Kids will love it: how to grow kiwi at home from seeds

Kiwi seems to us to be a terribly exotic plant that lives only in distant warm lands. But in fact, they are grown in Zakarpattia, and with the right approach, you can have this fruit on your own backyard.

Professional gardeners have a few secrets on how to grow kiwi. And the plant itself, originally from China, is considered quite unpretentious and easy to get used to new climatic conditions. OBOZ.UA tells you how to grow your own kiwi from seeds.

How to get and germinate kiwi seeds

Of course, you can buy seeds in specialized stores. Or you can buy a well-ripened fruit in a store and get seed from it.

Cut the fruit in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Mash the pulp and place it in a bag made of several layers of cheesecloth. Then rinse the contents several times with water - only the seeds should remain in the bag. Dry them on a napkin at room temperature, but in a dark place to prevent them from germinating too early.

Next, place the seeds on a cotton ball or several layers of paper towels slightly moistened with water. Cover them with plastic wrap and place them in a warm place. Open this greenhouse at night and close it again during the day. Sprouts should appear in a couple of weeks. You need to germinate several vines at once, because you will need male and female kiwis for fruiting.

How to plant kiwi

Dewdrops prefer soil with low acidity. You can make it yourself by mixing humus, sand, leaf and sod soil, and peat in equal proportions. Or you can buy a ready-made mixture for flowering vines. It is better to disinfect the homemade soil beforehand.

Seeds can be germinated on this substrate by putting it in seedling cups and placing 2-3 seeds in each cup - then a greenhouse is set up in the cup. Or you can place already sprouted vines in it.

Young plants gradually adapt to external conditions by opening the greenhouse daily for a longer period. Over time, they will become fully grown.

How to care for the plant

Water the kiwi with settled water at room temperature. Soil moisture should be moderate - water should not stagnate at the roots.

Kiwi does not like direct sunlight. It is better to keep the vine in a place with plenty of diffused light.

7 days after emergence, complex mineral fertilizers are applied under the sprouts. And when young kiwis reach about 10 cm in height, they are dived into separate containers. From this point on, it is better to keep each vine in a separate pot.

How to care for kiwi

Since it is a thermophilic plant, it does not overwinter in our climate in open ground conditions. Therefore, kiwi is grown in greenhouses or at home. It is better to keep the plant in the warmest and brightest rooms. For the winter, the shoots are removed and covered.

A kiwi is a vine, and it will need to be provided with a support on which it can climb. It is important to make sure that the soil under the plant does not dry out, but is not waterlogged either.

Kiwis need long daylight hours to bloom and ripen. To do this, it is better to place phytolamps near the plant.

Kiwis need to be protected not only from diseases and pests, but also from pets. The vine is especially attractive to cats, which can damage the trunk. It is also worth growing the vine separately from other plants to avoid infection by pests, fungi, etc.

In order to produce fruit, kiwi trees need to be pollinated after flowering. To do this, pollen from male flowers is transferred to female flowers with a brush. Or provide access to the plant for pollinating insects.

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