That's what I thought. Fast Growing Trees and Willis Orchards are both marketing "Meader" as a pollinator that sets fruit. Sounded too good to be true. Willis actually describes it as very unusual because it's an excellent pollinator yet does bear fruit. Grrrr. I was just hopeful that they are selling something that is not really Meader but does pollinate and bear. Both nurseries are pairing it with Anna as a pollinator pack.

Do you know if Issai will pollinate anything else well? I have early Cordifolia and would like to get Anna, so as to have both early and late crops. Also, how do you rate Issai fruit flavor? Thanks in advance!

I did have a male pollinator at my old house. Took cuttings and only got the Early Cordifolia to take...

The fact they are pairing it with Anna as a "pollinator package" should tell you something :-)

Issai is really a slightly less hardy hybrid (A. arguta x A. rufa) and won't pollinate anything else. It is 100% female but parthenogenic, so is able to produce a limited quantity of fruit without pollination (hence the self-fertile designation). It too will provide a much better crop if a male vine is present :-)

I have never tasted Issai - Hardy kiwis are not my favorites......I much prefer the fuzzy kiwis.

Thanks gardengal. I just can't grow fuzzies here in Zone 7. It's hard to find good hardy kiwis but the good ones are really good.

Read some reviews of Willis. I had an experience with them several years ago. I was wondering the same thing. I bought a male Meador, female Ken's Red, and Dunbarton Oaks. Since then I've seen somewhere an advertisement for male and female Ken's Red and male and female Meador. I don't know what to believe. I couldn't find a Facebook group for hardy kiwis, so I started one yesterday. Hopefully some experienced growers of hardy kiwis will join up. Hardy Kiwi Growers

There is not a lot of good info out there on hardy kiwis, so whatever you can generate is helpful.

After doing some research, it appears there IS a female 'Meader' kiwi. I find this to be extremely confusing for a dioecious plant to have both a male and a female clone with the same cultivar name. Unless you really know what you are doing (or the plants very clearly - and accurately - labeled as to gender), I can see all sorts of opportunities for picking the wrong sex and either never getting any fruit from a vine you expected to produce fruit or your other female vines not producing fruit because what you thought was a male pollinator is really not.

A pretty dumb move, if you ask me!

I'm nervous because got the pollinator pack with two Anna's and one Meader. I hope the Meader is male! I so have a couple hardy kiwis from a couple years ago the I placed in between the new pollinator pack even though those have leaves have leaves totally different than the pollinator pack I got. Maybe Actinidia can pollinate among its species I hope! Or I may just have vines taking up space indefinitely! It says to space them out 15 feet apartments. I put mine really close together since I don't have that much room plus i don't know how they'll do!

I bought a Meader kiwi on a whim yesterday and cannot find much info. But there's a 50/50 split in opinions as to whether this is a self-fertilizing type or not. Any recent experience with this one?

It is a male vine. Able to pollinate any hardy kiwi female but will not produce fruit on its own.