Preparing Scions for Shipping

Great instruction Mark !
For some reason, if I go out to field graft and don’t have the scions prewrapped, I invariably make the cuts first. Then I have “duh” :roll_eyes: moment, remembering I was supposed to wrap the scion THEN make the cuts. I try wrap the scion too quickly, while fumbling it around and generally making a mess of it! So now I wrap scions indoors before ever heading out to graft! One less thing to forget, anyway.

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I think so long as the buds are tight and you can scrape to see healthy green cambium, a stick is probably still good. I was pretty impressed that they made it. It probably helped that persimmons are a little slow to break dormancy.

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I had apple scion in my fridge I had forgotten about. I checked it about a year later, and some of it still showed green when I scraped it. I didn’t graft with it, but was very surprised to see that.

Yes, it’s taking 4 days to send a letter from Berea KY to Somerset KY (used to be one day)…but still I got a letter from Charlotte NC postmarked one day and received the next in Somerset KY so you’re right about the erratic service.

Politics and budgets. (And raising prices on little people so they can handle the delivery business of Amazon and UPS for less than it costs them).

(AND, no, it’s not a myth…the post office saw business declining and employee layoffs coming…so the postal union figured out job security by raising prices on me by 10% and charging Amazon much less for the same package because of volume.)

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I agree with both reasons. The dedication prevention is primary, but it is good to shift some of the grafting work into the winter time. I never have enough time in the spring and it saves some time for me to be able to grab the scions and start grafting, rather than spending time putting parafilm on right before grafting. The only downside of doing it early is that you waste a bit of parafilm by covering the whole stick, while if you do it at grafting time right after cutting to length (not after putting it on the tree- that causes mis-alignment as you noted) you only cover the part that won’t be shaved down to a wedge (for cleft grafts).

In balance to that small loss, you get better dessication protection and time-shift work into the winter. The one thing to watch out for is wrapping too many sticks and ending up with a lot of wood (and wasted parafilm) that you don’t use for grafting. Sometimes I wrap a quantity that I know I will use and may have a few other backup sticks in the bag which are unwrapped.

Agreed- I think sending on Monday is best, as you’ve got a very good chance for it to be delivered that week, without sitting at the post office over a weekend. I think this is the same reason that most nurseries send out their stock on Mondays.

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I like to cut them, leave them out for a bit so the cuts dry, and then in bundles of 2-3(singles are okay too) wrap them up snug in plastic wrap. It’s cheap and fast and works great. I don’t wash them for people. When I receive scion, depending on how they look I may or may not do the bleach clean. I think scion for grafting is much more forgiving than cuttings for rooting when it comes to cleaning the sticks.

If I am storing them for some time, and I received from someone else, I will clean if needed and then wrap in plastic usually in bundles of 2-3 and then put them in a Ziploc and store in the garage fridge. I think adding a lightly dampened paper to the Ziploc bag is fine, especially if they are already wrapped in plastic.
The damp paper towel thing I feel really is a variable, for me…our air is drier than a popcorn fart and stuff dries out quickly. Somewhere that has relatively moderate to high ambient humidity probably doesn’t need it and it only invites problems.

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Paper towels will mildew. Use damp newsprint. Supposedly the modern soy-based ink is anti-fungal.

I happen to be in possession of a shrink-wrapper from a previous life. I don’t use it to shrink-wrap scion wood. I use the heat-knife to slice zip-lock bags vertically making narrow ones out of two-gallon ones. These are ideal to me for separating the scion varieties. I can open them and reseal them at the narrow zip-lock end. I don’t always get a good seal at the zip-lock or along the sliced edge, so the damp newsprint provides a reserve of moisture.

I don’t know whether I’ll be attending any scion exchanges this spring because of the social distancing required in a Plague year. In previous years, I’ve picked up January prunings and sorted through them for decent scions. I would hold them briefly in my root cellar before transferring them to @wildforager for safekeeping until his seminars in March. I think he refrigerated them.

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Interesting about the newsprint.
I like the idea about dividing Ziplocs. I wonder if my Food Saver would work, I will have to try that sometime.

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Good Point Bob. I am pretty frugal and hate to waste parafilm.

:joy: too funny! we are not that dry here!

This is a really clever idea! I may try that! Like @cis4elk, I hadn’t thought of newsprint being a better option than paper towels. Plus, it’s basically free! love that!

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That’s actually a myth. Bulk shipments are one of their biggest income streams right now, since regular mail volume fell off a cliff. It costs more for Joe Public because we’re showing up with one or two or ten packages, instead of a truckload of pre-sorted packages. It’s the volume discount. If Amazon was getting such a good deal, they wouldn’t be putting so much money into their Prime delivery service.

You and I can get the bulk rate, however, if you use a service like pirateship.com.

I’ll stop now, since I don’t want to get any further off topic.

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I received some wrapped in “newspaper” from a trade this spring. The person who sent them said the same thing. Indeed wet paper towels mold fairly quickly and the newspaper doesn’t. Specifically though, they advised using the “slick” paper that advertisement inserts are printed on.

I also received some where only the two cut ends were dipped in wax. Very nice, cut one end, create a tongue, straight onto rootstock.

