would this hurt them if well wrapped? got some early and want to keep the viable till spring.
My thought is that if they were left outside theyād likely freeze anyway. But if youāre using a self-defrosting freezer they could become dehydrated and thatās deadly.
Just my thoughts, mind you - I havenāt actually tried it.
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thats what i thought as well. i have them sealed / well wrapped tightly in saran then in a heavy freezer ziplock.
A good time to get a little into overkill, ay?
I have friends who catch small salmon and freeze them in a quart or 1/2 gallon milk carton filled with water. Now thereās a thought ā¦
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Iām pretty sure this topic has come up in the past, and the consensus was that standard freezer temperatures are too cold for scion wood.
I have kept scion wood in the bottom of the fridge where the temperature would dip just below freezing and it stored a very long time at barely freezing temps.
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Why not just keep in fridge? Theyll keep it colder than dormancy temps
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Sounds like a worthy science experiment! Zone-4 hardy wood should survive fine at standard freezer temps. Moisture could be controlled through standard means, such as wax sealing end cuts, addition of moist media or ice, and containment in a plastic bag. An added bonus would be that thereās no risk of mold.
If you give it a shot, let us know how it works.
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I donāt mind going outside with my non-contact thermometer and taking reads off zone 4 seedlings. But I can tell you right now they go below 0.
Regardless something about having frozen Red Currant and Seaberries and other things in my freezer for a year tells me they lose their moisture over time. It shows up as collections of ice outside the berries. Google calls this Freezer Burn.
The ice that collects in a sealed bag over a long time is caused by the migration of moisture out of the food and into the surrounding air within the package, a process often associated with freezer burn .
I cannot tell you if the freezer is worse than having them outside in a cooler or the bottom of the fridge. I could imaging in freezer bags in the fridge with 2 wet napkins in the bag to provide moisture, since my bareroot seedlings seem shipped approximately that way and I know they are stored in winter in a āroot cellarā type arrangement.
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i put some z4 rated b. currant cuttings in the freezer and some in the crisper. ill try rooting them come early spring and post the results here. they should take down to -35f out doors. my freezer doesnt even go below -10, so if well wrapped and double bagged common sense says they should be ok. im just trying to extend the scions viability for a longer time to make it until mid apr.
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Not advocating freezing scions, but I would think that freezing in a block of ice would be a way to circumvent dessication, perhaps(?) with less disruption of cell walls/membranes.
Personally, Iād prefer to store scions āon the treeā.
Iām now classified as zone 7; I never start cutting scionwood until after Valentineās Day (unless Iām cutting to send to someone in zone 8 or 9), and have, on many occasions, collected dormant scionwood well into late March. I would think that you folks in z4 could easily wait until March or April to cut and things would still be reliably dormant, and would hold for months in the fridge.
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Also a fan of storing scions on the tree. No need to cut them until it starts getting above freezing again.
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Steve Iād recommend dipping cut ends in wax or wrapping in buddy tape, then putting in a bag or airtight container in the fridge. Should store for many months if not years if properly stored. Thereās a thread kicking around where a dilute bleach solution is recommended and I agree with that strategy, just make sure they are dried afterwards to limit mold. Iāve found mold to be my long term challenge over dessication with proper storage.
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To avoid dessication I pack scion wood in a damp mixture of 50% wood shavings and 50% coco coir. I put this in each individual Ziploc along with the scion. I then pack all the ziplocked scion wood in more wood chip/coco coir mix inside a larger airtight tupperware/Rubbermaid type container. I pack the container tightly with the storage media to exclude all air. I then place the container at the very bottom of my fridge where it will often freeze.
As long as the temperature is barely above or just below freezing the scion seems to store for a very long time without any damage. Iāve found scion wood Iāve stored using this method looking perfect still into September.
I donāt bother to seal the scion ends with wax, the damp storage media alone keeps the scion wood in perfectly good shape. The mixture should be damp, but definitely not soggy. Iāve never encountered any mold using this method.
I often give the scion a soak in water and ice cubes before I graft, but that is more to ensure the wood doesnāt dry out while grafting on a warm/sunny day.
This method may not work for you unless you have an area in your fridge that holds temp at just below freezing. I wouldnāt recommend using this method at the far lower temps attained in a freezer compartment or especially an even colder chest freezer.
You may not like my method as it is a rather bulky storage method, but please do not post some AI generated critique of my methodology as I come to the forum to interact with other growers not a machine.
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This thread has just about everything you need to know about scion preparation and storage.
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