how to propogate mistletoe?

[RedSky]

Hi,
I had to have some trees pruned for their health. One, a nice 20 yr elm has been my mistletoe tree. The guys came when I was out and needless to say, while they did a very nice and respectful job, they cut out all the mistletoe. The 2 or 3 batches of it. I managed to recover most of it, all the seed bearing parts. I'm hoping I can dry this seed, save it and reintroduce it to the elm, as well as to an oak and an ash. I would like to learn what method will give me the best chance.

peace and blessings.

Bill

[Art]

The germination rate for mistletoe can be discouragingly low; in the neighborhood of 15-20%. The sooner the seed can be introduced to a host plant the better your chances will be. Alternately you can try to propogate from cuttings. Of course the best way is to process the seed through a bird but that does tend to be a bit hit and miss.

Sounds like a nifty project! Good Luck!

[Selene]

From what I've gathered (I've never tried it myself), one has to have the fresh or rehydrated mistletoe berries—you need the gooey stuff inside to make the seeds stick to the host tree. I did a little googling (search string propagating mistletoe) to see if I was on target and found a couple of articles that seem to bear that out. See http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2008/ ... letoe.html and http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/pe ... 533965.stm. (These seem to be UK sources but I expect the principle of squeezing seeds out of berries and smearing them on the host tree ought to work wherever you try it...if it's going to work at all, that is.) I think I've also seen references to scarifying the bark or making cuts into which to press the seeds. Good luck!

[ShadowCat]

As said, you crush misletoeberries into crevices of the bark of the future-host tree. Make sure it's a place where the rain doesn't wash away the seeds, nor rots them. 10-20 fresh berries per tree you seek to inoculate are not to much as germination is low, use more when using older or rehydrated berries. Germination is slow and it might take up to two years for you to see an actual misletoe growing.

[Sciethe]

It is helpful to make a small incision in the outer bark right in to the green cambium to give each seed a start and stop it washing off the tree. The inscision should be narrow so that the edges of the wound grip the seed. Tricky work, but it does pay off.
S

[RedSky]

thanks so much, i'll try to keep these hydrated till saturday when I can attempt this. Yeah Art, "through a bird but that does tend to be a bit hit and miss.
", one of those I wish i'd said

thanks again

[Sciethe]

Good luck! Just don't fall out of the tree...
S