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[mauch1@aol.com]

Thanks everyone for responding!

 

From your responses, I'm pretty sure it was the drought, with some nutrient deficency caused by

the drought.

 

My soil is heavy on the clay side (I've had significant problems with crown rot and apples), so I usually can get away without watering (aside:  we had a more severe drought two years ago, but my soil seemed to stay more moist that year than the soil did this year ... hmmm)

 

I know the strawberries could be involved in assisting in stressing the kiwi.  But I couldn't bring myself to have the whole area under the trellis in 'mulch' not doing anything.  (However, as my youngest son (and of course best fruit eater), has just tested allergic to strawberry (and orange, wheat, oat,

soy, dairy, peanuts, true nuts, and tomatoes) maybe I should remove them.

 

Also to add more evidence to the drought stress theory, I have a hedgerow of trees at the back of my

property.  The 'Anna' gets the most shade from it, followed by the male and then the 'Jumbo' which

because of an underground 'ridge' in my yard, may have the thinnest soil.

 

I'm just hoping that the summer's stress allows it to make it through the winter.

 

Chris Mauchline
SE PA, zone 6
40° 5' N 75° 51'W
~650 ft elevation