Actinidia are very ancient plants, these vines grew in tropical rainforests before the first man appeared. Actinidia are common in Southeast Asia, the Far East, China and Korea. Among the many species of this plant, mainly four are used as fruit; actinidia argument, actinidia colomicta, actinidia purpurea, and actinidia chinensis or kiwi. The fruit cultural forms of actinidia were bred relatively recently, in the 19th century (wild species of actinidia have small fruits). I.V. Michurin drew attention to this plant and developed the first varieties for the middle lane. In the North Caucasus, you can successfully grow and bear Chinese actinidia, planting and caring for it are similar to growing grapes.
Chinese actinidia was grown in ancient China (hence the name "Chinese gooseberry"), the seeds were brought to New Zealand, where breeders bred a new form from them with large and tasty fruits. The pubescent, golden-brownish fruits reminded New Zealand breeders of the kiwi bird - a symbol of their native country. Under this name - "kiwi", a new fruit and has become popular in Europe. In 1988, the first Kiwi plantation was laid at the Adler Experimental Station (about 5 ha is occupied by this actinidia) planting and care developed there are suitable for a mild coastal climate, although actinidia grows well in mountainous areas (for example, in the village of Krasnaya Polyana).
Kiwi - vine (tree-like liana) reaching a height of 20 meters, very durable, needs support. Young shoots are fragile, easily broken.
Actinidia dioecious, on one plant can only female, or only male flowers. In the household plot, for normal pollination, planted on 8-9 female plants - 2 male, or 5 female - one male actinidia. Landing and Care: Let's start by choosing the right support. Under actinidia, special supports with a height of 3.5 meters can be installed. The pillars for the supports should be strong, reinforced concrete or metal. They pull a galvanized wire 5 mm thick., In 4 rows. In subtropical areas, you can put a higher, L-shaped support. You can "let" the kiwi on the gazebo or on the wall of the building. It is important that the actinidia plantings are protected from the wind. In the North Caucasus, kiwi winters quietly on supports.
Actinidia requires good lighting, regular watering, fertile, drained soil. Soil acidity 4-6, alkaline soils rich in calcium for kiwi are not suitable. Kiwi is planted in pits or trenches with the addition of compost, the distance between plants is 4 meters. When planting, it is important not to deepen the root neck (you can leave it 2 cm above the soil surface). The roots of the seedlings are stored in a film container and released from it only during planting (small roots easily dry out and die). Planted plants are pruned, leaving 3-4 strong buds and tied.
Young plantings need to weed, water and mulch. With sufficient watering in the first 4 years, strawberries can be planted between plants. Actinidia actively uses nutrients from the soil, so it needs top dressing. Soils in the region of the North Caucasus, most often, loams are poor in humus. On such soils, in the spring the plant often experiences nitrogen hunger, this can be determined by yellowing and shredding of leaves and reddening of petioles. You need to feed the kiwi with a urea solution (non-concentrated, so as not to burn the roots). Urea top dressing will also be beneficial. Good results are obtained by introducing organic matter under the kiwi (manure, it is applied every 2-3 years, 6-10 kg per plant). The best type of actinidia formation is palmette, one-tier or two-three-tier. The main pruning of actinidia is carried out in winter, in late January - February, supporting pruning in summer, in June - early July. Kiwi is propagated by lignified cuttings cut from annual shoots during winter pruning.
This plant is not so difficult to grow - actinidia, planting and caring for it is no more difficult than, for example, planting flowers in the country.