Actinidia arguta ‘Issai’ – Hardy Kiwi – 3-Gallon

This variety from Japan is a bit of an odd duck – it’s a compact grower and self-fertile, while other varieties  are rampant growers and require a male for fruit set. Most species of kiwifruit are diploid (have two sets of chromosomes), while cultivars are tetraploid (have 4 sets of chromosomes). Tetraploid plants in general are usually larger and more vigorous. ’Issai’ is heptaploid – it has 7 sets of chromosomes! You’d think it might be super-vigorous! Well, it’s not – in fact it’s much less vigorous than other varieties – that can be a good thing though because kiwifruit vines normally require lots of space to grow and a strong trellis for support. Moreover, fruit set of ‘Issai’ is about 30% grown by itself – you’ll get more fruit if you grow a male nearby (about 60% fruit set). However, if you have limited growing space and can only grow one vine, ‘Issai’ is the variety to choose.