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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Actinidia kolomikta planting

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  • From: Stefan Brandle <sbrandle@css.taylor.edu>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Actinidia kolomikta planting
  • Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2006 21:37:56 -0400

Disclaimer: I'm not a real botanist, don't even play a fake one in movies, and may need to have someone more knowledgeable set the record straight. :-)

I've been running into a number of references recently (NAFEX, Internet, etc.) that suggest that the standard suggestion of a 1 male to 8 females pollination ratio for hardier actinidia (arguta and kolomikta) may be way low of optimal, especially for the home grower. Arguments are that actinidia is generally a weak insect attractor, that males are generally weak growers, and that wind pollination is a significant factor.

This suggests that a useful planting strategy for the home grower is to (1) plant a much higher male-female ratio in close proximity to each other, and (2) to consider the prevailing wind direction. So planting co-located/entwined male-female pairs should help. If a lower male-female ratio is used, then planting the males upwind may be useful.

A year or so ago I asked whether grafting male scions onto female vines would help with pollination and several knowledgeable Nafexers thought that it made sense, although they were cautious about how well the grafts would do in zone 5 weather. I haven't tried the grafting yet, but I'm sure I'll get around to it next spring. Anybody have experience trying summer budding?

On a related note, my arguta vines have a decent crop this spring. My two male vines flowered for the first time (5 years and perhaps some injudicious pruning after planting), but I also did hand pollination with deliciosa pollen I got from a pollen-supplier in California. My 5- and 4-year old daughters helped pollinate the low flowers with Q-tips, but got off task after several minutes and started a new form of tag that involves running around trying to pollinate each other with the Q-tips. Me: "No, I don't have much pollen and I'm not going to give you any more for your Q-tip unless you start putting it on the flowers, not each other." :-)

-- sb






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