Mistletoe advice

I know this is something of a long shot but I have decided to try persuading Mistletoe to take root in my garden. I have a large plum tree and purchased some cut mistletoe. I have read recently that it is sometimes possible to get it to set in the bark of a fruit tree and so decided to give it a go. My question is whether it would also possibly grow from a hazelnut tree that I also have in the garden.

What do you think? I'd be grateful for any input

 

I will look forward to reading the responses on here,ive never thought about growing mistle toe(is it similar to a holly tree?) so i will also learn something new
Merry christmas nikki d x

 

I remember my dad trying that with an apple tree but he never did manage to get it to take. I hope you are more successful. Not sure about the nut tree but it's worth a try

 

I have some growing in a Poplar; I do have fruit trees nearby, but no signs of the mistletoe migrating to them.

 

Not sure how true this is but i read some time ago in one of the gardening magazines i think it was that Mistletoe berries will only germinate if sown in slits of bark from the same type of tree that they were harvested from so unless you know exactly which species of tree your mistletoe was harvested from you might not have any success in getting them to grow so do let us know how you get on with them

 

I think Mistletoe cut for XMas is too early to be "ripe" for sowing the seeds. I would collect some when ripe and "sow" it straight away, in the way that Shiney has described, except that I would put the berry on the slit-bark. Pretty sure it came up in The Garden recently, I'll have a look through back numbers

 

I thought it Oak that was the host of Mistletoe?

I also though the seed had to be deposited there in its own little parcel of bird poo, the bird's digestive tract having eroded the hard outer casing on the seed(s).

Sorry, that's just what I read, I have no useful concrete knowledge on the subject.

As an aside, here's some trivia about the origins of kissing under the mistletoe. According to Norse mythology, some powerful goddess gave birth to a son. She issue a command that nobody may harm her son with either tooth or claw, or weapons made from any of the trees in the wood. Loki, the trickster, tricked someone into making a spear with mistletoe at the top (not wood of a tree) and this was used to kill the lad. The goddess was so upset and furious that she cast the land into an eternal winter which lasted thousands of years, until a treaty was drawn up. One of the terms of the treaty was that nobody may harm each other and hatred must be pushed aside whenever in the presence of mistletoe.

So there we go, some useless info that might one day come in handy if it comes up in the pub quiz

 

I slit the bark on my apple tree & put a few seeds under it. Nothing happened for about 2 years then I saw a green shoot coming out.

A few years later.

 

Hmm, that pic didn't seem to work

 

I've never tried it but I think its a slow process.
I've seen it growing high up in all kinds of trees, so I'm not sure there can be specific types of mistletoe that grows in specific trees.

As I under stand it, (and this goes back a long way in my memory), the birds eat the berries and rub the sticky seed off their beaks on the bark of trees.
Its probably very hit and miss in nature, but the sticky substance glues the seed to the tree.
I'm thinking it only goes on to grow if the bark gets damaged in the process.

So, my guess would be to slit the bark and stick the seeds underneath, then wait.

 

Zigs that is really surprising of you , really nice experiment .......
the other person would have just put mistletoe in the back pocket , so that ..kiss the..

did you use normal mistletoe from florist or picket some berry in the wild?
Mistltoe is a parassite plant so will leave on any plants , the special roots will actually grow under the tree bark .

 

Leave the berries till nicely ripe and transparent looking. Make a slit on the underside of a branch, and rub the berry over the slit making sure the seed stays in the slit.

Takes a year or so till you see the first little "seedling" then it gradually grows, so the big bushes you see on some trees represent many years growth.

I think it must grow better in some areas than others, and there is lots in Worcester/Hereford/Gloucester area, especially on the old orchards.

Mistletoe growing on oak is rare, and was valued for its special properties, particularly (supposedly) by the Druids who harvested it with a golden sickle and catching it in a special cloth so it never touched the ground

Modern research apparetnly shows that mistletoe does, indeed, contain unique anticancer compounds, which can both inhibit the formation of cancer cells and stimulate the immune system to destroy them when they do. The result was Iscador, a preparation made from mistletoe berries, which is widely prescribed in Europe and is the most commonly used cancer drug in Germany. It can apparently be used alongside conventional treatment such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and has been found to alleviate the pain and side-effects.

 

I've tried it in the past and never got any to survive although I have had a few produce the little suckers that help the seed 'clamp on' but dry up before they got any further...

 

On the boundary of Reading (Berkshire) cemetery is a line of tall, very mature Poplar trees that are laden with Mistletoe. Within the grounds are many relatively newly planted "avenues" of small trees (not poplar) that are happily hosting young mistletoe. When we next pay a visit, I will try and remembr to take the camera and get a picture. If it's in Spring, I will gather a few berries and let GC know,
Jenny