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On my balcony I have just planted my hardy kiwi. I found that some leaves, particularly smaller ones, have holes:

Holes in hardy kiwi

I'm using universal soil (ph 5.5-6.5). I'm watering it everyday as the flowerpot is quite big (40x40x40cm). Can it be that the soil is missing some minerals? Should I use some compost? Or this is a pest?

EDIT: I've just found that the buds of new branches have black tips. Is that relevant?

enter image description here

dzieciou
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    Can you exclude mechanical damage? I'd guess that the leaves were crushed at some point and "broke", leaving you whith the holes. On the other hand: Have you checked for insects that might be nibbling at the leaves? – Stephie May 13 '15 at 08:07
  • Might be a cat. I will "eliminate" it from the balcony for a few days and see if new holes don't appear. Is it possible for a plan to regenerate in those holes? – dzieciou May 13 '15 at 08:19
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    No. Gone is gone. But unless there is some infection (which I see no traces of), the leaves will continue to do their photosynthesis job and produce energy for the plant. – Stephie May 13 '15 at 08:24
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    And before you punish the cat: can you be sure that the leaves weren't crushed at the nursery, during transport or planting? I'm sure that the damage was done *at least* a few days ago. It takes some time for it to show. – Stephie May 13 '15 at 08:26
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    What's 'universal soil' - can't find it via google, what does it mean? I'd agree mechanical damage, but think I can see some blackening of the new leaf on the left of the picture with a girdle on the stem, which hints at a possible fungal problem just starting - would you say the rootball of the plant was less than a third in ratio to the soil in the pot you've used? Are there drainage holes in the pot? – Bamboo May 13 '15 at 11:34
  • @Bamboo, Universal soil can be a marketing name, here's an example: http://www.biovita.com.pl/2,0,oferta,universal-soil.htm. It's what they told me to use for this plant. And yes, rootball is on a small depth: pot is huge comparing to the root ball and plant bought. Is this wrong and root cause of the problem? – dzieciou May 13 '15 at 13:01
  • @Bamboo, Regarding drainage. Te pot has some double bottom with holes, so that overflow of water can escape. I also put some exclay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_clay_aggregate) in the bottom for drainage + I've made a drainage pipe that reaches the bottom of the pot. I water the plan both on the surface and through the pipe. – dzieciou May 13 '15 at 13:09

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Okay, so you've said there are drainage holes in the pot, that the growing medium you've used is a type of potting compost suitable for potted plants. You've also said the root ball of the plant is very small compared to the volume of soil in the pot. That isn't good - you're watering to keep all the soil moist, but the rootball is small - there's a risk of 'souring' of the compost in these situations, and that may kill a plant. It's always advisable to start with a pot that's not much bigger than the rootball, then increase the pot size as the plant grows for any plant.

However, Kiwi is a rapid grower - I'd suggest a pot half the size of the one you currently have as a maximum, then potting on into your larger pot when its necessary. I realise this is a bit of a nightmare, because these plants are difficult to handle once there's a lot of topgrowth - you may feel its more risky to repot once its larger than the risk associated with it planted the way it is now.

If there's no evidence of any problems currently, other than what I think I can see in the picture, you could just keep your fingers crossed and leave it as it is.

UPDATED ANSWER: So I wasn't imagining things, there is some blackening going on. These plants can get fungal infections, usually because they're too wet at the roots - you've been watering daily in order to keep all that planting medium moist enough, so I think its a good decision to move to a smaller pot in the meantime. Water it in well when you've moved it - after that, water when the surface of the planting medium is just dry to the touch, and not at all if it feels wet. Depending on air temperature and sun exposure, it may not need watering daily, might even be every 4, 5 or 7 days, so check before you water. Although they like a good supply of water and hate to dry out completely, they also don't like being very wet at the root all the time.

Wait and see if that black spreads or the leaves open out normally, just with black tips - the shoot otherwise looks healthy, and it might only be where the tips have got nipped in a sharp frost or sudden cold.

Bamboo
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  • Thank you! I think I will try to replant it to a smaller pot, thought I'm not using compost yet (still need to prepare it). In the meantime I found that the buds of new branches have black tips (I attached a photo to my question). – dzieciou May 13 '15 at 18:11
  • Sorry, terminology confusion - when I said 'compost' I actually said 'potting compost' - this isn't the same thing as 'compost' necessarily, which tends to refer more to garden compost or composted manures, that kind of thing, not intended for use in pots unless produced in a manner involving heat to sterilise pathogens. – Bamboo May 13 '15 at 18:47
  • Ahhh, I see in English it has double meaning. English is not my mother tongue. – dzieciou May 13 '15 at 18:54
  • No, I realise that - the term 'compost' should always have an adjective in front of it (describing word) such as potting, garden, seed and cutting, mulching, but mostly doesn't, so even native English speakers get confused! See updated answer too... – Bamboo May 13 '15 at 19:00