Actinidia arguta 'Issai' - Cocktail Kiwi - Self Fertile Mini Kiwi (young plant)

Actinidia arguta 'Issai' is a deciduous climbing shrub, native to China. It produces fruit the size of a gooseberry, completely hairless so can be consumed without peeling. The green fleshed, very aromatic fruit is greatly underrated. They have the most pleasant, sweet taste when ripe and are rich in vitamin C. By having sweetly fragranced, yellow-green flowers and a good autumn coloration (yellow) it adds an ornamental value to the plant. This variety is completely self fertile; you only need 1 plant to fruit. The Cocktail Kiwi takes 2-3 years to mature but from then on you can harvest your own kiwi. It is winter hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -20 C. The plant develops shoots early in the spring that are sensitive to frost. However, they grow back once the frosts are gone. This species of kiwi is also an extremely vigorously growing vine, requiring a substantial supporting trellis. Despite the challenges, once one has sampled the fruit, kiwi growing seems well worth the trouble.