Unsecure chicken perches

[Charlottechicken]

Has anyone ever done this?

 

I was lucky enough to find a free sprig of Mistletoe on the street before Christmas, which has 20 berries on it, and wondered if I can freeze the berries to attempt to grow later on? If I attempt to attach them to a host at the moment all these hungry wild birds will eat them!

 

Also, I don't have any of the traditional host trees so wondered if they would mind Hazel, Lilac, Plum, Pear or Mock Orange?

 

I think I need to squish the berries into cracks on the host and that I should make sure I have no cuts on my fingers when I do this, as Mistletoe is poisonous. Do I have all this right?

 

Any advice would be appreciated

[emchook]

Not sure exactly but I just thought I would write this :

 

Although lovely .. Mistletoe is VERY poisonous

 

While the berries are the most poisonous part of the plant, the leaves are also poisonous and you should never ingest them.

 

So dont make tea out of the leaves !

 

And make sure children and pets are kept well away .

 

Have fun !

[Valkyrie]

I picked up a fair few berries a couple of years ago that had fallen onto the footpath from a huge ball up above. I squished it into the hawthorne - still nothing. I even hung up some sprigs for the birds to eat one winter - nothing. Then last year I bought some from a local garden nursery (they were collected from their own trees) and squished it in as before, but better. And guess what? Still nothing! Hope you have better luck!

[chooklady]

Nice but mistletoe is a parasitic plant and eventually will kill it's host tree so maybe not such a good idea!!

[Valkyrie]

Oh good - I'll have another bash in all the hawthorns then!

[Old Speckled Hen]

You have to pick the berries off the plant in spring I think as they are not ripe in winter.

True, it is parasitic but shouldn't kill anything if you keep it trimmed. It does take a few years to get to that size, however. It's farmed in France

[Valkyrie]

That's right - that's when I collected the fallen berries (should have been well ripe by then). Or maybe they need to be pooped out by the birds - bit of fertilizer to start them off.

[Charlottechicken]

Thanks for all your comments folks

 

I found some sketchy info on another forum, the one for 'Country Life' magazine.

 

However, a bit more searching revealed this website http://www.mistletoe.org.uk an interesting read, with good advice about attempting to grow your own. Like OSH says, it is slow growing and does take many years to reach a commercially viable ball, but once it does, it grows quite rapidly. It will also not affect the host too much but they advise keeping an eye on the branch it is on, any fruiting tree will have much less fruit on the branch with the mistletoe.

 

We have an old and thriving trade in mistletoe (Herefordshire/Worcestershire/Shropshire), and English mistletoe is regarded as superior to any other

[Old Speckled Hen]

I'd love to have a go at this but it's too cold/rainy up here. I've never seen any growing wild. Where I used to live there were huge balls of the stuff in lime trees

[Charlottechicken]

I think I will have to fashion some sort of plastic bottle mini greenhouse affair to fit over the branch when I do try, as I can see it being to cold and rainy down here too

[majorbloodnock]

You do realise, don't you, that "giz a kiss" works just as well as mistletoe, but without the horticultural hassle?

 

[Valkyrie]

Not in my house Major! It's usually something like "go away".

[The Dogmother]

I've tried it in the past Claire, but with no luck. So, sorry, no tips here.

[chickencam]

We have loads growing wild around here, when the leaves are off the trees you can see huge balls of it, mostly too high to reach though.

[Alis girls]

We have sem growing wild in trees at top of road - way too high to get any though. Major - you have a way with words although I wouldve though you would have put it with slightly more decorum than "giz a kiss" more "would you like to partake of some tonsil tennis?" or "fancy a snog"

[Valkyrie]

Keep an eye on them for a windy day - lot's drop to the ground and that's when you can collect them. There's loads in Odiham just over the pavement which is where I collected mine - and they'll be just ripe too.

[chickenanne]

I tried last year, and failed (I think) on an old apple tree. Apparantly if you wait until the berries starting going mushy and rotten that can good, without having to wait until spring.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Look what I found

http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/product.html?product_id=666&-session=shopper:56AA1EC70585219C4BtVFFFF39F3

[Charlottechicken]

Interesting!

 

I haven't done anything with my seeds yet, was planning on having a go at this around mid March.