I have tried the green and gold Zepri. Right now, I am buying the gold at 59 cents a piece, and the green organic were three for a dollar. The green Zepri's are better than a lot of other green kiwis commercially available. Some lack flavor and are probably bred for size. The gold Zepris are delicious, a great tropical taste that lingers on your taste buds. I have saved seeds from the golden to grow after reading good reports from kiwinut about how flavorful it's seedling's fruit turned out.

The Zespri green fruits are likely all from the 'Hayward' variety, which nearly totally dominates the market outside of China. The differences in flavor are probably due to when they were picked and how long they have been stored.

The gold kiwi are great, but I rarely find them here. Good thing my vines are loaded this year-except they won't ripen until the end of October, if at all due to the unusually cool weather this summer.

Anyone ever come across the newer gold kiwi with the red center? I know they are being sold in some parts of Europe.

kiwinut

I think "Zespri" is a brand (like Dole) not a cultivar name. They mention Hayward on their website that I'll link below. I got several hits when I put in the word "Zepri" on Google though. Same thing?

I haven't seen any gold ones in markets here. Zespri's website says they have a smooth skin. Are they hardier than Hayward?

Our problem here is late frosts so I'm waiting for them to develop a hardy kiwi that blooms later then matures quickly and until then I'll just have to buy my kiwi at the grocery store.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zespri's website

The Gold does have a smoother skin than the green. We have the "Zespri Gold" at Costco and the larger grocery stores here in Ontario, Canada. They are my favourite over the green.

Sorry to get off of the "Jumbo" cultivar topic, but the Zepri is definitely a brand.

As far as growing the Yellow/Red/Orange varieties, I can tell you that they are more fussy. Green fuzzies, and hardies grow quite well here in Portland, but the red/orange type barely grew at all, suggesting that it needs a more temperate climate than we get here. After 2 years in the ground, it had only grown 2 feet as opposed to the normal 10 feet on a deliciousa.

For me the yellow/red/orange chinensis have been every bit as vigorous as my deliciosa. I have one chinensis seedling that has done a similar dwarf thing; maybe it is based on something in the roots? I have my yellow/orange/red grafted to deliciosa stock, but other chinensis I have on their own roots are quite vigorous; only one is a wimp.

Scott

My Hort16A (the cultivar sold under the ZespriGold trademark) seedlings grow somewhat like kudzu. They will send a few shoots 15-20' straight up before they bend over. I prune them 3-4 times during the summer just to keep them from "reaching over" and taking over one of my grape trellises. I'm sure they could smother a large tree if they got the chance. They also sucker a bit once they get older, which makes propagation easier, as they are much harder to root than other Actinidia I grow.

The green Zespri brand kiwis are small like the first kiwis I saw in the grocery stores many years ago. I bought some very large green kiwis a few months ago, and they almost looked like two fruits fused together. The cashier told me she used to enjoy kiwis, but said she didn't like them anymore. The flavor of the large fruit was bland, and I remembered why I stopped buying them. When I saw the Zespri brand green kiwi, I decided to see if they were as good as the golden kiwis. They were not, but still alot better than the other green kiwis. So that is what had me suspecting there was more than one clone used other than Hayward.

Is the ZespriGold a single clone grown only by Zespri growers? It will be a while before my gold seeds grow into fruiting plants, so if anyone knows where mature plant material can be found for sale or trade, I'd love to get a a pair. They should mature well here in Virginia.
mescalito@operamail.com

Mescalito, Zespri Gold used to be only one variety, Hort 16A, and I expect that is still the case.

Also I would not bet on getting fruit in Virginia, I think I need as much as another month here in Maryland and while your season is longer I don't think it is a month longer.

Scott

Thanks for that info Scott. We often don't have frost until after Nov 1st, so based on kiwinut's estimated ripening time of the end of October, I had my hopes up. I really need a greenhouse....

Mike

I have had fruit one other year on my yellow kiwis, and while the 'Red' cultivar did not fully ripen, two Hort16A seedlings did ripen fruit by the end of October and they were fantastic. The more productive vine (with smaller fruit) was ripe by mid-October. First frost is usually right at the end of October. I would think that these would ripen in central Virginia too, at least in a "normal" year.

With the frigid July weather we had, and the cool spring, it will be interesting to see if these ripen this year. Even if they don't ripen on the vine, they can be ripened by placing in a bag with a ripe apple or banana or some other ethylene producing fruit. It's just that they won't have as much flavor or sugar if picked too early. It's probably better to pick them slightly under ripe, so they will store longer.