How to Root Hardy Kiwi (Actinidia arguta) Cuttings

I think there are lots of people that are like myself that want to start their own plants from a cutting. There is something intriguing about taking a dormant stick and watching life spring from under the seemingly dead bark. On the same hand, I have found such disappointment from watching a potentially alive stick do nothing more than rot away gradually before my eyes. Slowly, I am learning how to perfect the rooting process for better success rates.

Although the hardy kiwi is becoming more popular in nurseries, I think the vine is still a newcomer to most gardens, at least in the Mid Atlantic states around me. 

The vines take several years to fruit - mine took almost ten years before we actually saw fruit, but a couple of those years, we saw early blossoms only to have a late frost that killed off any coming fruit, so we might have had fruit earlier.

One of the coolest things about rooting a cutting is that the plant takes on the age of the mother plant, so even though you might start rooting some cuttings, you won't have to wait seven to ten years to get fruit, rather two or three years or just until the plant is established enough to bear fruit.

Why would you want to grow hardy kiwis?

• they are delicious right off the vine - no peeling required
• the plants are pest proof
• the vine is a beautiful landscape plant
• the hardy kiwi vine grows fast!
• the hardy kiwi is still a unique plant
• the kiwi berries are very nutritious and rarely found in grocery stores
• the plant is very hardy and takes abuse 

So just how do you root hardy kiwi cuttings?

1. Prepare a 50:50 mix of vermiculite and sand and dampen with water
2. Fill plant pots or a deep tray with at least 6 inches of the prepared rooting mixture and press to flatten (I like translucent containers so I can see the root growth)
3. Use the end of a pencil to poke holes about an inch shorter than the cutting
4. Dip the freshly cut end of the cutting in rooting hormone
5. Place the cutting in the hole
6. Press the soil mixture firmly around each of the cuttings
7. Cover the container to hold in moisture
8. Place in a shaded area that stays warm (68-75 degrees F)
9. Check the cuttings every week and mist if the soil mixture seems dry to the touch
10. Wait and wait and wait some more.

Cuttings take time to root and hardy kiwis take at least two months if not longer. However, once you notice that the roots are started, the wait is forgotten and the excitement of a new plant takes over.

You can plant the cutting in a prepared garden bed or a plant pot. Think of growing hardy kiwis as you would a grape vine, but a grape vine on steriods. 

You will need -

•  a spot with full sun (8+ hours a day)
•  soil with good organic matter and freely draining
•  a strong six-eight foot trellis that will hold the vines off the ground.

If you are interested in starting your own cuttings and don't have a local source, you can check out my Etsy page here: Kiwi Berry Cuttings

References:

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1039.2464&rep=rep1&type=pdf,

https://ssl.acesag.auburn.edu/department/peaches/kiwiprop.html

Planting Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)

I had my first taste of sunchokes as a child living in California - a long time ago, Since then, I didn't see sunchokes or Jerusalem artichokes as I knew them, until a couple of years ago when we were shopping in a large Korean grocery market. I looked at my husband, Eric and excitedly showed him the package of three or four tubers on a Styrofoam tray wrapped in cellophane, fully expecting him to reciprocate my enthusiasm but instantly seeing his doubt. After I briefly explained my experience, he agreed that we should at least try them, so we brought them home. 

That was the beginning of the explosion of sunchokes all over our property! I planted the three or four tubers along our driveway envisioning three or four flower plants gracing our yard with tubers for harvesting in the fall. Instead what happened was that I almost forgot about them as our yard became a massive construction site as we lifted our home 8 feet higher for flood protection.

The following spring, I noticed new little plants springing up where I planted them but also several on the other side of the driveway. I let them grow and enjoyed the tall plants and bright yellow flowers after the fall equinox. When the frost killed them back to the ground, I pulled up some of the dried stems and found several tubers under each plant, which I was thrilled to try my hand at cooking. We tried roasting them simply in the oven, boiling them with mashed potatoes, adding them to soups, and really enjoyed our new crop - although they never seemed as good as when I was a child eating them for the first time.

A year later, our yard exploded with sunchokes popping up everywhere. I will mention that we love growing all sorts of plants and are in the process of turning our lawns into food forests so we were not concerned about the invasiveness of this plant since it was not just a food source but also a beautiful flower. However, you can keep them under control by simply mowing the young plant, or planting the tubers in large planters and cutting the blooms before they go to seed.

So just how do you plant sunchokes?

Since sunchokes are often harvested in the late fall, you can plant right away, or store them as you do other flower bulbs, in a slightly damp material like sawdust or sand in an unheated garage in the dark. Either way, you want them to stay dormant until spring.

1. Prepare a hole about 6 inches deep in rich soil with plenty of organic matter and in full sun
2. Set the tuber in the hole and cover with soil, firming the soil until the hole is filled.
3. Water the area lightly if the soil is not damp.
4. Wait for the tuber to grow!

That is really how easy they are. You can plant them in the late fall, or the  middle of winter if you can get a fork in the ground or early in the spring. They are very hardy and don't seem to have many pests, besides maybe some aphids in the early summer.

More info:

According to Wikipedia... "The Jerusalem artichoke, also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, topinambur, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable."

Growing zones 3-8

Source for buying sunchokes, (from my own plants): Etsy, Wildflower Run