Many people are gathering scions now and I to would like to ship that last package or two for the season but I’m holding off due to the miserable cold. How low can scions go and for how long until they are no longer viable? If this last package or two belongs to you the second this melts I’m sending these off! There are rumors we will rebound from the 0 degrees it was to 52 degrees by Thursday. Did I mention 2-5 more inches snow tomorrow? This link discusses temperatures. If it was 0 and 30 tomorrow I would have sent them but it’s cold and staying cold for the moment. http://www.uvm.edu/~fruit/treefruit/tf_horticulture/topworking.pdf
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I have had ice in scion storage bags that got colder than I would have liked in my scion fridge. No negative effects that I have noticed once they were grafted. Its not like trees have built in heaters and they go through constant freeze - thaw cycles. Make sure there is adequate moisture in the bag and I dont think there is much to worry about. I would rather have scions be cold than to get too warm.
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didn’t someone mention GRIN or other “big-boy” groups sometimes froze scions in blocks of ice for long-term?
I get nervous when wood freezes myself, and haven’t had extensive experience, but if it was dormant a freeze should be what it was used to anyway–I think the bigger issue is freeze-thaws busting cell walls, and dessication over time. Neither of which is a guarantee if it freezes, although the risk certainly increases.
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I think the main thing for scions is to prevent dissication. Cold by itself is not so important. Trees have natural protection against freezing. Last year I grafted the first bunch of scions at the end of Feb. And then we had the cold spell with the lowest night temperature of 0 F. Everything survived and the grafts were fine.
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Good to know…thanks for posting Antmary
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I was thinking about this today and it made me wonder how cold scions get in the unheated luggage compartment of airplanes flying at 30,000 ft.
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“at 36,000 feet the standard outside air temperature is -56.5°C (-69.7°F)”
However, everything that I’ve read states that the cargo areas typically stay above freezing.
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I’ve cut some this week. First time I’ve ever harvested scions before the first of March.
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I’ve had a bench grafted quince ice over in a dorm fridge, and the scion and tree were fine.
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I read a warning the other day so this is not my experience but I think it’s true:
In a temp drop trees will use up some sugar/food keeping their sensitive parts from being damaged so it’s best to wait a few days when the temp comes back up, to let the twigs resupply. We want them to be as full of nutrients as possible, yah?
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