Actinidia Chinese

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Actinidia Chinese (Latin Actinidia chinensis) - a representative of the genus Actinidia of the Actinidia family. The homeland of the plant is China. The fruits of Chinese actinidia are called kiwi. This fruit is popular in many countries of the world because of its excellent taste and beneficial properties. In nature, actinidia chinensis grows in deciduous forests.

Characteristics of culture

Actinidia chinensis is a climbing shrub or powerful liana with stems covered with red-brown bark. Young shoots over the entire surface are covered with dense tomentose hairs with a reddish color. The leaves are large, leathery, rounded, with a heart-shaped base, dark green on the outside and white tomentose on the back, pubescent along the veins with bristly red hairs, equipped with long pubescent petioles.

The flowers are white-cream, single or collected in inflorescences of 3 pieces, are formed in the axils of the leaves. Fruits are ovoid, almost spherical or oblong-ovate, pubescent, up to 5-6 cm in diameter. The flesh of the fruit is white, green, brownish or yellowish, sweet-sour, aromatic. Seeds are dark purple or black, small.

Actinidia chinensis is a dioecious plant; one vine can have either female or male flowers. For this reason, several female and several male specimens must be planted on the site. On large plantations, 7-8 female vines are planted per 1 male vine. Pollination of flowers is produced by bees. Actinidia Chinese is non-frost-resistant, withstands frosts down to -17C. Plants have a negative attitude to heat; at temperatures above 35C, leaves, shoots and fruits are severely damaged.

Seed propagation

Actinidia Chinese is propagated by seeds, cuttings and grafting. The seed method is laborious, but it allows you to get vines with a well-developed root system. True, this method has one significant drawback - actinidia do not retain the properties of the mother plant. The first flowering of vines propagated by seeds occurs at 7-8 years of age, then you can determine the sex. Seeds are sown in autumn or spring, in the second case, stratification is required.

Before sowing, the seeds are recommended to be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Seeds should be sown in light, moist and fertile soil. Embedding depth - 2 mm. As already mentioned, during spring sowing, the seeds are subjected to preliminary stratification, which lasts 2 months. The seeds are mixed with moistened sand, wrapped in natural material and removed to a cold place with an air temperature of 5C. Once a week, the seeds mixed with sand are ventilated for 15 minutes.

When sowing in spring, seedlings appear in two weeks. The first year, young plants do not please with rapid growth, but mineral fertilizers should not be used to accelerate development, they can burn the still fragile roots. The main condition for successful development: it is better to sow seeds in seedling boxes, in winter they are kept in a cool room. A year later, in early spring, the plants are planted in open ground, protecting them from night frosts. The soil for young seedlings is prepared in advance; it must be nutritious, loose and free from weeds.

The most important growing conditions

Actinidia is a powerful vine that needs strong and durable support. It should not be allowed on tall trees. As you know, actinidia does not tolerate collaboration with some crops, since the latter take away the necessary moisture and minerals from the vines. Or, on the contrary, actinidia, with its strength and powerful vegetative mass, will strangle a growing plant nearby.

No less attention should be paid to the soil. It should be light, loose, water and breathable, moist and fertile. It can be grown in heavy soils, but with good drainage. If this factor is ignored, the bark of plants will eventually begin to flake off and expose the stems, which can lead to death.

For active growth and good yields, actinidia fruits must be fed. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on the fertility of the soil and the age of the vines. On average, 10-12 g of double superphosphate, 10-15 g of ammonium nitrate, 10 g of potassium fertilizers are applied under one adult plant. Feeding wood ash is not prohibited. It is highly undesirable to introduce lime and potassium chloride.