As exotic as people think kiwi plants are, the fact is that – with the right conditions – you can happily grow one right here in the UK. Yep, it’s true! These little fuzzy flavour bombs grow on climbing vines that look wonderful twining over a pergola or arbour. So, if you want to turbocharge your smoothies this year, read on and we’ll tell you everything you need to know about growing this superfood.

Jump to:

• Growing kiwis from seed
• Growing kiwis from cuttings
• Growing kiwis in pots
• Growing kiwis in greenhouses
• Male, female and self-fertile kiwi plants
• Kiwi watering requirements
• Kiwi pruning requirements
• Kiwi feeding requirements
• Harvesting and storing kiwis

Growing kiwis from seed

While growing kiwi plants from seed does take a bit longer, a lot of people think the satisfaction it gives them is that much greater compared with propagating from a plant or buying a young vine (we’ll leave you to decide which is right for you). To grow a kiwi plant from seed, you’ll need:

• A ripe kiwi
• Some seed starting mix (like John Innes seed sowing compost)
• A bright, warm space
• Patience…

Get your seeds

Get yourself a kiwi that’s nice and ripe, and then remove its seeds. Dry the seeds by spreading them out on some paper towel and letting them air somewhere cool for a day or two.

Put your seeds into a container

Place your seeds in a Tupperware container (other brands are, of course, available) along with some seed starting mix. Cover your container with cling film, then store somewhere bright and warm for around two months (or until you see seedlings starting to grow).

Potting on

At this point, remove the cling film and wait until the seedlings have developed roughly four true leaves before potting them on. You should still be growing them indoors at this point.

Hardening off

When the young plants are around 10cm tall, you can begin to harden them off before ultimately planting them out after around three or four months. Make sure to do this after the last risk of frost has passed. Kiwi plants prefer a sheltered position, particularly at this young stage when they’re more vulnerable to harsh conditions.

Propagating kiwis by plant cuttings

If you haven’t got the time (or inclination) to grow your kiwi plant(s) from seed, then you can skip some of the initial steps by propagating your kiwi from a plant, instead. This is a fun way to grow a kiwi if you’ve already got one growing in your garden that you can take cuttings from. You’ll need:

• Secateurs
• Rooting hormone
• Purpose-formulated cutting mix (or multi-purpose compost enriched with perlite)
• A humidity dome (alternatively, you can repurpose some old 2L soft drink bottles)

Take your cuttings

The first step to propagate a kiwi plant from cuttings is, unsurprisingly, to take your cuttings. Using sharp, clean secateurs, snip some wood from your mature kiwi plant.

You can either use more mature hardwood at the start of spring, or take some newer softwood during summer. The former is more likely to root successfully but takes longer, while the latter roots nice and fast but may not be successful. It’s really up to you.

Rooting hormone and cutting compost

Once you’ve taken your cuttings, dip them in rooting hormone and then place them in your cutting compost. Place in a warm, moist environment, covering the cuttings with a humidity dome to encourage root growth (cuttings typically need a humidity upwards of 70% to successfully establish roots).

Transplanting outdoors

Keep monitoring your cuttings as they grow, ensuring their compost remains moist but not waterlogged. When they’ve established a healthy root system – usually after a few weeks – they can be gradually transplanted outdoors, using the same hardening off process as alluded to above.

Growing kiwis in pots

If you’ve only got a patio or balcony, then you may not have thought that growing a kiwi vine was a viable option for you, but you can easily grow a more compact variety (like ‘Issai’, for example) in a large pot, using a trellis or obelisk. The main things you need to consider are light, water and soil requirements.

Whether planted in the open ground or a container, kiwi vines grow best in full sun (at least six hours of direct sunlight per day). When grown in a pot, more regular watering will be required, particularly during hot and dry spells. This might mean every other day (or even daily) in those conditions. While you could use some garden soil to fill your pot, we’d recommend using a compost like John Innes No.3 (or John Innes No.2 if you’re potting on).

