365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Kiwi Culture
Day 283: While I am certainly not going to get the bushels of kiwi berries I thought my vines might produce this year, I do believe the road to horticultural success is beginning to smooth out. I've learned some things: kiwi fruit need sunlight to ripen, the vines should be pruned three times a year, fruit comes on year-old wood. Pruning correctly is essential to a good crop, and that's where I've fallen down on the job. This winter, my vines will get a serious haircut to open them out, and then in the spring, I'll clip back branches which shade out the flowers. Once the fruit has set, more maintenance will be in order to expose the berries to the sun. Sometimes manuals tell you all you need to know. Other times, horticulture is a matter of experiment. After all, it took me almost ten years to figure out how to get a successful rooting from a slip of my contorted filbert.
Labels:
horticulture,
kiwi berries
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