Anyone have any experience pruning/training a young Hardy Kiwi vine?
From what I have read, you are supposed to train a single shoot to a point to where you develop two cordon branches.

My Issai Hardy Kiwi vine is about a foot and a half tall, and had multiple vigorous green shoots starting to grow out of the vine. So I pinched or pruned off all the shoots and buds except one near the top. Big problem - the single remaining shoot wilted and now appears dead. But, there are new buds starting to grow out along the vine - what to do, which one to save? Should I let them all grow? I'm pretty sure the plant wasn't drought stressed; I've kept the soil fairly moist, and several pruned branches that I stuck in the soil to see if they would root look fine with healthy green leaves.

A couple of other observations. Sources say that the petioles on Hardy Kiwi are red and that the vine bleeds when pruned. I've observed neither on my Issai - maybe the plant is still too young?

Thanks for any help,

Fan

Here's what I think went wrong with my pruning. When pruning fruit trees, you are taught to cut just above a bud and not leave a long stub. However, this does not seem to work well with hardy kiwi vines, at least young ones of the Issai variety. I cut just above the last bud and what happened is the top inch or so of the vine dessicated (shrivelled and dried), killing the bud. Other buds further down are doing fine. So, it looks like it's best for hardy kiwi NOT to prune just above the bud, but to leave some vine above it!

Also, I have read some conflicting information about pruning hardy kiwi. Some sources say prune when the plant is dormant, well before spring growth, otherwise the vine will bleed and cause damage (perhaps that's what happened to me). Others say don't worry about the bleeding, it doesn't do any harm?!!!