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Fruit & Orchards

Help planning a hardy kiwi planting

15 years ago

Hello,

I have a couple hardy kiwi vines (arguta) in pots, and am in the planning stages of building an arbor/trellis so I can plant them in the ground this spring. I made a pretty detailed plan with a program called Google Sketch Up, all to scale. Here are two different views.

{{gwi:59737}}

{{gwi:59738}}

The fence and gate (in gray) are already there.

I'm hoping to get input on a couple planning details.

My idea was to plant the male on one end, and the female on the other, letting the female take the lion's share of the space. The wires will be about 22 feet long, and I plan on running them through 2" holes cut in the cross beams that are nearer the middle (at the base of the arch).

Questions:

1) If those beams are 8 feet long, how many wires should I have?

2) Would it be better to plant the female near one end and run the vines all the way down the arbor, or should I plant it near the gate so I can run vines in opposite directions? Does it really matter?

Of course, if you see problems with this set up, I'd like to hear about that as well.

Thanks!

Alex

Featured Answer

alexander3_gw
Original Author

6 years ago

Lots of fruit for the fall :)

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Comments (9)

theaceofspades
15 years ago
alex, Lots of structural integrity in your design. I have a similar trellis for my Arctic Kiwis. I used clear plastic coated cable for the wire. You'll need all bolt connections as it it top heavy in the wind. Where the cable goes through the cross bar I ran a screw through the cable to hold it better. I bought 8 plants total with 2 males. I also built a trellis at my fathers house, mine are growing way better with morning sun. I killed one plant with fertilizer the first year. Their roots are sensitive. The first year the vines cork screw around everything. The second year the plant throws up some straight smooth vines. You may want to select those as your main trunks. Commercial planters have single trunk. I like the folige to spread along the fence from multiple trunks. Good luck.
chills71
15 years ago
I'd consider planting the female more towards the middle and training arms out in both directions.

~Chills
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glib
15 years ago
Agree with both responders. Those wires will carry quite a bit of weight when the vines will be fruiting. Perhaps bolting the wire to each support would help?
chills71
15 years ago
how glib of you...

~Chills
logrock
14 years ago
I bet you could plant three different females and one male on that structure. This is just an idea, but maybe put one at each of the new posts by the gate and have them radiate out and over the arch. They will get tangled up but in the winter you can thin out some of the older growth and in the summer give it a haircut (take of all the fast growing tips) after the fruit sets. Everything doesn't have to look like a commercial orchard.

Keep us posted,
Ron
Shari Skye
6 years ago
Did you build your trellis? How did it work out and any changes you would make?
alexander3_gw
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes, I built the trellis, and it has worked out well!
This is how it looked the Spring after completion. Now it's just a mass of vines, loaded with fruit!
alexander3_gw
Original Author
6 years ago
Time for some summer pruning......

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