black leaves on my hardy kiwi

hello this is going to be year 5 for my hardy kiwi, hoping this is the year i get fruit, but now im getting black brittle leaves. Here in ohio and about 2 weeks ago it had been warming up, one day it was 70 and i was in shorts, then wham! temps dropped and we got snow again like 3 to 4 inches, then warmed up melted then wham temp drop and black ice. could the sudden warm up cool down warm up cool down caused this to happen to the kiwi plants? Any ideas on what to do? or will the plants bounce back and leaf again?  Thank you!

yeah, probably freeze damage.

Yeah I had the same thing happen to my kiwis this year during a bad cold snap. It seemed like an extra bad one this year that had the same effect on the pomegranates, some mulberries, and some of the grapes too. The apples, pears, and even the peaches and plums were totally unaffected.

hardy kiwis in particular, they’re very hardy when dormant, but their leaves can’t seem to take any frost at all. i’ve had what looked like freeze damage on hardy kiwi on nights where it barely frosted out in the open 20 feet away, and they’re half-tucked in under the eaves of my house.

Steve Thorn wrote:Yeah I had the same thing happen to my kiwis this year during a bad cold snap. It seemed like an extra bad one this year that had the same effect on the pomegranates, some mulberries, and some of the grapes too. The apples, pears, and even the peaches and plums were totally unaffected.

thanks for the reply! will the plants be ok and grow new leaves?  sorry this is the first time this has happened to me and im freaking out a little bit! lol!  after 5 years of waiting for the fruit it would suck if the plants were to die! lol!

they’ll be fine!

Mine had some buds that hadn't opened yet and were undamaged as a result. These have new shoots starting to grow and look very healthy. Yours looks like it also has some older leaves that appear green and healthy, so that's a good sign.

Sometimes even if a majority of the buds have opened and are damaged, they will form totally new buds near the old ones if the plant is healthy enough and regrow. Some of my young grape cuttings did this this year.

Hope you get some kiwis soon!