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I had 2 mistletoe plants growing nicely on one of my apple trees until last winter. I'd estimate that they were up to 10 years old & had started to produce berries. Both have died. They just sort of withered & dried up. Could the harsh winter have killed them? Or is it likely to be something else?




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How's the apple tree doing? Is it still well, or dying, or dead?

28 Nov, 2011

 

Hello, the apple tree itself is fine. The only things I can think of apart from the cold (we got down to minus 20 here last winter), is that we did prune the end of the branch the mistletoe is on, but well away from the plants. Also we sprayed some weeds about 10 yards away with glyphosate & maybe some blew up in the air but it would have been minimal.

28 Nov, 2011

 

Hmm, seems odd, doesn't it - its fully hardy, so I was wondering if it was no longer receiving nutrients from the tree, but doesn't sound like that's the explanation. Perhaps it was just too cold for too long.

28 Nov, 2011

 

It's possible that the mistletoe dehydrated in the low temperature. It has a very poor root system and with the dry spring and summer it will have dried out completely.

28 Nov, 2011

 

Thank you both for your thoughts on this. The dehydration does indeed sound like a likely cause. I'm going to try & get some more going this winter anyway & I'll know next time to try & protect it if we have similar conditions again.

29 Nov, 2011

How do I say thanks?

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