We recommend you consider wet or dry application depending on your circumstances. For more information, check out Wet vs. Dry here: https://www.kiwipollen.com/wet-vs-dry-application/ and contact us to discuss further.

No.  Prior to your female flowers opening, pollination isn’t possible on your orchard. Which is why it’s a great idea for us to pick and buy your male flowers, which would otherwise be wasted.  Your orchard will be monitored so that we can move quickly when the male flowers open and we stop as soon as you get your hives in or whenever you decide.

Yes. We provide contract milling services for growers who deliver their in-grade flowers to our premises in Te Puke. In exchange, we provide you the pollen back at an excellent recovery rate for a per kilogram fee.

Kiwi Pollen’s recommended mixing rates for PollenAid® use are here:

https://www.kiwipollen.com/recommended-mixing-rates-for-pollenaid/

Pollination describes the fertilisation of a female ovule by a male pollen grain, resulting in a seed. Typically, kiwifruit flowers are pollinated by introduced honeybees – moving pollen from male flowers to the female flowers as they forage. Unfortunately, the flowers do not have much nectar (if any), so they are not incredibly attractive to bees.  In kiwifruit, each female flower contains a set number of ovules, the more of these that are fertilised, the larger the resulting fruit can grow. More seeds also means better dry matter, improved taste, and longer storage life. Pollination is therefore one of the most important levers you have for achieving a high-quality, high-value crop.

Any method of transferring pollen onto the female kiwifruit flower without the use of natural pollinators such as bees is considered supplementary pollination (also known as artificial pollination). This can either supplement the natural pollination provided by bees and other insects, or replace the need for natural pollinators entirely. Modern methods include wet application (pollen suspended in a liquid solution and sprayed onto female flowers) and dry application (pollen broadcast through the canopy). The goal is to ensure every flower receives enough pollen to maximise seed set and, in turn, fruit size and orchard returns.

A female kiwifruit flower has a finite number of ovules, and the more of these that are fertilised, the bigger the potential resulting fruit size. Effective pollination is important in every orchard and is one of the first steps in producing the high-quality fruit that New Zealand is known for.

External factors such as the weather play a huge role in determining whether natural pollinators like bees are able to effectively pollinate a flower within the receptive window (for example, Gold3 flowers are receptive for only two to three days).

With increasingly unpredictable weather conditions due to climate change, and concerns over bee diseases like Varroa mite and American Foulbrood, it makes sense to explore alternative methods that will ensure pollination within the required timeframe.

Supplementary pollination can also support your crop in situations like young or missing males, poor bee activity due to landscape features, poor synchronicity of flowering males and females, or low male flower numbers.

Supplementary pollination can give you more control over your orchard’s pollination, and ensures that the female flowers have access to enough pollen and do not have to rely on natural pollinators that can require precise environmental conditions to be effective.

Natural pollination can work, but it comes with limitations. Bees need male pollinator plants within around 10 metres of female vines to be effective, and their activity is heavily dependent on weather conditions. In commercial orchards, relying on bees alone carries real risk: poor weather during flowering, insufficient male vine coverage, unsynchronised male/female flowering or low hive activity can all result in under-pollinated fruit, smaller size, and reduced pack-out. Supplementary pollination removes much of that risk and wet application can be applied 24 hours a day, even in wet conditions.

Any method of transferring pollen onto the female kiwifruit flower without the use of natural pollinators such as bees is considered supplementary pollination. Typically, pollen is applied “dry” as a pure or diluted powder; or “wet” as a spray in a buffered suspension.

Dry pollination involves blowing dry pollen onto the female flowers directly. This can either be using handheld applicators or ATV-mounted applicators, depending on the size of your orchard and flowering stage. This method is often used in conjunction with bees that will naturally redistribute the pollen throughout the orchard.

Wet pollination involves mixing pollen into suspension with deionised water and a specially developed buffer solution, such as PollenAid, that maintains pollen grain viability when rehydrated. This pollen solution is sprayed onto the canopy and can be applied in all weather conditions, including rain and overnight. Wet pollination can be used to fully pollinate your orchard where there are insufficient male vines or minimal bee activity, such as under low cover, or as a top-up, in conjunction with other methods, including natural pollination.

Both methods offer the ability to target clusters of flowers or be broadcast over the entire canopy. Generally, targeted applications are a more efficient use of pollen, but the extra labour required means that it is generally only suitable for developing partial canopies, early or late flowers, or smaller orchards.

