If a kiwi plant flowers but does not bear fruit, there can be several reasons. We'll help you figure it out.
Now you have bought a beautiful kiwi plant, which is now older and is blooming beautifully, and yet the fruits are not coming?
That's annoying, because actually you don't just buy a plant like this because it's pretty to look at, but because it's supposed to bear fruit. But if she absolutely doesn't want to do that, then you have to "search for clues" and find out why. After all, there can be several reasons why kiwis do not bear fruit.
Reasons why kiwis don't fruit
❶ It is a male Kiwi:
First check the flowers. This way you can find out if the plant is self-fertile, feminine or masculine. It's not even that hard to spot. While the female flowers have a clearly visible, centrally placed ray pen, this is severely stunted or absent in the male. In addition, the latter have numerous stamens. First of all, take a good look at your kiwi plants.
If, after checking, you have come to the conclusion that you have a male kiwi, then you will have to wait in vain for a harvest, because only the female plants produce fruit. But a female plant alone is not enough either. She needs a male specimen, which is responsible for the necessary pollination.
Monoecious kiwi plants are often offered in the trade. This means that they can develop both female and male flowers and be able to fertilize themselves. However, even the traders advise using male and female plants for a safe yield.
❷ Too much or too little water:
If the basic requirements such as a flowering female and a flowering male plant are present or if the flowering kiwi is monoecious, there must be another reason why the kiwi does not bear fruit. A common reason for the lack of fruit is e.g. the drought - bothlong-term as well as temporary. This ensures that the flowers are dropped, especially in spring. At the same time, too much water can damage the kiwi plant and prevent it from developing fruit.
❸ No insect pollination:
Rarely does it happen that insects such as bumblebees and bees were not present for the necessary pollination of the kiwi blossoms, which meant that no fertilization could take place.
❹ Different flowering times:
If the female and male plants flower at different times, pollination and thus fruit formation is impossible.
❺ The age of the plants also plays a role:
Patience is the order of the day with young kiwi plants. They rarely bear fruit before three or four years of age, often much later.
❻ Incorrect care:
The location and the right care play an important role in the development of the kiwi plant. Because kiwis are often cut back too much, so that a lot of wood develops, but the development of the flowers is restricted. The same can happen if you fertilize the plants with a lot of nitrogen. A late frost can also be extremely dangerous for the flower bases, as they can easily freeze.
Kiwis basically need an acidic soil (pH value between 4.5 and 5.5) in order to be able to develop optimally. If the soil is calcareous or if there is a lack of trace elements, not even flowers can form.
Tip: You can determine the pH value of the soil with the Neudorff soil test, for example. You can see how this works in our article "Testing the PH value in the soil properly - video instructions"
Small tips for a big harvest:
- Always keep kiwis moist.
- Make the garden, terrace and balcony attractive for bumblebees and bees.
- Cover the plant with fleece in winter to protect it from frost.
- Check the pH value and fertilize accordingly. But be careful: kiwis are sensitive to chloride, so use fertilizer that is free of chloride.