Kiwi (Actinidia arguta) HOKEY POKEY®

Actinidia arguta HOKEY POKEY® will be one of the most beautiful kiwi varieties in your garden. Its characteristic two-coloured leaves cannot be mistaken. The leaves of this climbing variety are green with an irregular light edge. However, this is a different colour, yellow with a hint of light green. The leaves are 5-10 cm long and 3-4 cm wide. In autumn, the central green part of the leaf also turns green. It is thus also a unique ornamental (combination of ornamental and utility plant) self-pollinating kiwifruit variety, which already impresses during flowering, not to mention at the time of ripening of the crop. Although it is considered to be self-pollinating, it is nevertheless advisable to have an additional plant to boost the crop, even if it is a different variety of Actinidia arguta with the same flowering time. It flowers during June with small white flowers. The variety grows to a height of 4 metres and does not start fruiting until about the 2nd or 3rd year after planting. It requires a sunny position - full sun, ideally slightly acidic, humic soil with plenty of irrigation. HOKEY POKEY® is often quoted as having a frost resistance of -20°C to -29°C. However, spring bloom may not be sufficiently resistant to ground frost in spring. The young plant is left untouched, removing those branches that are older if there are enough annuals and biennials.

The small, smooth green fruits offer tasty, lemon-flavoured fruit, ripening mainly in late September/early October. The skin is easy to eat and digest, so there is no need to clean the fruit. The fruit remains on the plant even after ripening. This is a plant that will act as both an ornamental green and a utility plant, so it is suitable for example in the neighbourhood of a pergola, a gazebo, a sunny spot near the house. So that it can provide moisture, nutrients and thus give pleasure to the eyes as well.  This is a cultivar bred in the Polish Clematis Źródło Dobrych Pnączy Sp. z o. and this species has only come on the market in 2020.