Pollination requirements of kiwifruit ( Actinidia chinensis Planch.) differ between cultivars ‘Hayward’ and ‘Zesy002’

ABSTRACT Pollination by insects is critical for the production of many crops worldwide. Crop cultivars vary in a number of traits, but their differing pollination requirements are often overlooked. Kiwifruit ( Actinidia chinensis ) is reliant on pollen movement between male and female plants, but there has been disagreement in the literature about what its pollination requirements are. Additionally, there is little information about how time‐of‐day might affect fruit and seed set, and how this may alter the efficacy of pollination management strategies. In this study, we compare the pollination requirements of A. chinensis var. deliciosa ‘Hayward’ (a hexaploid green‐fleshed variety) and A. chinensis var. chinensis ‘Zesy002’ (a tetraploid gold‐fleshed variety). We find that ‘Zesy002’ requires fewer pollen grains than ‘Hayward’ for full seed set. Kiwifruit appears to be equally able to set fruit at any time of the day, meaning that insects which forage outside the peak hours of 0900–1500 h may play an important supporting role in fruit production, and that artificial pollination could profitably be applied into the evening hours rather than being limited to the period of peak pollinator activity.