet.

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 12:55:59 +0100, Victoria Clare wrote:

Anyone else growing this ?

My plant (planted last autumn) has leaves and flowers, but so far it has
put out no new shoots, and the leaves look a bit on the yellow side.

I can't find any good pictures, so I'm not sure if it needs feeding (it's
had 2 good dressings of horse and chicken manure), if it needs something
else, or if it is just supposed to look like that!

Any tips most welcome.

I have the closely related Actinidia kolomikta. It took over a
decade to settle down and start growing with any vigor. My
impression is that actinidias are somewhat need good living, lots
of water and fertilizer. Mine only started to put out the
variegated foliage after I commenced a program of annual fall
fertilization of the entire garden.

Be patient, keep it from drying out, and feed it. (A balanced
liquid fertilizer might work better than manure.)


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 18:50:20 GMT, lid
(Rodger Whitlock) wrote:

My
impression is that actinidias are somewhat need good living, lots
of water and fertilizer.

Roger is right. Actinidias do need a good rich, moisture retentive
yet free draining soil to do really well. 'Issai' is an interesting
hybrid that can produce fruits without the presence of a male
pollinator. Unpollinated flowers develop seedless fruits - which
might be considered a distinct plus by some.

'Issai' needs a long growing period to crop well and is best planted
in a warm sunny, sheltered spot. It is probably the best variety for
fruiting in the UK and certainly worth considering especially in the
south. The fruit is relatively smooth skinned, the flavour is good
and the flesh is sweet.

The plant itself is bone hardy anywhere in the UK, but you need around
5 frost free months for good crops to develop. Regardless of variety,
any 'Kiwi' fruit can be persuaded to ripen (although not develop the
fullest flavour) if they are sealed in a bag or container with an
over-ripe banana or couple of apples for around 24-36 hours. Even if
the crop does not ripen on the vine, it can be harvested once fully
developed and artificially ripened with relative ease.

HTH
Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

lid (Rodger Whitlock) wrote in
:

I have the closely related Actinidia kolomikta. It took over a
decade to settle down and start growing with any vigor.

I've grown Actinidia chinensis from supermarket pips, and they took off
like a rocket (despite the small pocket of rather inhospitable and stony
soil I gave them!).

I tried kolomikta from seed, but no germination :-(

I guess other Actinidias are less energetic - I was rather expecting this
to go 'zoom' like chinensis, but apparently not.

If anyone out there could tell me if 'Issai' is supposed to have slightly
yellowy leaves, I'd still love to hear about it!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

The message . 150
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

lid (Rodger Whitlock) wrote in
:

I have the closely related Actinidia kolomikta. It took over a
decade to settle down and start growing with any vigor.

I've grown Actinidia chinensis from supermarket pips, and they took off
like a rocket (despite the small pocket of rather inhospitable and stony
soil I gave them!).

I tried kolomikta from seed, but no germination :-(

My current plant is the lone child of its parent at our last house. I
found the seedling germinated in large gravel on our very compacted
drive. Might help!

Janet.