Michael Ritchey

I'm sorry to say I have no answer for you, but I'm so glad you're doing this experiment. How's it going now, BTW? Have you seen any fruit? Have the roots burst the container as potatoes or sunchokes might? My question is similar to yours:

Has anyone here heard of a method to grow full-sized kiwi indoors (like in a walipini) by restricting the plant's size by restricting the size of its root ball? Perhaps by using large grow bags which would cause air pruning of the roots?

I know this is a successful method of growing trees. It tends to make the tree send down multiple taproots instead of binding one big one all through the pot. All the roots at the dry edge of the root bag are air pruned instead of binding like they would in a plastic container. What I want to know is whether this method, employed on the vines of full size Kiwi (the more common kind in the supermarket that have hairy skins) will allow them to grow fruit without growing the vine 15-30 feet per year and dominating the whole greenhouse.

-Mike

John C Daley wrote:

John, your post has served as my introduction to syntropic agriculture. As I watched the video you posted and another featuring the same fellow (Ernst Götsch), it was transformative. I've studied various aspects of permaculture for 10 years while saving for a plot of land, but not until I saw what Götsch did with successive planting did I understand what I need to do in order to convert Utah or Idaho desert land to a food forest. Thanks a lot for posting, partner.

- Mike

Sherri Lynn wrote:[snip]It may be the little things that sneak up on us.  You know like peanut butter, coffee or baking soda.

I can understand why such little things would be a concern because that's what would get me too. Just out of curiosity, does your commitment prohibit bartering for the little things? It sounds like you produce a nice diversity of things on your property. Assuming there is surplus of some things, and those surplus items may be things that neighbors actually want, could you trade your surplus for their grocery items?