For more details, we’ve answered all the common questions around growing climbing plants in pots.

Growing kiwis in greenhouses

Kiwi vines respond well to being grown in a greenhouse, because of the warm, sheltered conditions they provide. If you live in a more exposed or colder part of the UK, like the north of England or Scotland, for instance, then growing your kiwi plant in a greenhouse can be a good way to get around those more frigid conditions and still have a high-yielding plant.

If you’re greenhouse growing your kiwi plant, you’re better off choosing a self-fertile variety – otherwise you’ll have to hand pollinate the flowers – and a more compact cultivar, as kiwi vines can be pretty vigorous growers, which can become an issue if you only have a relatively small greenhouse.

Male, female and self-fertile kiwi plants

To get fruit from your kiwi plant, it will need to either be a female plant pollinated by a male plant, or a self-fertile variety. Female kiwi vines are primarily fruit-producing, while the role of the male kiwi plant is largely to produce pollen. How can you tell the difference? Male kiwi plants have slightly more ostentatious flowers.

Choosing a self-fertile variety (like ‘Jenny’) mitigates the need to have two separate plants as the plant is able to pollinate itself in order to produce fruit. If you have a male and a female kiwi plant, and you want to maximise your chances of a good crop of fruit, then hand pollination can be a good option.

Kiwi watering requirements

When grown in a bed, kiwi plants will need routine watering for their first couple of growing seasons to help them establish properly. Beyond this, you should water your vine during hot, dry periods. Watering is especially beneficial once your vine’s fruit has set, as this helps ensure you get nice and juicy kiwis.

Kiwi pruning requirements

Giving your kiwi plant a prune a couple of times per year will help keep it both productive and healthy – here’s what you need to do. Before you do any pruning, it’s worth giving your kiwi some initial training, with kiwi vines responding particularly well to an espalier shape.

Towards the end of winter, trim side shoots down to a few buds, and cut some of the oldest side shoots (roughly one-third) to just one bud. In early summer, pinch out stems with fruit setting to just a few leaves beyond the developing kiwi. For those side shoots that aren’t fruiting, pinch back to around five leaves. For more information on kiwi pruning, check out this RHS article.

Do kiwi plants need feeding?

Kiwi plants benefit from an annual feed (and mulch) to keep them in tip-top condition. Just before spring rolls around, give your vine a mulch around its base (leaving a bit of a gap) using some compost. Then, in spring, as new growth starts to appear, apply some fertiliser (preferably a high-potassium option) just to give it a helping hand as the growing season gets underway.

Harvesting and storing kiwis

You’ve been patiently waiting, enjoying the flowers and the lush growth, but the time has finally come to harvest your kiwis. No, your mouths are watering. When you harvest your fruit depends on the variety; ‘Solo’, for instance, crops in January, while ‘Ken’s Red’, by contrast, is ready to harvest at the end of summer.

To tell if your kiwis are ripe and ready to harvest, give the fruit a feel. They should be firm with a slight give to them when squeezed. Alternatively, if you’ve got a plentiful-looking crop and you don’t mind using one of your kiwis as a test subject, pick one of the fruits and cut into it – the seeds should be black while the flesh should have a sweet, enticing aroma.

In terms of storage, ripe kiwis will normally keep in the fridge for roughly a fortnight before they start to spoil. Avoid storing your kiwis alongside fruits like apples or bananas, as these produce a gas called ethylene which can cause the ripening process to go too quickly, leading to soft, mushy kiwis. Kiwis can also be frozen, either whole or sliced, and kept for an additional half a year (or even up to a year).

Final thoughts

The humble kiwi is as tasty as it is attractive to grow, and hopefully, having read this, you’ll feel well-placed to give one of these funky vines a grow go for yourself. How you use your delicious fruit is up to you, but (ki)we love this kiwi and feta salad from Nadiya Hussain!