Kiwiberry Ken's Red or Scarlet September - grafting

[ChingfordHarry]

Hi

I've been grafting for some time - mostly apples but some pears and plums as well (but have had no luck at all with cherries). Anyway, I have an Issai kiwiberry (self fertile). that I thought it might be fun to graft a male and a red female onto. I can easily source scions for Scarlet September, but haven't found much information about it. Ken's Red seems to be a popular variety to buy as a plant, but I haven't found a ready source of scions for it.

so my questions are
- does anyone here have any experience of either or both and how do they compare?
- Has anyone here grafted onto an Issai?
- does the yield/fruit set improve on an Issai if it's got a male nearby?

[ameno]

A male kiwi won't increase fruit set as the kiwi berry (your Issai) is a different species from the normal kiwi.
They're probably still graftable, as they are at least the same genus, but I'm afraid I don't have any specific knowledge or experience on that.

[ChingfordHarry]

Both Ken's Red and Scarlet September are A. Arguta, like Issai (i.e. Kiwiberry, not Kiwifruit) but both are female-only. There are male A. Arguta available (e.g. Weiki). Kiwifruit is A. Deliciosa.

since yesterday I've found that Scarlet September is also called "Mirzan" and is a Polish variety.

I've read that A. deliciosa will pollinate A. Arguta, but not vice versa (I've also read that A. deliciosa won't pollinate
A. Arguta, which makes more sense!). It may be that the Deliciosa encourages more pollinators to visit and that's what's responsible, or the observation may just be wishful thinking.