Kiwi plant Koryoku (Female) - Actinidia deliciosa

Actinidia deliciosa Koryoku is a Japanese female kiwi cultivar prized for its sweet, dark green-fleshed fruits harvested late in the season. This large, twining climber quickly covers pergolas, trellises, and taut wires. It offers a white, gently fragrant flowering in spring. Plant it in a warm, sheltered location for kiwis to be harvested from late October to November. This variety requires a compatible male plant, such as Tomuri, nearby to ensure pollination.

Belonging to the Actinidiaceae family, this Koryoku cultivar is derived from Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa (a widely used synonym: Actinidia deliciosa), a species native to the alpine forests of central China.
Koryoku is a selection developed and registered in Japan (Kagawa Prefecture) in the late 1980s, resulting from open pollination of Hayward. It differs from the latter by a higher sugar content, lower astringency, and flesh of a more intense green. This plant is a very vigorous, twining climber with rapid growth that can extend several metres per year; at 10 years old, trained on a support, it reaches 6 to 8 m in height and 3 to 4 m in spread. The young shoots are hairy, reddish-brown, turning brown-grey with age. The deciduous foliage is formed of large, alternate, heart-shaped to ovate, 8 to 15 cm long, medium to dark green leaves with a lighter underside and a petiole often tinged with red on young shoots. 
Flowering occurs in May-June: the female flowers, solitary or in groups of 2-3, measure 3 to 4 cm in diameter; their cream-white corolla turns yellowish, and they are slightly fragrant.

This variety produces ovoid to cylindrical, medium to fairly large fruits, weighing 100 to 150 g, with a brown-green, hairy skin; their flesh is an intense green, melting when ripe, with a sweet and aromatic flavour, moderate acidity, and low astringency.

Harvest period and method
Harvest Actinidia deliciosa Koryoku from late October to early November, without waiting for the fruits to soften on the plant. Harvest them in dry weather by cutting the stalk with pruning shears. Eating ripeness is achieved after a period of indoor storage; as with most female kiwis, the plant does not bear fruits which are fully ripe when picked.

Storage
The firm fruits can be stored for several weeks, even a few months, in a cool (0 to 5°C), ventilated, dark room, in crates, arranged in a single layer. To speed up ripening, place a few kiwis at room temperature with a very ripe apple in a perforated paper bag; the ethene released by the apple accelerates ripening. Monitor the progress: as soon as the flesh yields slightly to finger pressure, eat them or transfer them to the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Culinary uses
Koryoku has dark green, sweet, and aromatic flesh that is suitable for making fresh desserts like fruit salads, tarts, pavlovas, and coulis. Its richness in vitamin C is appreciated in smoothies and juices. This fruit pairs well with citrus, pear, ginger, mint, and red berries. In savoury recipes, it adds a tangy note to avocado, prawn, or fresh cheese salads.

Use in the garden: planting and care advice
Plant your female kiwi Koryoku in full sun, sheltered from cold winds, in deep, humus-bearing, non-calcareous, well-drained soil that remains moist in summer; add lots of mature compost and use a thick mulch to protect its shallow roots. Provide a very sturdy support (taut wires, pergola) and maintain a distance of at least 3 to 4 m between plants; place a compatible male young plant within a radius of 5 to 8 m for pollination.
Water regularly for the first three years and during dry summers; apply an organic fertiliser rich in potash in spring. Prune in winter to form an open framework, then shorten the fruit-bearing shoots to 5–7 buds in summer, to contain vigour and promote fruiting.