Mistletoe not so easy to grow

Q. Can I grow mistletoe in my garden to use for Christmas decorations?

Dan from Youngstown

A. Although Dan may enjoy stealing a kiss under the mistletoe, he’ll have to get it from somewhere other than the Mahoning Valley.

Mistletoe is hardy to Zone 6a. Although some hardiness zone maps list us as a Zone 6, it is rare that Zone 6 plants become well-established in our area and bloom every year, as realized by many after last year’s severe winter.

Deep southern Ohio and farther south would be an acceptable area to grow mistletoe.

Although most of us have fake, decorative mistletoe in our homes during the holiday season, we can get the real stuff.

Most of the live mistletoe comes from Oklahoma and Texas. And, many times, the berries are not included because they are quite poisonous.

Phoradendron is the botanical name of the mistletoe we use during the holidays.

In Greek, this word means “thief of the tree.” This explains that mistletoe is, in fact, a parasite. It lives on trees and grows into the tree for survival.

A mistletoe plant produces chlorophyll, but it depends on trees for both water and nutrients. Mistletoe grows on hundreds of tree species throughout the United States.

It gains establishment on the trees by way of a bird’s digestive system.

The birds eat the berries and thus deposit the seeds back into tree canopies where the seeds stick to branches and eventually germinate.

Instead of growing roots, the mistletoe plant grows haustoria into the tree’s conductive tissue. These structures harvest the water and nutrients from the tree.

So, you can always try to grow mistletoe here in the Valley, but you may be impacting the trees due to the mistletoe’s ability to grow into the tree’s conductive tissue.

And, those poisonous berries may get into the wrong hands.

To find out more about mistletoe, go to http://go.osu.edu/mistletoe.

Eric Barrett is OSU Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Mahoning County. Call the office hotline at 330-533-5538 to submit your questions. Clinic hours vary this time of year due to the winter season.