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Actinidia arguta
Also called Hardy Kiwi, Baby Kiwi, Bower Actinidia, Vine Pear, Baby Kiwifruit, Hardy Kiwifruit, Taravine
Tara vine (Actinidia arguta), also called hardy kiwi or kiwiberry, is a fast-growing, very hardy twining vine grown mainly for its smooth-skinned, grape-sized fruit. It thrives in cold climates and needs a period of winter chill to fruit well.
Actinidia arguta is a perennial vine native to Japan, Korea, Northern China, and the Russian Far East. The fruit is known as kiwiberry or hardy kiwi, which are small kiwifruits without the hair-like fiber covering the outside, unlike most other species of the genus.
The fast-growing, climbing, twining vine (bine) is very hardy (hence the name hardy kiwi), and is capable of surviving slow temperature drops to −45 °C (−49 °F), and summer temperatures exceeding 37 °C (99 °F), although young shoots can be vulnerable to frost in the spring. The vines need a frost-free growing season of about 150 days, but are not damaged by late freezes, provided that temperature changes are sufficiently gradual to allow plants to acclimate. Indeed, a period of winter chill is necessary for successful cultivation. However, rapid freezes kill off buds and split vines. The vines can also be grown in low-chill areas.
While hardy kiwi may be grown directly from seeds (germination time is about one month), propagating from cuttings is also possible. Growing from seeds needs a period of cold stratification of one to two months to germinate. Hardy kiwi cuttings may be grafted directly onto established kiwifruit rootstock, or rooted themselves.
Actinidia arguta has one of the widest ranges of species within Actinidia, found across China, eastern Russia, Korea, Taiwan and Japan. The plant is found in significantly colder areas compared to most other Actinidia, typically between 150–1,500 m (490–4,920 ft) above sea level, including areas such as the Yan Mountains and northeastern Chinese provinces incluving Jilin and Liaoning. In southern Japan, the plant can grow at altitudes up to 1,900 m (6,200 ft) above sea level, and the plant has been recorded growing up to heights of 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The greatest number of wild records of Actinidia arguta come from central China, northeastern China, the Korean peninsula and Japan.
Kiwiberries are primarily produced for the fresh fruit market, sold in small punnets as a ready-to-eat fruit. Kiwiberries are also processed into jams, preserved fruit and juices. In China, kiwiberry food additives such as nutritional powders and fruit vinegars are commercially available, and kiwiberry wines are produced in the United States.
Actinidia callosa · Gooseberry Chinese · Actinidia chinensis var. setosa · Kiwi · Actinidia chrysantha · Velvetvine · Actinidia henryi · Arctic Beauty · Actinidia laevissima · Actinidia latifolia · Actinidia macrosperma · Red Kiwi
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Actinidia arguta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
