What do kiwis gro on?

Answer 1

Kiwi's grow on a trellis system. A trellis can be built any number of ways, there is not a one right way to build it. However, one must keep in mind that a kiwi vine is VERY vigorous. It has been known to pull a roof right off of a house before. So, I built mine like this. I used 4 - 4x4x10 (four inch by four inch by ten feet long), and I designed a walk-way. (4 corners, with a 2x6x8 (two inch by six inch by 8 feet long) board on the end (short ends) and bolted the two 4x4's on the ends together. with 2 - 1/2" through bolts and nuts/washers for each post. I did the same on the other side. I put the posts 2 and a half feet into the ground, and set them in concrete, so that the height of the ceiling would be 7 and a half feet tall. (Makes it easy for me to prune and to walk through being I am 6 feet tall.) I spaced the width of the walkway to be 7 feet wide. I then ran some heavy duty steel cable from end to end long ways (approximately 20 feet long), and drilled holes through the 2x6's to run the cable through every 12 inches across. You can secure the end multiple ways. I bought threaded cable so the ends would received nuts and washers.

That's one way to do it. Again, you can build a trellis system in a number of ways, it doesn't HAVE to be like I built mine. Just make sure that the vines stay on TOP of the trellis, instead of wrapping around it, and if you are in doubt of how strong your trellis will be, over-build it a little bit. Don't under-estimate the strength of the kiwi!