Mistletoe hosts...

[spandit]

I'll get a photo of my father's mistletoe tree in due course. There's a bit of apple in there somewhere but otherwise it's completely covered. Reckon the apple tree is about 60 years old - I used to climb on it when I was younger (over 30 years ago ) so it must have been a reasonable age back then (to support 5 cousins at once )

[timbernut]

We cleared an apple tree of it a few years ago, it was totally covered but in the same garden it was on field maple , birch and hazel, which I hadn't seen before or since

[tree79]

Heres a few pics I got last year. on a snake bark maple.

I have seen it a lot of acers, pop, hawthorn, sorbus and robina.

[Mick Dempsey]

Here on Hazel, which I’ve never seen before.

[peds]

Bump

 

 

I've got a little pile of mistletoe left over from Christmas, I'm going to smear it into cracks in a few of my trees. Any hot tips? 

 

I'm thinking 3 or 4 berries per crevice to mimic the application of bird faeces, would this be about right?

 

Edit

Having read through the thread I'll be posting it into hawthorn, hazel, birch, an oak, and a few of the many black poplar I have, in the name of science.

Edited January 3 by peds

[Scuttlefish]

I'm in North Yorkshire where mistletoe is not common at all- in fact almost unknown, although there is some in West Yorks.  I got a branch from a mate near Pershore ( from an apple) and stuck about 3 or 4 berries in several clumps on an apple, in forks to help them stay put. - not a particulary old tree - they germinated after several months. They send out a process which enters the bark and starts off the whole life cycle. I got 4 germinations from about 20 seeds. After a couple of years the bunches are about 10-12 inches in diameter. No berries so far. 

[daveatdave]

use a pruning knife or similar splay a small part of the bark and pop the berry in 

there used to be some in my gran's orchard that my dad did and that is on the north/ west Yorkshire boundary. they were on apples.   

[Peasgood]

Top tip is collect some berries closer to Easter when they are ripe, but I have had very limited success from Christmas berries. About 5% success at Christmas, more like 80% mid March.

It is uncommon around here but I have hundreds in my orchards because I put it there.

[peds]

2 hours ago, Peasgood said:

Top tip is collect some berries closer to Easter when they are ripe, but I have had very limited success from Christmas berries.

Very useful for to know, thanks Peas. Sure I'll stick them in anyway and cross my fingers, and keep my eyes out for better future berries. I don't recall seeing any near me before, ever... 

[sime42]

4 hours ago, Peasgood said:

Top tip is collect some berries closer to Easter when they are ripe, but I have had very limited success from Christmas berries. About 5% success at Christmas, more like 80% mid March.

It is uncommon around here but I have hundreds in my orchards because I put it there.

 

Just curious; why are you keen to get lots of mistletoe? I'm no Druid, but I'd have thought it wasn't a great idea from a commercial fruit tree growers perspective. Doesn't it weaken the trees and lower productivity?