How low can temps be for scionwood storage

General Fruit Growing
#21

Thank you for posting that Bernie.

I was particularly interested in your comment on the video about the Washington state study which suggested the optimum temps to store scionwood were -5 to -1C (23 to 30F). Most publications I read say to store scionwood from 34 to 45F, which I think is way too warm. I suspect these numbers are just repeated over and over because one writer read it in a publication, and assumed it’s the best temp, so it goes down in another publication.

I like your bucket idea. Certainly a low cost alternative. I can see it working well in Canada, and Russia as you mention. I wonder if it’s been tried in warmer climates? In KS/MO where I live the ground will freeze but many times thaw in the middle of winter. And snow generally doesn’t stay on the ground long.

According to Kansas State University, the current soil temp is 41F (as I write this - it will probably change by tomorrow) in Olathe KS (the closest station to my location) at a 4" depth. This is after some pretty cold weather (for this climate) we’ve had lately, though the air temperature today got to 60F. We can have some pretty wild swings here.

I think shaded ground could help some, but I can’t help thinking there is a big difference in climate in Alberta, where it gets to -40 (Celsius or Fahrenheit) with lots of snow, and here where sometimes it gets only to 0F for the winter low and sometimes have a week of 60F for a high in the wintertime, with no real snow cover.

https://mesonet.k-state.edu/agriculture/soiltemp/

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#22

Lots of good points here, Olpea.
I usually store my scion wood in an unheated tool shed. Here in the PNWet it is usually in the 40’s in the winter. I used to have problems with mold when I didn’t squeeze out the moisture from the newspaper/paper towel that I stored the scions with in a plastic bag. They will sometimes leaf out, but that is mostly when I am still grafting by late April. For persimmon, I have to store in the fridge, but we have a full fridge that is almost always full of food, and I try not to complain about lack of scion storage when my wife is an amazing cook.

I doubt that the scions would store quite as well here in the winter using the bucket in the ground method. I spend too many days cutting scion in the narrow window (usually Dec-Jan) that I need to cut them and I don’t want to keep digging up and burying scionwood over and over again.
I love the ingenuity and innovation, though.

John S
PDX OR

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