I've not come across a kiwifruit vine here although I am not well travelled in gardens.
Have you seen any? Are they worth the effort here? If in Basel could I get a cutting as the cost of the few plants I saw last year were... Swiss in every way.
I've never seen a kiwi vine in a garden here I have to admit. I know you can propagate them by cuttings but be careful to make sure you take a cutting from a self fertile variety. I once grew some kiwi seedlings from seeds I scooped out of a fruit. I planted one of them on and it grew fine but it never fruited - I guess because it wasn't a self fertile variety.
I have! I've seen a few around Meilen, and with lots of fruit. Although the fruit has always been very hard, so I don't know if it ever got to the edible stage.
Kiwifruit are like the Amazon.. there there are big woman and only a few little men are required. So a few female kiwifruit plants require a male nearby to fruit.
I have a few kiwi, the self-fertilizing variety, that are breaking my heart...
The vines and leaves look very healthy - but in three years the only fruit produced were two tiny marble sized kiwi. I suspect that we don't get enough sun here on the Dark Side.
If no fruit is forthcoming this year, into the compost they go. My garden is too small to coddle malingerers.
You can buy kiwi vines of several varieties from Haeberli, either at their nursury or through one of their retailers, or at the Coop B/H and Hornbach garden centers in the late spring.
I have both Issai (Actinidia arguta) and Jenny (Actinidia deliciosa).
Of course, it may well be that neither the plant nor the climate are to blame - could well be my lack of green thumb.
Indeed, very likely so.
ETA: Have a look around the Coop and Hornbach come spring - I seem to remember prices there were far more reasonable. Around CHF 20-ish, not the CHF 40-ish you see in garden centers, IIRC.
Slightly off topic here BUT it is interesting to see how us Kiwis (New Zealanders) call it kiwifruit and everyone else (yes gross generalisation) call it kiwi.
The first time I heard someone say they eat 2 kiwis every morning I was extremely puzzled and rather concerned as the only kiwis I know of are the people and the bird! It took me a week to click on to the fact they were talking about the fruit! Never before had I heard the fruit referred to as kiwis. I guess there is a first time for everything.
I apologise to any New Zealanders who may have overheard me talking about my weekends in my wild garden "...I spent Saturday wrestling with the kiwi" / "...that bruise was caused by the kiwi hitting me in the face", "..that kiwi was strangling the pear tree..").
Reminds me of my first job as a girl in London when I had the durex/sticky-tape misunderstanding with a bloke from Oz.
What about 'If no fruit is forthcoming this year, off to Glendyn they go?' (I'd collect). I have a kiwi(fruit) that is growing magnificently but needs a partner or two..
But how do you know in the garden centre if you buy a male or female? Or identify which is which.
I saw many in Landi in Waedenswil taht had lots of lovely fruit. But I resoned that as soon as they were bought and transported away from all their 'partners' in the shop they would be as barren as mine.
Glendyn, if the kiwi(fruit ) remains fruitless, and if I can de-tangle and uproot the plant without killing it, I'll happily send it to you. Let's see what happens come spring or summer-ish.
My kiwi were labeled as self-fertilizing; I'd assume the other varieties would be labeled as male or female...
Our neighbours have a HUGE kiwi vine, that was covered in fruit at the end of summer. She gave me a crate (yes.....she had so many of them she was able to give so many away!) of them in september that were brickhard.
I must admit I was a bit dubious that they would ever ripen, but ripen they have, and we now have a handy kiwi supply down in the cellar. Yumm!
I saw a great one on a house in Herriberg ZH, it was on a white western wall, full of fruit. My neighbour over the road had an apricot tree espaliered in a similar location, it was been there for 30 years (died last year but 30yrs from an apricot tree is pretty good) and always full of fruit. He said the wall retains the heat and reflects the light to help ripening.
They are definitely growable in Basel. A house on Gottardstr. has a small vine which produces edible (so I'm told) fruit every year. It's positioned in front of a white wall and the aspect is probably key in getting a successful harvest.