Description of actinidia Kolomikta Adam, its planting and care, application

The Actinidia family includes more than 75 varieties. These are woody vines with edible fruits and unusual leaf color. Based on the taste and size of the berries, the most famous type of plant is kiwi. Gardeners respect Actinidia Kolomikta variety Adam for its two-color leaves. This variety does not bear fruit, but pollinates other varieties. The result is fruits that are superior in taste to grapes and have a medicinal effect.

Origin of actinidia Kolomikta Adam

The plant's homeland is the Far East. Kolomikta is the most common variety. Its natural habitat is China, Japan, the Kuril Islands, and Korea. In Russia, the Far Eastern liana grows in the south of the Khabarovsk Territory, on the island of Sakhalin. The ornamental plant is adapted to the harsh climate of Siberia.

Woody shrub vine is also known as creeper. Since the mid-19th century, the plant has been planted in parks and estates. The Adam variety was selectively bred. Its creator is the Polish botanist Szczepan Marchinski.

Description of Actinidia Adam

The plant is a creeping vine. The shoots of the bush entwine the supports and their own trunk.

Main characteristics:

The variety is interesting due to the change in color of the foliage. Before flowering, the tips turn from green to white, and after flowering they turn first pink and then bright crimson. In autumn, the leaves completely change color to yellow or purple-red. Bushes growing in sunny areas look especially colorful.

Actinidia Adam flowers

The plant blooms in its fifth year. Flowering begins in June and lasts 20 days. Flowers with double perianth and white petals reach 2 centimeters in diameter. The buds are collected in inflorescences of 2-3 pieces. Their formation begins in May. The flowers open in June and are scented with lemon.

The Adam variety was bred exclusively for pollination and opens “male” flowers. It is planted next to the “female” varieties.

Actinidia Adam fruits

The “male” plant variety does not bear fruit. But as a result of pollination, edible berries appear on the “female” varieties. Their features:

• dark green peel with longitudinal stripes;
• elongated round shape;
• length 3 centimeters;
• width 1.5 centimeters;
• one berry contains 90 small seeds.

Fruiting lasts from August to September. Ripe berries are soft, with a sweet pineapple taste, and look like gooseberries.

Where Actinidia Adam grows

The selection variety is adapted to cold and warm regions. It is suitable for growing in the Moscow region and Primorye.

In nature, the Far Eastern liana grows in coniferous forests. The shrub reaches especially large sizes in the vicinity of fir, cedar and spruce. Thickets are found near streams, in cleared areas.

Favorable conditions for the development of the plant are on forest ashes. It is also a typical inhabitant of forest edges and undergrowth.

Frost resistance of Actinidia Adam

The climbing shrub is the most frost-resistant representative of the genus. The lower temperature threshold of an adult plant is 40-45 degrees below zero. Annual shoots are more vulnerable than perennial shoots and freeze slightly in harsh winters. Also, young branches may suffer from sudden spring frosts.

Soil preferences of Actinidia Adam

Creeping shrub develops well on humus, fertile soil, loose and rich in oxygen. Neutral and slightly acidic soil is suitable for variegated Kolomikta.

Application of Actinidia Adam fruits

The Soviet breeder I.V. Michurin saw a great commercial future for the Far Eastern liana. He believed that the berries of the ornamental plant are tastier than grape berries and are suitable for food in any form.

The fruits of the bush have antibacterial and antifungal effects due to phytoncides, and also stimulate heart function due to glycosides. The high content of vitamins helps normalize the body's condition with vitamin deficiency.

Traditional healers in the Far East used Kolomikta berries to treat scurvy, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and stomatitis. A special substance, actinidin, promotes the release of enzymes for digesting tough foods. Kolomikta fruits are useful for constipation.

Alcohol tincture and wine, jam and compote are prepared from the aromatic berries of the plant. The shrub is a honey plant, suitable for planting next to an apiary.

Advantages and disadvantages of actinidia Kolomikta Adam

The plant is more useful in landscape design. A unisexual shrub has economic value only if there are other varieties nearby. Then, in addition to the beautiful coloring of the leaves, the vines will also bear delicious berries.

Positive aspects of growing the Adam variety:

• bright design of the gazebo, wall, fence;
• garden decoration in single plantings and in compositions;
• resistance to frost and drought.

