How to Start Kiwi Plants

How to Start Kiwi Plants From Cuttings

• 1

  Take cuttings from kiwi plants in late winter when the plant is dormant or in midsummer when the plant is actively growing. Choose 4- to 6-inch-long cuttings with several leaves but no flower buds. Make a straight cut with pruning shears.

• 2

  Scrape away a 1-inch-long portion of bark from the base of each kiwi cutting to expose the inner flesh. Use the blade of the pruning shears to scrape it or use a utility knife.

• 3

  Treat the lower half of the cuttings with 0.2- to 0.5-percent IBA rooting hormone. Use the weaker 0.2-percent hormone on cuttings taken in summer and 0.5-percent hormone on late winter cuttings.

• 4

  Stick the kiwi cuttings into 6-inch plastic pots filled with 1 part perlite and 1 part sand. Drizzle 1/4 cup of cool water around the base of each kiwi cutting. Press them into the rooting medium to half their length.

• 5

  Set the potted kiwi cuttings on a warming mat set to between 68 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Expose the cuttings to bright but indirect natural light or place the pots under a fluorescent lamp for a minimum of seven hours a day.

• 6

  Mist the kiwi cuttings daily using a spray bottle. Spray the surface of the rooting medium whenever it feels dried out to maintain a very light level of moisture around the base of the cutting.

• 7

  Check for roots in 50 to 60 days by very gently tugging on the kiwi cuttings to see if they are anchored to the sand and perlite mixture by roots.

• 8

  Transplant the kiwi cuttings into 1- to 2-gallon nursery containers filled with 3 parts garden soil mixed with 1 part sand. Keep the kiwi plants potted for one entire growing season before planting them in a permanent bed.

Starting Kiwi Plants From Seed

• 9

  Remove the seeds from a ripe kiwi fruit in late summer. Crush the fruit inside a clean bowl filled with water. Pick out the tiny black seeds as they float to the surface. Dry the seeds for 24 to 48 hours.

• 10

  Store the kiwi seeds in moist perlite over the winter. Keep them somewhere where temperatures stay around 40 degrees at all times.

• 11

  Remove the kiwi seeds from cold storage in spring. Sow them 1/8 inch deep in 6-inch plastic pots filled with potting soil. Sow up to six kiwi seeds in each pot.

• 12

  Water the kiwi seeds by misting them with a spray bottle until the top 1 inch of soil feels moist but not sopping wet. Maintain this level of moisture at all times.

• 13

  Watch for germination starting in two weeks. Sprinkle sand around the seedlings as they emerge to help hold moisture close to the soil.

• 14

  Scoop out the kiwi seedlings once they put on two sets of mature leaves. Transplant them into individual 6-inch plastic pots filled with 3 parts potting soil and 1 part sand.

• 15

  Keep the kiwi seedlings in their pots until they grow to at least 6 inches in height before transplanting them into the garden.