How to Grow Kiwi Fruits UK
On this page
In the UK, kiwi fruits go in the ground early March to mid April.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: planting early March, and that same window applies across all 4 regions covered here.
The short answer
- Plant
- Early March to mid April
- Biggest risk
- Grey mould
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Kiwi Fruit (Actinidia deliciosa)
2 sources cited · Verified
When to Plant Kiwi Fruits in the UK
When to plant kiwi fruits in the UK: in Southern England, plant early March to mid April. Find your area in the table below.
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
Harvest & Storage
Diseases
Pests
Kiwi Fruit Photo Gallery
Plan your Kiwi Fruits planting
When to sow and plant Kiwi Fruits depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Kiwi Fruit in another region
Planting dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
References
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Roots burn easily -- apply fertilizer cautiously. Plants usually purchased as rooted cuttings or potted plants, spaced 10ft apart; a pergola system suits the vine's high vigour. Dioecious: male and female flowers on separate plants, roughly a 1:6 male-to-female ratio needed; Issai is the only self-fertile variety noted. Growth: can gain 20ft of growth in a single season. Yield: doesn't bear fruit until 5-9 years old; a mature plant yields 50-100lb of fruit, 50lb closer to the average. Pruning: as much as 70% of wood removed during dormant pruning (December-March in Pennsylvania); summer pruning cuts terminal growth back to 4-6 leaves beyond the last flower. Harvest/storage: fruit harvested early will "after-ripen" and keeps in a cooler for up to 2 months; vine-ripened fruit runs about 18-25% sugar. Pests/diseases: Phytophthora crown and root rot, botrytis rot, sclerotinia blight; two-spotted spider mites, leaf rollers, thrips, Japanese beetles.
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Site: warm, sunny, sheltered, ideally against a south- or west-facing wall; fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic soil enriched with organic matter -- roots rot in waterlogged conditions. Planting: spring once soil/weather warm; space 3-4.5m (10-15ft) apart; needs large sturdy support (pergola, archway, strong wires); prune immediately after planting. Varieties: self-fertile (no pollinator needed) -- Issai (A. arguta), Jenny (A. deliciosa); female (need a male or self-fertile nearby) -- Hayward, SOLISSIMO (A. deliciosa), Ken's Red (A. arguta); male plants flower but bear no fruit. A. arguta fruit ~2.5cm/1in, smooth-skinned; A. deliciosa fruit 3-5cm/1.25-2in, furry-skinned. Pruning: initial framework -- cut strongest shoot to 30cm/1ft, remove weaker shoots, train horizontal tiered espalier on wires 40-50cm/16-20in apart; summer (June on) -- pinch fruiting shoots to 4-5 leaves beyond the fruit, non-fruiting laterals to 5 leaves; winter -- shorten horizontal arms by a third, existing laterals to 3-4 buds, on mature plants renew a quarter to a third of oldest laterals to about 5cm/2in from the base. Harvest: fruiting begins 3-4 years after planting; rarely ripens fully outdoors except in long hot summers; pick unripe before first hard frost, ripen near a fruit bowl at room temperature (can take several weeks) -- ripe fruit yields slightly when squeezed; refrigerate ripe fruit for up to about 2 weeks. Pests/diseases: young spring shoots very vulnerable to frost; drought/drying wind causes drooping leaves, brown leaf edges, leaf loss; honey fungus and Phytophthora root rot; nutrient deficiencies especially on chalky soil. Propagation: softwood cuttings, or rooting low-growing shoots, in spring; 3-4 years to first fruiting.
2 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I plant kiwi fruits in the UK?
In Southern England, from early March. In Scotland, wait until early March. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the rule for woody fruit is to plant while the plants are dormant, not into frozen or waterlogged ground.
What problems affect kiwi fruits?
Our data links 4 diseases and 4 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — planting at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.
Get the UK Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for UK growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — planting windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against RHS and Met Office guidance. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Last verified 2026-09-04
Plan Kiwi Fruits by month
The months this guide gives for sowing or planting, each with the full list of jobs for that month in the UK:
More from the same group (fruit & berries):
Growing advice for your part of the UK
Timing and conditions change a lot inside one country. These guides cover frost dates and growing seasons region by region.
Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.