GardenPerennial Fruit Tree · zones 4–9 · 16 varieties
Kiwi
Actinidia arguta / Actinidia deliciosa
Actinidiaceae — the only crop in its plant family here.
Kiwi (Actinidia arguta / Actinidia deliciosa) is a perennial fruit tree for USDA zones 4–9. It wants full sun and pH 5.5–7 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. First real harvest comes in 3–5 yr. Watch for spider mites and phytophthora root rot. Below: its full sourced profile from 8 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.
What we will not put a number on
We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.
We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.
Site & soil
- Hardiness zones
- 4–9
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7
- Soil texture
- Loam, Well drained, High organic matter
- Frost tolerance
- Hardy
No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it and the temperature that would kill it. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.
The plant
- Mature height
- 15–40 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–20 ft
- Growth rate
- Fastest
- Spacing in row
- 120–360 in
- Between rows
- 120–180 inest
- Planting depth
- 1–2 in
- Container size
- 20 galest
- Support
- Needs staking or a trellis
- Grown from
- Cutting, Grafting, Layering, Seed
Water & feeding
- Water needs
- High
- Water per week
- 1–2 in/wkest
- Critical water
- Establishment, Flowering, Fruit set, Ripeningest
- Feeding
- Moderate
Timing & fruiting
- Years to first harvest
- 3–5 yr
- Chill hours
- 600–700 hrs
- Pollination
- Needs pollinizer
- Harvest cues
- Fruit coloring
Edible parts per source: fruit.
Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.
| Variety | Type | Habit | Days | Color | Size | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Hardy | Hardy Kiwi | Vining | — | Bicolor | Small | |
| Arctic Beauty Kiwi (sex varies by supplier — confirm before buying) | Super Hardy | — | Cornell University Woody Plants Database records this astakes the cold | |||
| Chico Male Kiwi (Male) | Fuzzy | — | ||||
| Dumbarton Oaks Hardy | Hardy Kiwi | — | Green | Medium | ||
| Geneva Hardy | Hardy Kiwi | — | Medium | |||
| Hayward | Fuzzy | — | Large | |||
| Issai Hardy | Hardy Kiwi | Vining | — | Green | Small | |
| Jenny | Fuzzy | — | ||||
| Ken's Red Hardy | Hardy Kiwi | — | Purple | Small | ||
| Matua Kiwi (Male) | Fuzzy | — | ||||
| Meader Hardy Kiwi (Male) | Hardy Kiwi | — | ||||
| MSU Hardy | Hardy Kiwi | — | Green | Large | ||
| Pautske | Super Hardy | Vining | — | Large | ||
| Saanichton 12 Fuzzy | Fuzzy | — | Large | |||
| Tomuri Kiwi (Male) | Fuzzy | — | ||||
| Vincent | Fuzzy | — | Large |
- Cornell University (Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home)
- NC State Extension
- Ohio State University Extension
- Penn State Extension
- University of California Small Farms Network
- University of Minnesota Extension
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 17 of the 22 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.
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