A friend give some mistletoe berry's today thought id have a go at growing them on a apple tree that's growing in my garden ???..... any tips?. :)
Try this site:
http://www.mistletoe.org.uk
Good luck!
I've tried squashing them onto apple and oak.........nowt!
Good luck.
I do to, annually, have done for 5 years.....nowt. :'(
A bit slow to get going then :o ;D
In my experience it is a hard thing to get started. Make a small nick in the bark - so that you can flap it over - and squash the berry into this. Then cover it with a material bandage - something natural like cotton. Even then you only have a 30% chance of it starting off. It's a wonder it makes it in the wild! :)
Do about 5 and you should see something eventually.
I believe when it passes through the gut of a bird it germinates quite happily. :-\
Perhaps catch a sparrow, force feed it mistletoe berries and then squeeze it on a branch ;)
DON'T DO THIS! :)
Oh, you spoil all of the fun! ;D ;) ;D
There was a feature on mistletoe growing on GQT a few weeks ago - Bob F said it could take four years to germinate. Makes you wonder in what way that's survival of the fittest ???
Some plants do. They'll germinate slowly, over several years, so eventuially one hits the right conditions to thrive. Mostly it's long-lived plants that aren't reliant on producing a new generation every year.
I remember my Grandad trying every year to get misletoe to grow on an old Bramley, but he never managed to get it to grow.
I have heard that hanging a branch of mistletoe in a tree so that the birds can eat the berries might work better as the seeds will have passed through them.