We understand you attempted to take photos, but if you can try again, these would be very helpful in our attempts at a diagnosis. We are not familiar with any major kiwi insect pests, mainly because this fruit is so relatively rarely grown in Maryland and is comparatively pest-free compared to more conventional fruit crops. The loss of foliage was probably due to an unrelated (or overlapping) issue, but here too, photos of the plant's growing conditions and information about its site and care (how much sun, soil drainage, prior spray treatments, etc.) can help us narrow-down potential causes. Does the soil stay wet, for example?

If you use a ruler next to the suspected pests on the stem that may help give the camera something similarly-small (like the millimeter or fraction-of-an-inch markings) to focus on clearly. Or, you can hold a plain piece of paper behind the stem which will help prevent the camera from focusing on the background instead. As long as the image file is large enough or high-resolution, even a photo taken a bit further away can be magnified where we'll probably be able to make out what insect is present.

So far, your description sounds like a type of scale insect might be involved, but we'd need to see images for confirmation.

Miri

Hello Annette,

Thank you for the photos and additional information. The pictured plant appears to be a Climbing Hydrangea (likely Hydrangea anomala petiolaris for the botanical name), not Kiwi, which has different foliage and growth habits. Have you harvested Kiwi from this plant in the past, or did the plant tag (or a plant ID app) label this as a Kiwi? We ask because plant ID is very important in making a diagnosis because different plants have different vulnerabilities.

The insects you describe, plus the white residue left behind in the photos, suggest these are a harmless and common insect in the planthopper group. There are well over a hundred planthopper species found in Maryland, so appearances can vary a bit, but some do have juveniles that are a mottled brown in color and produce a white fluffy wax on their rear end, which can get left behind as they walk and jump about. One example is the Two-Striped Planthopper, and you can view photos of juveniles (along with adults) in the gallery on the linked page. Some species of planthopper produce more wax than others, to the point where some look completely woolly with wax. As implied by the "hopper" part of their name, they can jump easily when disturbed or to move from plant to plant, a trait which distinguishes them from many other insect pests their size. Planthoppers feed on plant sap with small straw-like mouthparts, but not to the extent they cause significant damage and they were not responsible for the plant's defoliation.

We suspect a root health issue when plants defoliate this suddenly or extensively. We realize you said it's long-established in this location, but has it been checked for water so far this year, given our drought? Any plants with limited root space in home gardens can be more adversely affected by dry spells without irrigation than those growing in more natural settings. (Though plenty of our wild plants have been very stressed by our weather so far also.) Did any digging occur in the plant's root zone which could have disturbed roots or cut into bark by accident? (Such as planting annuals around its base, or repairing a utility line.) During the periods we have had rain (including in the last year or two when rainy periods were more regular), does a nearby roof downspout empty near its base, or might it be leaking so that the vine's roots are getting saturated? If earlier root rot reduced the plant's root system and it was then stressed further by drought with limited roots left, that might explain defoliation.

For now, all you can do for the vine is to continue to monitor it for watering needs and see if it replaces lost foliage. Climbing Hydrangea is a slow grower overall so complete recovery could take more than a year, especially if it also has to regrow some roots. We do see one stem that looks like its growing through a gap in the decorative butterfly-shaped plant stake (bottom-most left area of the photo showing the current state of the entire plant), and if it gets pinched too much as it ages, this can affect how much water and sap flow moves between the leaves and roots on that part of the plant, eventually causing problems like dieback. While this doesn't look like it's affecting the main taller stem (although we can't see its base), it's still a factor to address before it worsens by seeing if you can free the trapped stem or just cutting it back if/when it dies out in the future.

Miri

You're welcome, and good luck! If it leafs-out decently well again but then develops more symptoms, feel free to send us additional photos.

Miri