Kiwiberry growth habits/progress
The kiwiberries chosen for tracking were photographed as 2024 progressed through the first hard frost (and some through the loss of leaves). These images are shared below. In general, many of these plants show considerable transplant stress initially. As the images show, there was a hard frost between 9/18/25 and 10/28/24, and the plants leaves were in the process of falling by the end of October. Figures 5 & 9 also show that most defoliation had completed by early November. The Optiz plant (Figure 8) had more leaves on it than the Fairchild plant (Figure 5) in November. The Optiz plant would die back to the ground the following year and resprout, so perhaps some of this can be explained by failure to fully harden off. I will attempt to take more pictures in the fall of 2026 to see if this is the case.
All plants are female unless noted otherwise.
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| Figure 1. Ken's Red, Plant KA-8 |
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| Figure 2. Clark (male), Plant KB-2 |
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| Figure 3. Geneva 3, Plant KB-5 |
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| Figure 4. Cheng Bai Mountain, Plant KB-7 |
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| Figure 5. Fairchild (male), Plant KC-4 |
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| Figure 6. Hardy Red, Plant KC-6 |
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| Figure 7. Anna, Plant KC-8 |
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| Figure 8. Optiz (male), Plant KD-2 |
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| Figure 9. Meader (male), Plant KD-7 |
As Figures 1-9 show, the fastest initial establishing plants seem to be Geneva 3, Cheng Bai Mountain and Anna (based on quickness to reach the top wire). The fastest male establishing male was Clark with Fairchild as a bushy second fastest.
Pest Pressure
No pest pressure was noted this growing year except from Japanese Beetles. In the winter, the deer did not attempt to access the kiwi growing area, as can be seen by the lack of animal prints through the snow (my footprints are shown from a routine fence inspection). Care was taken to stake the growing fabric well back from each vine to minimize cover and habitat for voles near the base of the vines.
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| Figure 10. Deer Control Documentation, Image taken on 1/28/25 |
