North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Ron Powell, PhD" <Botrytis@fuse.net>]

I agree with everything that Jerry said.  I sometimes will actually double 
bag the scions as well as put them in bundles of 10 and wrap with a damp 
paper towel.  I use paper towels because they are less likely to mold.  I 
check the bundles and dampen them again if necessary or replace the paper 
towels if I see any signs of mold.

Another choice is to use the Glad Press'n Seal.  It will almost make a water 
tight seal when wrapped around the scion wood.  So, you really need to make 
sure that the paper towels are not too wet to prevent mold.

Another way is too melt the wax in an old crock pot filled with water and 
dip the scion wood entirely into the crock pot.  The entire scion wood will 
now be covered with a very thin layer of wax.  A lot of trouble but if you 
have just a little scion wood it might be worth the effort.

Another thing to remember is that ethylene gas given off by vegetables and 
fruit stored in the refrigerator will harm the scion wood.  It is best to 
have a dedicated refrigerator to store scion wood.

Ron.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Jwlehman@aol.com>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] treatment of scions


> In a message dated 2/25/2011 7:40:03 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> david.maxwell@dal.ca writes:
>
> > It was suggested that the better way is to dip the ends in
> > some sort of wax to "seal" them, and then store them dry. Will they dry
> > out like this, and will
> > the drying not kill the scions just as surely?   Any thoughts or advice?
>
> I hip the ends in wax (my mix includes a little petroleum jelly to soften
> it) then store if freezer zip lock bags as sandwich baggies leak moisture
> slowly. Mold may indicate too much moisture. I wet the paper towel then 
> squeeze
> out all the water I can. Set the storage frig to the coldest temp. A 
> little
> frost doen't hurt. I'll start cutting in another week. The best place to
> store scion wood is on the tree.
>
> Jerry
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