Grafting is like being a plant scientist in your own backyard! By joining two different plants together, you can “create” a custom shrub that has all the specific traits you’re looking for. When it comes to kiwi plants, there are three main ways to get the job done:
- Method 1: Budding (Okulieren)
- Method 2: Whip Grafting (Kopulieren)
- Method 3: Bark Grafting (Pfropfen)
Late Summer Budding
If you notice the bark on your kiwi vine peels away easily during the second half of August, it’s the perfect time for budding. For this technique, you’ll use a sharp budding knife to carefully cut a single bud (often called the “scion eye”) from your desired variety.
You’ll want to slice the bud off along with a small sliver of the bark. Then, you tuck this bud into your host plant (usually the rootstock or mother plant). If all goes well, it should fuse and start growing within just a week or two!
Late Winter Whip Grafting
Whip grafting (or copulation) uses a “scion”—a small cutting from a branch a few inches long. The trick here is to make sure the scion is about the same thickness as the kiwi branch you’re attaching it to. You’ll want to take these cuttings from your favorite kiwi variety between late December and January, then keep them somewhere dark, cool, and moist until you’re ready.
Fast forward to late February: it’s time to join them! Cut both the scion and the branch of the mother plant at matching angles. Press the two flat surfaces firmly together and wrap the joint tightly with raffia or grafting tape. To keep everything airtight, seal the connection with some grafting wax, which you can find at any garden center or online.
Spring Bark Grafting
Bark grafting is another fantastic way to upgrade your kiwi game. This method involves “hitching” a scion from your favorite kiwi onto a prepared base (the main trunk or “rootstock” of your plant). The best window for this is during April or May.
To do this, make a small slit in the bark of your rootstock and tuck the scion right behind it. Just like with whip grafting, you’ll want to seal the deal with some grafting wax. This is a brilliant hack if you’ve grown a kiwi from seed and aren’t sure of its gender—or if it turned out to be male. You can simply graft a female scion onto it and start dreaming of your future harvest!
