First Half of 2025 Growth Documentation
On 3/17/25, I noted that the vole guards were creating a very humid, likely overly warm environment for the kiwiberries on which they had been applied (see Figure 1). These were removed between April 17th and May 7th, but the specific date was not documented. Other than these images, it was also not documented which plants had vole guards and which did not. Although the overly warm/humid environment could (and may) have created issues with early leafing out or bud break, that was not a noted issue in the 2025 growing season.
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Figure 1. Images from 3/17 showing the condensing humidity on the interior of the vole guards.
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Sequential images of the indicator plants were taken on 4/7/25, 4/17/25 and 6/2/25, as is seen in Figures 2-10. Comparing images taken on 4/7 to those on 4/17 show significant budswelling between these two dates. Plants were fully leafed out by the 6/2/25 date. Full leafing out was noted on 5/7/2025 (per Figure 11), but closed flower buds were not noted until 5/11/2025 (per Figure 12). Per my recollections, only Geneva 3 and Cheng Bai Mountain had flowers in 2025. None of the male plants flowered at all. Figures 2-10 support the conclusion that bloom was done by 6/2/25, since no white flowers are visible in any of these images.
Figure 2. Ken's Red, Plant KA-8.
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| Figure 3. Clark (male), Plant KB-2. |
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| Figure 4. Geneva 3, Plant KB-5. |
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| Figure 5. Cheng Bai Mountain, Plant KB-7. Note that due to an error, plant KB-8 & 9 were imaged instead of KB-7. KB-9 (closes to the vertical pole) will most closely resemble KB-7 as it is also a Cheng Bai Mountain plant. |
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| Figure 6. Fairchild (male), Plant KC-4. |
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| Figure 7. Hardy Red, Plant KC-6. Note that contrast and brightness have been altered in this third image so that plant leaves are more visible. |
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| Figure 8. Anna, Plant KC-8. |
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| Figure 9. Optiz (male), Plant KD-2. |
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| Figure 10. Meader (male), Plant KD-7. |
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| Figure 11. Plants had fully begun leafing out by 5/7/2025. |
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| Figure 2. Closed buds visible on Cheng Bai Mountain, KB-7 on 5/11/2025. Look between the bamboo stake and the leaf near the top of the plant. |
