If you are a novice person who wants to start the gardening world, one of the most recommended plants is kiwi. Its cultivation is quite simple and has a good reward, since almost everyone likes kiwi. It does not have too much care or requirements for its maintenance. For this reason, it is a very interesting plant to have. Here we are going to teach you how to care for a kiwi plant , in addition to all its main characteristics and beneficial properties for health.
If you want to know how to care for a kiwi plant, this is your post.
Main features
Kiwi is a plant whose cultivation is suitable for beginners, since it grows quickly and is very resistant. In addition, it supports frosts of up to -7ºC, so it can be outdoors in many parts of the world, and in the event that it gets colder in our area, it will be enough that we protect it in a greenhouse. It is a climbing plant native to China and was introduced to New Zealand in 1906. It is a tree that belongs to the Actinidiaceae family .
Currently the countries that cultivate this tree the most are New Zealand, Italy, Chile, Greece and France. One of the main characteristics of this plant is that it does not tolerate waterlogging. That is, it will need to be planted in well drained soil . We will see this later when we talk about the needs of its cultivation.
It is a woody climbing plant whose leaves are deciduous. They are elongated and rounded. We can also highlight the presence of small villi on the leaves. Its leaves can reach a size of up to 30 centimeters long. They are hermaphrodite-like leaves with a creamy white color and 5 well-defined petals. Each flower has a feminine and a masculine sexual apparatus.
The most normal thing to do to grow kiwis is oval. The kiwi fruit has the same name as the tree and is a type of berry of a large size. It usually acquires a way of living series and with an external color of a dark brown hue with fibrous skin and covered in hairs. The pulp inside is green and they have a large amount of black seeds that are edible. These seeds are what make the kiwi fruit had a lot of fiber. The ripening of the fruit usually lasts about a month and takes place in April. Its texture is quite soft and has a characteristic flavor.
We can say that the kiwi plant is not a tree in itself or a plant that can survive any terrain. Although it is a simple plant to be able to start in this world, it makes the terrain and the climate where they can develop have to be very specific. This makes the countries that host this crop have great wealth since it represents a large amount of income from the export of this fruit considered as exotic.
How to care for a kiwi plant
The kiwi plant grows very quickly, but for this it needs firm supports (wooden stakes, for example) that are attached with wires . It is through these wires that the plant will spread its branches. But in addition to the support, it will also be necessary to prepare the ground. How to do it? So:
- The first thing to do is remove the wild herbs. If the terrain is wide you can use a walking tractor; otherwise with a hoe will suffice.
- It is then raked to make it as level as possible.
- Then a thick layer, about 5-8cm, of fermented cow dung is added.
- The supports are placed leaving a distance of 4m between them.
- And finally the kiwi is planted.
From now on, it will have to be watered regularly , especially during the hot months, preventing the soil from drying out. In this way, the plant will grow without problems.
Although if you want to get an excellent harvest you have to make sure that you have a male and a female specimen, or a grafted one . Unfortunately, the kiwi plant is a dioecious plant, so if we do not have a large garden we may be more interested in buying one grafted specimen than two without grafting.
Nor can we forget the subscriber. It needs many nutrients to be able to fructify properly, especially nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Thus, during the growing season it will be fertilized with nitrogen , which is the fundamental element for good vegetative development, but when it blooms and fructifies it must be fertilized with NPK .
Following these tips, the kiwis will be ready to harvest in the fall, towards October-November in Spain.
Properties of the kiwi plant
Once we learn how to care for a kiwi plant, we must know that we are going to gain numerous health benefits. And it is that the kiwi has very good characteristics that are beneficial for health. Among them we see the following:
- It is rich in vitamin C and antioxidants: Although the reputation of vitamin C is earned by the orange, the kiwi is richer in it. This vitamin helps the proper functioning of the immune system and protects us from oxidation and delay aging. Only by consuming two kiwis a day can we meet the daily needs of vitamin C in an adult.
- Facilitate digestion: having a large amount of fiber will help facilitate digestion. Also, it is the only fruit that contains actinidin. It is an enzyme that helps us digest the proteins in meat, dairy, leaves and stimulate the digestive process.
- It has few calories: it only has 57 calories for each gram of product. Avoid recommended for any type of diet since it has a large amount of water and is low in fat.
- It is a good natural source of folic acid : for all those women who are pregnant, the consumption of kiwi is highly recommended since it has folic acid.
- Low glycemic index: the carbohydrates of this fruit are not assimilated too quickly and the glucose gradually releases the blood flow. It helps reduce the risk of diabetes and heart conditions.
I hope that with this information you know how to care for a kiwi plant.
