hello all!
i got a whole bunch of scion wood from the the home orchard society exchange
a week and half ago. Got there at the end and collected a bunch of varieties.
i am new to grafting, just took a class recently, have twelve root stock trees
to graft onto.
need some help. i am not sure if i am caring for the scions properly, i have
them in my fridge with the ends covered in wet newspaper, wrapped in plastic.
took all fruit out of the fridge, but there are still veggies. please help me
determine if they are still viable, and how to better store. would like to
offer them up to people who are interested, take some home! email me.
cesily
cesily,
“…have twelve root stock trees to graft onto.â€
You bought a dozen rootstocks at the exchange, or you’ve got 12 individual trees currently growing you plan to ‘top work?’
“i am not sure if i am caring for the scions properly, i have
them in my fridge with the ends covered in wet newspaper, wrapped in plastic.â€
Sounds perfect! Just make sure there’s not a lot of air trapped inside the plastic and that it’s ‘sealed’ so the moisture can’t be evaporated off by the refrigerator. Also, I’ve stored ‘Scion’s’ for many months over consecutive years and never had a ‘reaction’ between them and what-ever else was in my refrigerator. If the plastic bag is sealed (as simple as a twist-tie, or even rubber-banded ends) its contents are contained.
“please help me determine if they are still viable…â€
If they’re ‘sealed & damp’ and just a couple weeks out from the show – they’re fine. When I’m grafting, and curious about a scion, I’ll nick the tip with my knife at the top of the scion to see if there’s any ‘green’ showing under the bark. Though an uncoated end (there’s no need to coat them) will be brown and somewhat dried, around one sixteenth of an inch down it should be green and clean!
You can generally see a problem; either it’s shriveled, as in dried; or it’s begun to push its buds in an effort to grow (even in the dark!). A few threads away we’ve just been informed that a day soaking in water may ‘re-hydrate’ them… I’d be wary. And once they’ve pushed, inside a refrigerator, it’s just too late.
And once they’ve pushed, inside a refrigerator, it’s just too late.
I once received some plum wood from California that was pushing a bit already. Stuck it in a moist bag in the frig and waited for May to come.
I was shocked to see that it had not stopped pushing in the frig, but had pushed even more! Now there were tiny leaves and stuff showing, all pale. I went ahead and grafted anyway, but covered the whole scion part with Doc Farwell glue, effectively sealing in all moisture. The warm sun could not dry the scion out.
The crazy things grew right through the glue layer in a week or two like nothing unusual had happened. I was very happy. Now I routinely cover everything in Doc Farwells. Even my clothes, inadvertantly. 
Idyllwild
simplepress
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Viron
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