GardenBanter.co.uk - mistletoe propogation

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mistletoe propogation

is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?

mistletoe propogation

"JWBH" wrote in message
...
is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?

You can try smearing the seeds onto tree branches...... there was a bit
about it on gardeners world last week. Takes a while to get going and I seem
to recall that some type of trees are better than others. anyone know which
trees are best?

Jenny

mistletoe propogation

JWBH wrote:
is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?

Probably not. Commercial mistletoe will be imported and may not like
our conditions or our host species. The berries are often waxed or
otherwise treated to make them look shiny, and may not yet be ripe.

That said, the natural way mistletoe spreads is that the berries are
eaten by birds and the seeds excreted onto tree branches. I believe it
can be encouraged to germinate if a very squishy berry is found and
"squashed" into a small slit in the bark of a tree. I have seen it
done like this by three people, one of whom painted over the mess with
dilute cowpat. All of his took, and a small number of the others did
too. I have since heard that putting a binding over the seed to stop
it falling off is a good idea, but no idea how you do that.
Old-fashioned sticking plaster, perhaps?

I believe you have to be quite specific about the hosts.

mistletoe propogation

JennyC wrote:
: "JWBH" wrote in message
: ...
:: is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?
:
: You can try smearing the seeds onto tree branches...... there was a
: bit about it on gardeners world last week. Takes a while to get going
: and I seem to recall that some type of trees are better than others.
: anyone know which trees are best?
:
: Jenny

I think it was on apple trees in that programme

mistletoe propogation

"Robert" wrote in message
...
JennyC wrote:
: "JWBH" wrote in message
: ...
:: is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?
:
: You can try smearing the seeds onto tree branches...... there was a
: bit about it on gardeners world last week. Takes a while to get going
: and I seem to recall that some type of trees are better than others.
: anyone know which trees are best?
:
: Jenny

I think it was on apple trees in that programme

I have been told that the type of tree the stuff is harvested off will be
the one most likely for it to germinate on. (although how it knows before it
germinates goodness only knows)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

mistletoe propogation

"JWBH" wrote in message
...
is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?
Yes, the berries need to be as ripe as possible which they are sometimes not
at this time, I found it works better on the same tree type as it was
originally found on. The method I used with most success was to mix the
berries to a paste with chicken manure and spread it in cracks under tree
branches, or at least in sheltered cracks so it is not washed away
immediately by heavy rain.
HTH

--
Chris
West Cork
Ireland

mistletoe propogation

wrote in message
ups.com...
JWBH wrote:
is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?

Probably not. Commercial mistletoe will be imported and may not
like
our conditions or our host species. The berries are often waxed or
otherwise treated to make them look shiny, and may not yet be ripe.

That said, the natural way mistletoe spreads is that the berries are
eaten by birds and the seeds excreted onto tree branches. I believe
it
can be encouraged to germinate if a very squishy berry is found and
"squashed" into a small slit in the bark of a tree. I have seen it
done like this by three people, one of whom painted over the mess
with
dilute cowpat. All of his took, and a small number of the others
did
too. I have since heard that putting a binding over the seed to
stop
it falling off is a good idea, but no idea how you do that.
Old-fashioned sticking plaster, perhaps?

I believe you have to be quite specific about the hosts.

I buy British gardening mags and because they are so darned expensive
in this country, I keep them for years and I just finished reading an
article by Monty Don in the Jan 2005 BBC "Gardeners World" on the
annual mistletoe market at Tenbury in the angle where Shropshire,
Worcestershire and Herefordshire meet. He cautions that if buying
mistletoe to only buy British as so much is imported (but is, in his
view inferior).

He says that it grows on cider apple trees there and also says that:
"The seed is deposited on the bark of the host, germinates and puts
its root into the cambium layer and the sapwood, tapping into the
nutrients that the tree is living off. ..... Although the mistletoe
will use the tree for sustenance it will not kill it as it needs the
tree to stay alive." He also says that not all mistletoe will have
berries and that there are male and female plants of which only the
female has berries. He also goes on to say that although the
mistletoe plant loves apples, it is also keen on limes and will also
grow on willow, poplar and oak (although the latter is rare). It will
also grow on laburnums, cotoneaster, weeping ash, rowan and
amelanchier. More likely to grow on rough bark than smooth and will
grow on hawthorn.

