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cocktail kiwi (Issai) leaf curl and brown spots

REMF33REMF33 Posts: 39
in Fruit & veg
Hello

I fairly recently bought a cocktail kiwi plant and it went in the ground about two weeks ago. I just noticed that its upper leaves are curling and there are some little holes and brown pigmentation on other leaves. Any suggestions? I didn't plant it out as quickly as would have been ideal. It was planted with a few handfuls of fresh potting compost. 



Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Leicestershire, UKPosts: 8,038
    Hail damage?
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • REMF33REMF33 Posts: 39
    I don't think so. But lots or rain and wind in south London this week.
  • REMF33REMF33 Posts: 39
    It looks even worse a couple of months on :( I fear it's dying.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Leicestershire, UKPosts: 8,038
    edited 13 August
    Any chance of a photo as it is now?  If more damage, it may now be more evident as to the cause.  Looking back at the originals, there may be leaf miners or other small pests.  I also recently discovered that some Actinidia species are attractive to cats (in the same way catnip is) so if the damage looks physical (like leaves being bitten or clawed), that is another possibility:https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/cat-tastic-kiwi/

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • neilbradburnneilbradburn Posts: 104
    Hi REMF33,
    I too am trying to get this vine established. I have 2 - 1 in my allotment and 1 in my front garden. Both of them are looking quite ragged, with the one in my front garden having brown-edged leaves. I'm thinking this is likely due to me not watering enough as the plant is establishing and that it will eventually find its feet as we go into Autumn. It's been very hot, dry and windy here of late so I think it's had its work cut out :-) I gather other vines - eg. passiflora - can look a bit ragged until they get going.  Please keep us updated and I will do the same.
  • REMF33REMF33 Posts: 39
    Sorry I did not check this thread earlier. I have given up on it rather. It's nto really done much since August other than lose some more leaves and the fruit, which didn't really ripen. It's not dead though. I guess just wait and see what happens next year. It's not in the sunniest spot. It's next to red and blackcurrant bushes that do ok (ish).
    The leaf lower down may even be realtively new growth?
    I have no unshacked it from its plastic tags.


  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 26,978
    I don't know anything about them, but I don't think being trussed up tightly to a cane will be doing it any good. All those little bits of plastic should have been removed on planting. If they need support, you need several canes, or a proper support, and then tie each stem in as they grow - just like peas or similar.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • philippa smith2philippa smith2 Posts: 7,612
    Not sure about Cocktail Kiwis but the basic Kiwi is a large fast growing vine in warm sunny climes - best trained on a wire system to allow it to spread.  Can be done in the warmer parts of the UK but more often than not in a GH or Poly tunnel. I've only grown them in SW France so no expert.  Need a lot of space to ensure a decent harvest.
  • REMF33REMF33 Posts: 39
    It wasn't tight, Fairygirl. One could get a couple of fingers in the space between the tape and the stems. Besides, it started wilting as soon as I put it in. I don't think the tape is the issue, but in case it is, as I said (or would have, were it not for the typo and the missing 'w' :o ), it's been removed now ;)
    If it survives, it can have the run of a 30ft long fence with trellising.
    It could just be yet another Suttons exotic that just doesn't really work in the UK outdoors. Still waiting for fruit (that ripens before dropping off) on my Chillean Guava plants some years on...
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