Last year, there were kiwi flowers on one of the first vines we planted. There weren’t many, but we were so excited. At last!
But…then the beetles came. In waves. In hordes. A blanket of shiny, greenish, brownish ick destroying our vines, our buds…our spirit.
Now the buds are back. I don’t want to count my berries before they fruit…but they are everywhere on the vines and, with a little luck and milky spore, hopefully the Japanese beetles will not be as bad this year.
Flowers started forming
On last year’s kiwi vines
Teeny, tiny buds appeared
At last! On fruit we’d dine!
But then, in hordes the beetles came
And blanketed the rows
Holding on with sticky feet
Those munching, crunching foes
Our defenses were no match for them
We put up quite a fight
But still, they beat us easily
That horrid, evil blight
Again, small buds are forming
We’re hopeful that this time
The milky spore has done it’s job
And on fresh fruit we’ll dine!
a pinch of homestead 
You could try spraying them with Hi-Yield Livestock & Plant spray. It keeps most bugs off of our delicious fruits and veggies!
Thank you for the tip! I’ll have to check that out.
It seems like only a few years ago that kiwi was uncommon. They are so popular now. I do not get it. There are so many other fruits to grow that are better and less invasive. What is strange is that elderberries are not grown at all, and no one seems to use the native blue elderberries. Very few even know that they are useful. (Well, they are not as good fresh as kiwi are, but they are so abundant, and they just go to waste.)
We planted blue elderberries too but are having trouble getting them to take. Not sure if it is our soil, the wind or what. We keep our kiwi contained in a 30×30 vineyard. It is a fast grower and so pretty growing up the wires. Great for family pictures.