"It's normal process of germination is for the berry to be eaten by a
bird, including the mistle thrush, who will then fly off to a branch
nearby and either wipe its beak clean of the sticky flesh,
accidentally depositing the little seed, or it will excrete the seed.
This will be parcelled in its own manure heap. The rain will wash the
seed down the bark until it gets caught in a crack, still with an
amount of nourishment to see it on its way.

I spent a happy hour at Berryfields last February, squidging the slimy
berries into the cracks of the large apple tree at the end of the long
walk. To my complete astonishment we were able to see tiny, almost
microscopic, new growth by mid-summer. these will gradually become
more than just a green nub growing from the side of a branch and will
develop into a tiny sprig"...... etc"

He goes on to say that to just try smearing mistletoe berries onto the
top side of branches of old apple, hawthorn or lime trees.

mistletoe propogation

"Jennifer Sparkes" wrote:
snip
... it 'takes' best if one puts it on
the same type of tree from whence it came - ie apple to apple,
birch to birch, whatever.

Though not sure how one knows on which sort of tree the shop
bought Mistletoe was originally growing .....
----
I remember being told that before pressing a Mistletoe berry into
the bark, it is always a good idea to first wound the underside of
the tree branch, as doing so ensures a greater germinating success.
I have often tried germinating mistletoe on old apple trees without
any success. If I had succeeded, it seems that I would not have
had any fruit for the first six to seven years.

MikeCT

mistletoe propogation

Quote:

Originally Posted by JennyC

I tried this a couple of years ago, on apple, crab apple, quince and pear, from some very ripe seeds collected one April. Several of the seeds actually germinated, but the emerging shoots failed to penetrate into the tree, although I put them all at locations of some past damage. I shall try a knife and bird-poo next time.

Walking around a suburb of Cheltenham a couple of weeks ago, we saw loadsa mistletoe. It was mainly on hawthorn, to our surprise. I suggested perhaps it favoured Rosaceae, but it was pointed out to me that mistletoe growing on oak is favoured by Panoramix/Getafix the druid in Asterix books. Then we saw some on what appeared to be a sycamore or Norway maple. There is a picture of it on Wikipedia growing on birch. So I think it is quite catholic in its tastes. It does seem to be more common in damper locations. I wonder if water-retaining moss/lichen on the tree helps it establish in natural situation?

mistletoe propogation

In addition to being vaguely host specific, its clearly fairly sensitive
to climate. An earlier poster quoted "Gardeners World on the
annual mistletoe market at Tenbury in the angle where Shropshire,
Worcestershire and Herefordshire meet". That part of the country seems
to have mistletoe on every other tree, whether apple, oak ... but
probably not pine. However this far north (yorkshire) its sufficiently
rare that the local floras give specific place references for individual
plants. I don't remember seeing it even on apple trees in Norfolk.
Here's an article http://www.ciao.co.uk/Mistletoe__Review_5617035
which says its restricted to the south because of the lack of
mistle-thrushes in the north. This is bullshit. Most years I see a
good number of these birds in spring (though maybe they go south when
the mistletoe is fruiting??).
Anyway, I've tried the suggested technique using shop bought mistletoe
(from unknown hosts) twice on hawthorns (which is what I have) without
success. Reading others comments I note that I didn't use chicken
manure and maybe I'll try that next time. Possibly there's something
there that triggers germination.
I notice that the original poster wanted to propagate "from a sprig of
it" which suggests a cutting to me. I'm no expert but I'd guess thats
impossible. Parasitic plants develop a special organ (haustoria) to
interface to the host. I can't see it forming if you simply poked a
sprig into a hole in the bark of the host.

I googled on mistletoe cuttings propagation and found :-
Methods and cuttings for mass propagation of plant parasites
US Patent 6792715 - which is the sort of patent that brings the
patent system into disrespect. You can read it at
http://ep.espacenet.com/numberSearch?locale=en_EP
shove US6792715 into the "number' box and hit 'search".
Click on the title when it come up. Hit "original document"
and "save full document" to get the complete patent.
Note that the parasites are to be grown on the host from seed
and the host branches (with parasites) grown on as cuttings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWBH (Post 680776)

is it possible to propogate mistletoe from a sprig of it please?

Mistletoe success! Having previously said that my attempts at putting mistletoe seeds on my garden trees didn't work, I now see that one of them has just started putting out a couple of shoots, almost 3 years after I stuck the seed on. On a crab apple.