The yellowish white kiwi flowers open at the end of May. They are about 5 cm tall and fragrant. The flowers of male and female plants look different. Fruit can only develop from female flowers.
When do kiwi flowers appear and how do they differ?
The kiwi blossom appears at the end of May, with male and female flowers looking different. Female flowers have a white style and yellow stamens, while male flowers have only yellow stamens. A male plant close to the female plant is required for successful pollination.
Pollination
The numerous flowers only promise good yields if a male plant also grows near the female plant. This is needed for fertilization because kiwis are dioecious plants. One male plant can fertilize multiple female plants. Breeds with hermaphrodite flowers, in which male and female organs unite in one flower, do not need a pollinator.
How do you recognize male and female flowers?
If you are not sure whether you have planted a male or a female plant, you can tell by the flower. The female flowers have a white style in the middle, around which yellow stamens are arranged. In the middle of the male flower, however, there are only yellow stamens.
Flowering and fruiting
With home-grown kiwi plants, it often takes ten years or more until the first flowering occurs. The refined kiwi bushes from specialist retailers are already blooming in their third year. At the beginning of June the kiwi bush is in full bloom. Fruit formation is influenced by various factors:
- Nutrient and water supply,
- Site and soil conditions,
- Cutting measures,
- Weather conditions.
Depending on the variety, the fruits are about 5-10 cm large, elongated and initially have a smooth and later hairy skin. They ripen in late autumn, are harvested unripe in October/November and ripen during storage.
Tips & Tricks
With favorable climatic conditions, you can harvest around 1 kg of fruit per vine from kiwis.
