A gardening expert and best-selling author has shared a comprehensive guide to growing kiwis in your own back garden, all you’ll need is a store-bought kiwi to start
A gardening expert has shared a guide on how to grow kiwis in your own yard with a single store-bought kiwi. In a TikTok video, the expert shares step-by-step instructions on how to plant and grow your new fruit-bearing plant.
The TikTok video comes from the account, simonakeroydgardener, which has over 800,000 followers and regularly shares gardening tips and tricks. The account is run by the gardening expert and author, Simon Akeroyd, whose latest book ‘Grow Your Groceries: 40 Hacks for Growing Plants from Your Weekly Shop’ is a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller.
In the caption for the TikTok video, Akeroyd advises: “Kiwis (in some countries they are called kiwi fruit) are climbing plants, so you will need a structure for them to grow up.”
He also says there’s another key component that is necessary for your kiwis to throve and that is a pollinator. Akeroyd writes that “both male and female plants need to be grown if you want to produce fruit”. Thus, he advises that you trying growing a few seedlings to increase your chances of a successful crop.
But Akeroyd confirms that kiwis are “easy to grow” and you can do so by starting with a few kiwis purchases from the supermarket. But, anyone hoping to see fruit crops this summer may be disappointed – as the flowers can take years to produce fruit.
Step 1: “Cut a kiwi in half to reveal their seeds”
Kiwi seeds are black in colour, rounded and edible.
Step 2: “Remove some of the seeds”
As shown in the video, this can be done using the tip of a knife. Simply dig out a few of the seeds and place them on a dry paper towel.
Step 3: “Leave to dry for a few days”
Drying seeds before planting them can increase the rate of germination.
Step 4: “Sprinkle the seeds over compost”
As shown in the video, you can start off with a small pot for the initial stages.
Step 5: “Take a freezer bag and place it over the [planted] seeds”
This acts as a mini-greenhouse, trapping humidity and speeding up the germination process.
Step 6: “Leave on a windowsill”
Make sure your seeds get plenty of sunlight. According to Akeroyd, you should be able to see baby kiwi plants grow in a matter of a few weeks.
Step 7: “Prick out when they produce true leaves and [re-pot] to increase their size”
Carefully, remove the full leaves – including stem – from your plant and put them in a larger pot. According to Akeroyd, you do need to wait a while before they produce fruit. He warned: “It can take a few years for [the planted leaves] to produce fruit, but in the meantime they make beautiful ornamental climbing plants with large, attractive foliage.”