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And that may be all you need for many scions. Still …

I can’t get over how good an idea wax-dipping is. I’ve stayed away from it because I just don’t do very many scions, but I do have a little bitty slow cooker somewhere, and I might just try using that this year. Dax (@barkslip) gives a demo here: Grafting Oak WB Using Fieldcraft Topgrafter Pt.1 Waxing Scions - YouTube and @Just Anne4 has her version: First time grafters: what's working, what isn't? - #165 by JustAnne4 And here’s a post Dax made a while back: 2017 Grafting Thread - #9 by Levers101 .

The wax, by the way, should also help protect the scion from issues caused by mildew.

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Everybody should understand that you don’t want to wax the entire scion for refrigeration. Just the cut ends that are nipped off.

Wax should be a very thin coating, also, when grafted. Too much wax and it takes about two years for the elements to diminish it and while the whole time the wood cannot breathe underneath you coating and the wood is affected in that it turns sooty black or spotty black. It’s gotta be a mildew but I’m not any scientist, I’ll tell you that. I just know it’s not natural nor good. So, look at my recipe here to do it right.

Dax

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Barkslip, good advice. You keep them hydrated with a few drops of water or some damp paper or other material and securely in plastic (wrap or a sandwich/freezer bag) and wax is no additional help. Wax is only a help if you don’t keep them stored in a cool damp place.

And, a little mold or mildew on scionwood wipes off, or a little weak bleach solution then a clear water rinse restores them in all the cases I’ve encountered mildew on scionwood.

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The whole point is about having the condensation shown inside the bag as just a small patch of super fine water droplets. About 100 water droplets in an area a cm tall and 3-5 cm long and at the bottoms of the bags. Until you get your wood in the proper moisture phase (I say w/o paper towels now since I’ve have time to think about this for near 20-years) you’ll need to monitor each bag individually once a week to dry the wood out some more (most common is wood is too wet for refrigeration storage) because you are seeing large water droplets on the insides of the bags vs that fine mist we’re talking about - you’re going to have to stay on top of each of the bags from the beginning until months and months later, checking the bags every few weeks or once-monthly so the fine mist particles are present, & even 6-months later if you still have them in your fridge and decide to use them, you’ve had to monitor them from the beginning…

Sure I don’t see a big problem with using a completely squeezed to the point of no water able to leave a paper towel piece (the size of a small marble for a smaller amount of wood, or a large marble in size of wadded up paper towel for a large bag of wood) but ultimately if you can get the wood to show the whole story of what’s actually happening inside the bag vs. an environment semi-controlled with artificial measures, you would have better taken the time to properly do what it is that Jay and I are doing and that is to do a quick dip in bleach/water; and then to hydrate for 15 or so minutes & then to dry for an hour or so before bagging and refrigerating, you’ve basically made shortcuts that reduce the longevity the scion(s) can live.

Does this make sense? It’s the same as going to the hardware store and buying all the right hardware and components to do a job strong, vs. buying materials and hardware that you’re going to have to re-do all over again come a couple years.

I go full out in most things I do. Construction is one of them. Clean work of (a) build is another. I don’t leave my work to be viewed as ‘it could’ve been done better had (I) put just a little more effort in.’ I don’t do that. The question is, how will you do your work when it comes to these scions?

See ya my friend blues.

DAX
P.s. for anyone reading… that mildew on “wood” outdoors is completely different from mildew on scions being shipped/stored. That outside mildew from being caked under wax is not an external problem on the wood, but rather it is now a living fungus “under” and a part of the outer bark. This needed clarification now so nobody confuses the two.

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I’ve seen pix of your place posted in past. Anyhow, no objection to being a perfectionist.
I am at some things, don’t know that taking care of seeds or grafting wood is one of them.
A lovely 2021 to ya’ Barkslip.

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You’re a nice guy. Have a fun day.

Dax

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For the visual learners Jaime made a nice video on this subject. https://youtu.be/7ToL5QHIDq4

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Thanks @DCinFLX , I will check it out!

My main objection to how many scions are shipped is excessive moisture. It is usually unnecessary and often damaging. I don’t receive dried out scions, but I’ve often gotten moldy ones. The combination of standing water and warmth during shipping is a recipe for disaster. If the scions are sealed in a ziplock dry, very little water is likely to be lost and there is no risk of mold and decay. If one is to use anything, damp (not wet!) shavings are far superior. A bag of pine shavings as sold for pet bedding will last half a lifetime probably. They have more resistance to mold than paper towels which are like petri dishes since they contain no inhibitory chemistry. They are also easier to get at the right moisture level, while “dampening” a paper towel is very difficult.

I have started treating mine in hydrogen peroxide. It is easy and you don’t have to dilute it. I just rinse, maybe with a few drops of soap to get better adhesion, and lay out to dry completely on the outside, then bag them. Some scions dry out easy, like peaches and almonds are especially bad and those I may store with damp shavings. Also things you have to keep a long time, like walnuts. But apples and pears I often store without anything, dry, but sealed. remember that if the bag is sealed, the air inside (most of which should be pressed out anyway) will quickly reach 100% humidity and inhibit further moisture loss.

On arrival and before grafting, it can be helpful, or good insurance, to cut the butt ends and soak in water in the fridge overnight.

I send first class almost always and it should be adequately fast.

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