I suspect they have chilling requirements that cannot be met where most people live there.

Clicking on Fruits link at page below brings up a page with this list of links, giving me the impression quite a range have been checked out without kiwi being identified as suitable.

Other Fruits
Acerola, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Carambola, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Starfruit, Malaysia Ministry of Agriculture
Cherimoya, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Durian, Malaysia Ministry of Agriculture
Guava, Malaysia Ministry of Agriculture
Guava fruit technology, Dept. of Agriculture Malaysia
Tropical guava, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Jackfruit, Malaysia Ministry of Agriculture
Jackfruit, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Loquat, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Mangosteen, Malaysia Ministry of Agriculture
Edible Hardy Palm Fruits, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Passion Fruit, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Pomegranate, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Rambutan, Malaysia Ministry of Agriculture
White Sapote, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.

Maybe just call or e-mail the UH people and ask about it. Surely there has been other interest, it is a commercially important crop.

Here is a link that might be useful: Farmers Bookshelf - Information on Tropical Crop Production in Hawaii

I just acquired a book called Growing Fruits in Hawai'i also Herbs, Nuts, and Seeds by Kathy Oshiro. In that book, the Kiwi fruit is one of the fruits that is featured that can be grown in Hawaii. Here is what it said about the requirement, verbatim:

"REQUIREMENTS: Kiwifruit grows well in almost all areas of Hawai'i, but does best at the higher elevation, over 2,000 feet. A hardy vine, kiwi prefers a rich, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5 and full sun, but can tolerate partial shade in the hotter areas of our state.
Plant your kiwi vines in an area where they can be supported by a sturdy fence or trellis. The kiwifruit is susceptible to wind damage, so try to locate your vine in an area protected from harsh winds."

It also talks about the selection, preparation, planting, pruning, watering and weeding, harvesting, and finally eating of the kiwi fruit. It also includes a couple of recipes, too. Hope you enjoy this tidbit of information as I did, David.

Kula Ace sometimes offers Kiwi for sale on Maui. You need male and female plants for fruit production. I think they suggest a 5 or 6 to one ratio.

Which Actinidia is being discussed would probably matter quite a bit. Presumably Oshiro is talking about A. deliciosa, the one most people in the US would know as kiwi. This is not super-hardy, so it's not a complete surprise that is would have some ability to grow in non-frosty areas. If it can live below 2000' apparently it has no chilling requirement.

Hmmm....5 to 6...glad I have a couple hundred seeds...bound to get a few of each with those numbers. Lol.

The seeds I have are from the common store-bought species, so I would have to assume it is A. deliciosa. At $1.28 PER KIWI average here on Kauai, it would be nice to get a vine going and producing even a small crop!

Mahalo for the info guys!

bboy-Kula is around 2-4000' feet! Lots of plants that require chill hours will grow there, things like protea and even apples, so probably you are right that kiwi needs chill hours to grow. Not sure where dave lives on Kauai but he sounds optimistic. Good Luck dave and post back with your results!

I was responding to

>Kiwifruit grows well in almost all areas of Hawai'i

kiwi definitely has a chilling requirement....ranging from 100 in varieties like "vincent" to 800+ in the commercial variety "hayward"...... Although it may bloom and flower if all the leaves are torn off, the bloom time would be staggered and it would be very difficult to get both the male and female plants to bloom at the same time.

I've tried the self-fertile hardy kiwi variety "issai" and it languished here in Kailua along with several kiwi seedlings that died from the heat. I wish you the best of luck in getting this plant to grow, hopefully you will have better luck than I did!

That report sounds a lot more like the results I would expect there.

'Issai' is an Actinidia arguta cultivar. A. arguta is native to Japan, Korea and NE China and is called hardy kiwi because it takes subzero temperatures - hardly a subtropical plant.

There is a link about KIWI, but you have to sorta dig for it at
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/fb/
or
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/frtfacts.html

The informationlooks good enough to try growing on Kauai, it looks like cold is more of a problem than heat. I'm ordering some seeds and will post if successful or not

Richard 2/24/13