Steven Martinez

Andy Lopez wrote:Hi
You dont mention much about what you are feeding it. Perhaps I missed it, sorry if I did.
The plants look like they might have a fungus. perhaps wilt. I also notice trace mineral deficiency on the leaves. These plants like the soil to be acid. around 6 ph is good for them. The ph level is important in nutrient absorption. Have you tried to apply a soil amendment made from leaves like oak leaves?  You might want to start a cover crop around it which will help retain water and collect nutrients.
Try foliar spraying with something like Sea90, which has 90 trace minerals. You can make your own trace minerals from around your property. Im happy to go over. You should also spray 1 cup milk in 100 gal water. The milk will provide calcium and bacteria. Both will help.
Also do you know what Brix is? Get a refractometer and test the leaves. If you have fruit, test the fruit. A healthy Kiwi should have 18+ Brix

Hope this helps

Thank you very much for all this important information. I bought a PH tester and some Sea90. I plan on trying foliar spraying it tonight (had to look that term up). One step at a time, if the minerals don't help I'll look into Brix testing.

Thank you, everyone, for your concern in this matter. I have a lot of work to do.

First I'm going to prune the wilted leaves from the plant, then I'll dig up a good area of soil around the plant and amend with potting soil and organic fertilizer. Next I'll put my strawberries in and work on getting that ground cover established. Meanwhile I'll be testing PH and applying trace minerals to ensure everything is where it is supposed to be.

I have a lot of work to do, but will check back in as things progress.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
The grass looks super dry to me. I'd want to be applying enough water that the grass is vibrant green for as far away from the kiwi as the plants are tall: Like 3 to 6 feet.

I'll dethatch more and start watering the grass. I didn't much care if the grass lives as I want other stuff there, but I suppose it is indicative of the soil quality.

John Stoen wrote:I’m not familiar with fuzzy kiwi, but I did have an “arctic” kiwi I had planted and it started to die and wilt away (just like your pic). It had plenty of water and lots of sun. I moved it to a spot with mostly shade and it came back and is putting out new growth. The “hardy” kiwi seem to prefer full sun.

I'll look into trying to create some shade for the little fella to see if I can get it to thrive a bit more.

Good day to you all! I've been poking around here for a bit of time and have generally found the information I am looking for, but I have to reach out at this point because I don't know what is wrong with my Kiwi. You can scroll to the bottom for the images, and I'll put some information about the challenges I've tried to overcome and my planting method.

For a very quick history lesson, I am very new to this planting and permaculture thing, though the idea is not new to me. Academically, I have read a lot of things and watched a LOT of YouTube. I am currently trying to transform my front (grass) lawn into an all fruit and vegetable haven, and I am starting with these three Kiwi plants. I eventually want a majority of my ground cover to be strawberries, and I have about a dozen plants in pots ready for me to transplant, though I suppose I should wait until they stop fruiting...I'll burn that bridge later, first to solve the Kiwi.

I bought three kiwi bushes from a local nursery the type of kiwi are "Saanichton" (female fuzzy kiwi), "Matua" (male fuzzy), and "Issai" (self-pollinating hardy kiwi). The Hardy Kiwi had some spots on it, but it wasn't anything I was overly concerned about as I had read that Kiwi get stressed sometimes when potted and the nursery lady confirmed that information to me.

When I first planted the Kiwi I made the mistake of planting them in pure compost. I realized it later that same night and replanted them the next day in a compost, potting soil, original dirt mix and used a citrus food according to directions. I watered the kiwi every couple of days for the first week, to make sure the ground was wet being careful to not over water (I think) since I know kiwi are prone to root rot.

I noticed after about another week that my kiwi were looking wilted and not as vibrant as they had been, all except the female, she seems to be doing splendidly in her little corner of the world. I then bought and used a liquid fertilizer that was 3-2-2 I think and have used it once according to its instructions. Fast forward a couple more weeks and my kiwi now look like the pictures below. I am very concerned about my hardy kiwi as it looks the worst. The male (middle plant in the pictures) is just a little weak and I'm concerned I'll lose all of them.

I should also tell you that my soil is very rocky and I guess it could be described as sandy. When I water the kiwi I have to do it very slowly to make sure the water soaks into the dirt. The water tends to like to sit on top of the soil. I've de-thatched the ground near the kiwi, and that seems to help a little, but even the ground I dug up to plant the kiwi is not soaking the water. I've tried using a garden tool to poke holes into and around the "fresher dirt" and that helps too, but I am really worried about root rot.

I think my next step is to dig out a large area around the kiwi and replace all the old dirt with a compost/potting soil mix and see if that doesn't help. I would love to move my strawberries into the area now, even if it meant I didn't get much more fruit from them this summer, but I feel that would be certain death at this point. I am also considering digging the kiwi up completely and making their "planting bed" even deeper and larger with better dirt. I am not afraid of hard work, but I want to be certain I don't kill the kiwi in the process. I believe the dirt I have is no good, but I am also wondering if the sun loving kiwi aren't getting too much sun, as they get probably 12 hours of sun every day, and most of it is pretty direct.

Ok, I think that is about it. I hope I've provided enough information to hopefully elicit some assistance or advice. I really want to make this work, and I do NOT want my kiwi to die. I appreciate anything you lovely people have to say, if you have questions or need more pictures of different things, please let me know. Oh, and I have not trimmed the kiwi yet, the pictures you see were taken yesterday.