As all growers know, no year is the same and neither are orchards themselves. It can be challenging to evaluate whether your pollination strategies are effective when there are so many variables that can impact on growing a good crop. We recommend setting up trial areas where the only difference is how you pollinate the flowers (such as application method, application rate etc.). From this, you can assess the difference and understand more about what works best for your orchard. Make sure to record surrounding conditions such as weather and temperature, as these can significantly affect pollination outcomes. Ultimately, measuring factors like fruit set, yield, and dry matter will help you determine the effectiveness of your approach. Zespri’s Canopy page, “Understand Pollination and Pollination Systems,” has more ways to monitor pollination levels in your orchard

Pollen viability is a measure of the pollen’s ability to germinate and grow. There are several different tests that can be done to determine this; different testing providers use different methods. One method uses a stain to determine if the pollen grains have typical cell contents; another method uses a liquid nutrient media to germinate the pollen and the growing pollen tubes are viewed and counted under a microscope (in vitro germination). This in vitro method is considered to be the closest approximation to what germination would be like in the field. The staining method typically gives higher viability scores than you would see when that pollen was applied to flowers. The different methods used by different laboratories will give different results for the same pollen sample. This can cause confusion among growers. More important than absolute viability scores is that the pollen applied results in a commercial quality crop.

Research by Dr Murray Hopping in the 1980s showed that 66 percent viability, as assessed by his in vitro germination method, gave good seed numbers for Hayward and produced a commercial quality fruit. A leading pollen expert, Plant & Food Research scientist Melissa Broussard, said “using the same methodology as Murray Hopping, 64 percent germination appears to be sufficient to achieve commercial quality Gold3 kiwifruit in recent unpublished research.”

Application rates depend on your variety, your target outcome, and whether you're using wet or dry pollen. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach for application rates, however, see below for our guide.

For wet application, rates tend to be higher because bees don't interact with or spread wet pollen. As a general guide:

• Hayward (green): up to 800g of pollen per hectare per pass at full bloom to achieve full pollination with no bees or male flowers. For a top up, this could be between 400-600g per hectare.
• Gold varieties: lower rates are typically needed, as fewer seeds are required — around 400 g per hectare per pass every 2^nd/3rd day is common for full pollination, or 200-300g per hectare for a top up.
• Red varieties: lower again. anecdotal evidence from successful growers: apply 150 to 200 grams per ha. Either apply 3 days in a row or 2 applications with 1 day in between.

For dry application, bees will naturally move the pollen through the canopy as they forage, creating a synergistic effect — so rates can often be lower. Always consider whether you're aiming for full pollination from scratch, or topping up what bees have already achieved.

With all varieties, we are very interested to hear about individual grower results.

Ploidy refers to the number of chromosome sets in a pollen grain. In kiwifruit:

• Most green varieties (Hayward) are hexaploid (6 sets)
• Most gold varieties (G3) are tetraploid (4 sets)
• Most red varieties (R19/R80) are diploid (2 sets)

The key rule is that higher ploidy pollen can pollinate lower ploidy females, but not the other way around. So hexaploid (green) pollen will work on gold and red vines, but diploid (red) pollen will not work on gold or green.

Currently, commercial pollen supplies in New Zealand are predominantly hexaploid (green), so for most growers this isn't a day-to-day concern.  If one day we have supplies of diploid (red) pollen, for instance, it will be important not to use it on gold or green.

Yes, pollen can be stored for up to 10 years if kept under the right conditions. The two biggest enemies of pollen viability are moisture and heat. At room temperature, viability can drop significantly within days. In a cool, dry environment, it will last somewhat longer, but for any storage beyond a few days, freezing is strongly recommended. Keep pollen in an airtight plastic container and store in a freezer at -12°C or lower.

At application time, if you are not going to use all of your pollen in one application, then only take the amount you are planning to use out of the freezer. Work quickly to measure your desired quantity and only use stainless steel or food-grade plastic utensils. Let the pollen thaw slowly overnight in a domestic refrigerator (4-6°C) for a maximum of 24 hours. Let the temperature rise to between 10°C and 20°C one hour before use. Do not thaw pollen in direct sunlight. The idea is to avoid any extreme changes in temperature when thawing and bring it up to ambient temperature slowly

Kiwi Pollen's pollen goes through multiple sieving processes during production to remove as much filament as possible, so in most cases no additional sieving is needed. However, if you are using pollen from another source, or are unsure of the quality of your pollen, we recommend sieving it through a fine pollen sieve before use.

Filament is a fine, thread-like debris that is a natural by-product of the pollen milling process. It can cause problems with both wet and dry application methods:

• Wet application: filament absorbs moisture and swells when mixed into a water-based solution, and can block nozzles and other sprayer components mid-application, leading to missed passes and uneven coverage at a critical point in the flowering window.
• Dry application: filament can clog augers and other moving parts inside dry application machinery, causing blockages and interruptions.

Deionised water is water that has had its dissolved mineral ions removed — things like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and chloride that are naturally present in tap water and bore water. This matters for kiwifruit pollination because research by Dr Murray Hopping in the 1980s demonstrated that these ions (known as anions and cations) have a measurable detrimental effect on pollen germination when they're present in a pollen spray solution.

By running water through a mixed-bed resin filter, almost all of these damaging ions can be removed. Using deionised water in your wet pollen mix helps protect pollen viability from the moment it goes into the tank, giving it the best chance of germinating successfully once it reaches the stigma.