This evening I went to the basement to check on the cuttings and seedlings I have under lights. I noticed several of the kiwi cuttings had lost a leaf or two and others were trying to grow some blossoms. I decided to pull one out to see if there were any roots or if the cutting itself was rotting. I was amazed to see roots! I started checking other kiwi cuttings and 6 of the 12 females I had taken 30 days ago had roots! Since I had three to a pot I decided to go ahead and separate them while they are still small. One problem… the bench had one or two free spots and I had 6 cuttings that needed a home.
I though ok, why not check the figs too while I am at it. 7 of the 8 figs had roots! This one had the most but there was another that had longer but fewer roots that wrapped around the bottom of the cup. I tossed one a couple of weeks ago when it rotted. I tossed another tonight then took it back out of the trash and decided to give it a chance. These cuttings were taken 45-50 days ago! The figs are now in large soda cups in a protected spot outside. They will be brought in if the temps get below 40 for a while. Moving these out freed up the bench spots I needed for the kiwi.
I only have 3 male kiwi cuttings and they were just taken about a week ago. There are two reasons for this. The main being that I had run out of room on the bench before I got to them. Also, since a single male plant can pollinate up to 5 or 6 females I decided to focus on the females even though the males have much prettier variegated foliage. The goal for me is fruit production whereas someone else might have favored the male as an ornamental. I will take some more cuttings from the male plant later in the season.