Me and my spelling, forgot the t in kolomikta, the A.k. has suckered from the ground a couple of times before so if I cut it right down maybe it will force new growth from below. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I know a little bit about a lot of things but........, still learning.

A......

I'm hoping someone with hands-on experience with this type of pruning of ornamental kiwis will respond.

I can say that I've seen them severely pruned back and they've rebounded with lusty lush growth. However, they were cut back to the main stems (just a couple of feet long) but not all the way to the soil line. They definitely can take a nice hard pruning though.

Let us know what you do, and how it works out. They really are lovely plants. I've never felt I've had the right space/support for them so I've not grown them.

Take care,
Grant

Hi Grant,

This one you can grow on a trellis, it's not a rampant grower like it's cousin. I just bought the female to this guy, no variegation on this one and it seems to be a slow grower. I hope to sample the fruit before long, so far it has only produced one fruit the size of a large grape, unfortunately the wood bugs got to it before I did.

Spring is just around the corner!.... I hope :-)

A......

Am....if you are looking for much growth or foliar coverage around the base, that's probably not going to happen. As is the way with most vines, they want to grow up/out and that push to verticality pretty typically leaves most vines with "bare bottoms". Before I lost the fence that was supporting it, I had an Arctic Beauty that I cut back pretty hard several times. The best I could manage was a few laterals lower down on the main trunk that provided some lower foliage until they, too, began a more upward climb. Still, even with the foliage centered on the upper half of the vine, it was a stunning plant and very worth growing - every leaf looked like it had been dipped into pink and white paint. Maybe plant something else at its base to disguise the bareness?

gardengal, thanks for the input, every bit helps. My A.k. is pretty old, I think I'll start a new one to replace it, until it takes off I'll persevere with the old guy, bend some of the vine that is fliping around down and pin it in. I just love to watch it turn color, as you say it first looks like all the leaves have been dipped in white paint and then into creamy pink. No room to plant anything in front, too bad, that might have worked.

A......