So, I was thinking about trying to grow some mistletoe, as I like the
plant, but I don't really have any trees I'm comfortable parasitising.
It seems like, in this day and age, there should be some trick out
there for making a mistletoe plant think it's attached to a real tree,
and just supply whatever nutrients it needs in the water (or in some
other way). Is this even vaguely plausible? I'd guess it comes down to
what nutrients exactly the plant draws from its host, and whether
they're easily available outside of living trees. I've read that
mistletoe is difficult to start from berries even under the best of
circumstances, so this is probably all a boondoggle, but I thought I'd
ask, since Google has failed me. Thanks!

whal, for some reason, even though oak trees (Quercus white and red) grow
great here in new hamster, mistletoe will NOT grow on them--too cold, i'd
guess? or maybe too much tannic acid? the red and white oaks have the
highest rate of tannic acid than any other oak which is why it should NEVER
EVER be used for mulching or composting. (sigh)

otoh, mistletoe grew terrifically on the oak trees in western oregon...i
don't know their genus, sorry.
--
With Malus toward none, and Cherry-Trees toward all.


From: "Crawford"
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: 17 Jan 2006 18:54:02 -0800
Subject: Mistletoe propagation with a twist

So, I was thinking about trying to grow some mistletoe, as I like the
plant, but I don't really have any trees I'm comfortable parasitising.
It seems like, in this day and age, there should be some trick out
there for making a mistletoe plant think it's attached to a real tree,
and just supply whatever nutrients it needs in the water (or in some
other way). Is this even vaguely plausible? I'd guess it comes down to
what nutrients exactly the plant draws from its host, and whether
they're easily available outside of living trees. I've read that
mistletoe is difficult to start from berries even under the best of
circumstances, so this is probably all a boondoggle, but I thought I'd
ask, since Google has failed me. Thanks!