How to /should i hand-pollinate kiwi flowers?

hallo,
i love kiwi fruit: this is Arguta issai variety: up till now it produced no flowers, i cut it back last year and here we are with a many flowers this year.
QUESTION
--- scared chaffinches or others birds will eat them so i thought i'd cover them up but then bees cant get to them so i would have to pollinate them by hand --- piccie of flower attached --- how do i pollinate by hand? do i use a soft brush to stroke the innards of one flower and by doing the same to the next one, does it then pollinate it?
cheers, karaman

 

Looking it up, it appears to be a self fertile variety, so basically you just leave well alone.
Actinidia arguta 'Issai' (s-p/F) | hardy kiwi 'Issai'/RHS Gardening

 

Hi,

@pete raises an interesting point, he seems to imply that each flower can self pollintate itself , though have yet to read anything to confirm this ..?

I wonder if its more that a self fertile plant still needs pollen transfering from one flower to another on the same plant .... ?

They always say you get better pollination, even with self or semi pollinating types, if you have pollen from another plant, though perhaps not too many kiwis near you ..

For protection from the birds , yet allowing bees in, use some of this netting, though it needs to be stretched tight to ensure its open enough for the bees, use it on my fruit cage ok.

 

Yes, I believe issai is self pollinating.

This is an educated guess, but it can happen if both male and female parts exist in the flower and when it grows, the parts touch or is wind pollinated.

This pollination mechanism can also benefit from insect pollination from a pollination partner, albeit, I have never seen any bees or other insects visit the flowers of my own Kiwi issai and it still produced very sweet mini kiwi berries.

 

I was basically going on the same idea as peaches, which are self fertile.
You just need the pollen to move from one part of the flower to the other, often a light spray with water on a sunny day will do the job.

I do realise that there are plants that produce Male and female flowers separately, I must admit I'm not sure if that is the case with kiwifruit.

 

Thank you for all replies, very interesting -- i love the kiwi flowers they are so small and delicate --- will buy netting and spray on a sunny day --- no kiwis anywhere near me, grass is cut to within an inch of its life, mostly summer bedding and a regimented pristine setting, yuk! --- my place is the only one where hedgehogs, frogs, slow-worms and little geko-type things, lots of spiders, bees survive at least until next year when i have to sell up...

thanks again, karaman

 

Picture taken today.



Are you sure your Kiwi is definitely an arguta Issai, karaman?

I am just wondering why your plant looks different to mine, in particular, the leaf stalk colour and the distribution of anthers in the flower (circular pattern in mine but randomly in yours).

 

hallo misterQ -- sorry for late reply: i hope it is arguta issai, thats what i believe i paid for! i think the flowers look the same as yours. not only that but i had millions of flowers this year - i was so happy i thought at last i am in for some fruit but the flowers all fell off one bunch after the other and i dont have a single fruit -- fed up with this thing having invested time and effort over the last 5 years and i dont have a single fruit to show for it. one last chance next year then it goes to meet its maker.