The plant rarely gets sick and is unattractive to insects. Only at high humidity does fungus develop in the crown.

Disadvantages of the plant:

• in the northern regions, shelter for the winter is required to protect young shoots;
• attracts cats.

Pets and stray animals can seriously damage Kolomikta at the seedling stage. The twigs of the plant contain juice that acts like valerian. Cats do not gnaw the dense bark of mature bushes, but soft shoots are easily turned into rags. Therefore, in the first year of planting, you need to put on protection on the shoots - pieces of a rubber hose cut lengthwise.

Rules for planting actinidia Kolomikta Adam

The plant is ready for planting in open ground at the age of 3-4 years. Favorable time is spring, after the end of frost.

A sunny or slightly shaded place, protected from the wind, is suitable for the shrub. The site should be flat, without nearby underground sources and stagnant rainwater.

Method of planting Kolomikta:

• dig a hole 50 centimeters deep;
• lay drainage made of pebbles and brick fragments on the bottom;
• mix the soil removed from the hole with humus, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, and ammonium nitrate;
• pour part of the mixture onto the drainage and install the seedling;
• fill the hole with the remaining part of the soil, leaving the root collar at the level of its surface.

Planting is completed with abundant watering. Bushes are planted at intervals of 1.5-2 meters. A support is installed nearby and seedlings are tied to it to direct the growth of shoots upward.

Recommendations for caring for actinidia Kolomikta Adam

The Far Eastern liana requires traditional care for a climbing plant - pruning and moderate watering. In favorable conditions, the ornamental shrub will live up to 100 years.

Pruning Actinidia Kolomikta Adam

The plant is pruned for the first time in the second year after planting. In the spring, remove damaged branches and shorten the bush by a third to stimulate crown development.

In summer, the plant is pruned to maintain its shape, but only after flowering has finished.

Autumn pruning is carried out before the first frost, removing internal tangled branches.

Watering and feeding actinidia Kolomikta Adam

Both a lack and an excess of moisture are detrimental to shrubs. Drainage and loosening of the tree trunk helps prevent water stagnation.In hot weather, the bushes need to be watered generously once a week or more often, avoiding the soil from drying out and clumping.

Fertilizers are applied in liquid form along with water:

• solution of urea or chicken droppings - in the spring;
• a solution of potassium and phosphorus - after flowering and before wintering.

An adult bush requires 60 liters of water per watering. In summer, young plants are additionally sprayed in the morning and evening if the weather is dry. When it rains, watering and spraying are not required.

Wintering of actinidia Kolomikta Adam

In the first year after planting, the vines are removed from their supports, laid and wrapped in insulating agrofibre or covered with spruce branches. In subsequent years, plants grown in southern regions with mild winters will do without shelter. In cold climates, it is better to cover the bushes to protect young shoots.

Control of diseases and pests of Actinidia Kolomikta Adam

Lack of sun and waterlogging lead to fungal diseases of the plant. Frequent companions of vines growing in unfavorable conditions:

• white fleecy powdery mildew;
• brown spots of ramularia on the leaves;
• buds and young foliage eaten by leaf beetles.

To treat and prevent diseases, the bush is sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. Damaged shoots are pruned. To combat beetles, the products “Aktara” and “Iskra” are used.

Reproduction of Actinidia Kolomikta Adam

The climbing vine of the male variety is propagated by cuttings. Two-year-old shoots are suitable for harvesting. They are cut so that there are 3 kidneys on each piece. One end of the cutting is made oblique.

The preparations take root if they are wrapped in a damp cloth and kept warm for a week. Sprouted cuttings are planted in containers filled with a mixture of soil and peat.

Reviews of actinidia Kolomikta Adam

Gardeners note the plant's rapid growth and good survival rate in winters near Moscow. On the leaves of the “male” variety, the change in leaf color in summer is more pronounced than on the “female” varieties, but in hot years the intensity of the pink color decreases.

The Far Eastern liana produces basal shoots, but is not aggressive compared to hops or virgin grapes. Summer residents also advise planting the non-fruit-bearing variety Adam to decorate gazebos, since the berries quickly fall off and pollute the area.