Properly harvesting and storing cuttings: general tips and tricks

Segments or whole annual shoots, also called cuttings, are the ideal material for the graft.

Graft trees are performed in order to accelerate the propagation of crops, improve their viability and improve the quality of the crop.

However, not all such segments will help to achieve the desired result, so before performing the procedure it is so important to know how to properly save cuttings for vaccination.

Deadlines for Procurement

Most often, shoots are harvested for storage twice a year: at the end of autumn (or at the beginning of winter) or in early spring (after the end of severe cold).

At the end of the autumn season, together with the completion of leaf fall and the beginning of the first frost (down to -15 ° C), cutting of the graft material does not injure the plant, since by that time it already goes into a state of complete rest, and it will be much easier to keep such cuttings until spring. In addition, before the onset of cold weather, shoots already have time to harden well, and natural disinfection occurs along the way (mushrooms and microbes die from frost). The advantages of autumn harvesting cuttings are as follows:

• One-year shoots, used later for vaccination, will not freeze out, which means that the gardener will be able to protect himself in advance from being left without planting material.
• The resting state of the cutting is maintained immediately until the vaccination itself, which is very good, since it is precisely such specimens that are needed to complete the task.

If during the autumn period you did not manage to complete the material harvesting, cutting can be carried out at the end of cold weather, that is, in early spring. All that is needed for this is a pruner and a little garden decoction or ordinary paint.

In the area where winters are not very cold and the temperature does not fall below -20 ° C, no problems with the inoculum should arise. In such conditions, cutting cuttings can be carried out on any winter day.

In the case when the winter is too frosty, with the onset of spring do not forget to check the suitability of the shoots, as they can freeze out.For summer vaccinations, the grafts are cut immediately before the procedure itself.

Requirements and storage conditions

The greatest difficulty before grafting a tree is to keep selected cuttings in good condition. Before the procedure itself, there is usually still a whole winter and an early spring, during which the prepared material can easily deteriorate. Particularly "gentle" - shoots of stone fruits, therefore, when they are planted, it is necessary to follow all the instructions as precisely as possible. The optimum temperature for storage is -2 ... -4 ° C, and in most regions snow drifts with a layer of snow of 50-70 cm are best suited for wintering (of course, if there is no thaw). But this is not the only possible option, but in more detail about all methods of storing the blanks of shoots, you can find out below.

Cut off the shoots should be immediately stored, but before that, wipe each part with a damp cloth, sort by size, tie into small bundles and put into a clean and new plastic bag in which they will be stored until use.

In addition to temperature indicators, humidity in the room with cuttings is also important. For example, in order for the vine pieces to not lose moisture, this value should be kept at the level of 95-100%. Of course, in such conditions gray rot can develop, but it is possible to save the grapes by processing "Hinosol". Soaking off the cuttings just before planting or grafting (12-14 hours in soft water is enough) is used as a compromise option.

Where best to store cuttings, depending on the type of plant

Each plant in its own way requires attention to itself, so it is not surprising that there are some nuances in terms of procurement of material for the scion. Consider the most common storage locations for such blanks.

Storage in the ground

In principle, this storage option can be used for almost any cuttings, but it is best suited for vines. All that is needed is to dig a trench about 30-35 cm deep in a dry and not flooded place and place coniferous branches on its bottom.On top of them are placed the cut shoots, which are then covered with spruce leaves and covered with earth. As an additional shelter, you can use the fallen leaves or straw.

If you build a shelter correctly, the temperature in it will not fall below 0 °, and no frosts or thaws will frighten your cuttings. The best place to store is the northern part of the house or shed where the snow cover will last longer. To protect the blanks from rodents, it is enough to wrap them with a layer of fiberglass, a metal or plastic mesh with small cells or old nylon tights.

In sawdust

In those regions where winters are usually characterized by long thaws and prolonged humidity of snow, frozen sawdust will be a good option for storing cuttings of fruit trees or the same grapes. To organize the shelter, it is necessary to lay harvested beams of future grafts on wet sawdust (on the north side of the house), filling them with another layer 15-20 cm thick from above.In this form, the segments are left in the cold, and as soon as they freeze, it is better to keep the cuttings in the winter with a forty-centimeter layer of dry sawdust, which they cover. The finished structure is additionally hidden under a plastic wrap that protects your workpieces from getting wet. In such a frozen state, the cuttings lie in sawdust until spring, and a few days before inoculation, bale with them is brought into the room and allows it to gradually thaw.

To protect the harvested parts of the shoots from mice and other rodents, sawdust moistened with a solution of creolin and carbolic acid, based on the calculation of 50-60 g of substance on a bucket of water. According to the claims of experienced gardeners who use such a "perfume", animals will definitely bypass your laying.

To preserve the crust when melting snow, you can put the cuttings in tubes, pipes made of polyethylene or bulk plastic bottles. In extreme cases, you can simply wrap the bundles with segments of a multilayer film, leaving an air cavity between it and the blanks.

In the cellar

In the cellar you can store cuttings of almost any cultivated plants in your area: fruit and seed trees, grapes, etc. However, the conditions for them are different.While some will feel great in sackcloth or sawdust, others will prefer sand, peat or moss (spangum). When stored in sawdust, the bundles are placed in a plastic bag in sections cut down and sprinkled with sawdust (preferably from softwood). Tightly tying the bags is not necessary, because the main thing is that the shoots get oxygen.

When stored in the sand, the selected cuttings are placed in boxes with holes for ventilation and covered with a moist substrate. Determining the required degree of moistening of sand is easy: just take a handful and squeeze it in your fist, if you feel the humidity, but the water does not drip - all is well, additional moistening is not required.

When storing the material in the cellar conditions, it is important that the temperature is in the range of -2 ... +1 ° C. It is better, of course, if it keeps at a value of 0 ° C or slightly lower, but, besides the cuttings, other preparations are often stored in the cellar, so you should not go to extremes and transfer the whole room to a minus mode. An ideal variant is 0 ... +2 ° С.

At the same time, we should not forget about the storage features of the cuttings of the vine. For her, the optimal temperature conditions are values ​​slightly above 0 ° C (for example, 0 ... +4 ° C), which allows you to save segments up to mid-March. To control and timely adjust temperature indicators, place a thermometer in the basement. This will help to avoid overheating or overcooling of the material for the stock. Thus, an increase in temperature above +3 ° C causes swelling of the kidneys, which makes the cuttings unsuitable for vaccination.

The most suitable humidity in the cellar is 65-70%, and to increase this indicator (especially necessary when storing grape cuttings), it is enough to put a bucket of water on the floor.

In sand

In addition to the basement, sand can be used to store selected cuttings directly on your site. All you have to do is to dig a trench 50 cm deep (the remaining parameters are not so important) and lay bundles of cuttings on its bottom, having previously covered the "floor" with a layer of important sand (about 5 cm thick). Try to stack bunches close to each other, then fill them with slightly moist, but not very wet sand (layer thickness should be 7-8 cm). The next layer of cover (25–30 cm) should be represented by ground taken out of the pit.If desired, this shelter can be supplemented with a light canopy, presented in the form of a sheet of slate or roofing felt. This option is ideal for storing grape cuttings.

In a refrigerator

If you have a small amount of cuttings, then you can save them until spring by using a domestic refrigerator. By the way, this option will be an excellent answer to the question of how to keep cuttings of roses.

The prepared shoots are pre-placed in a clean plastic bag and placed on the shelf of the refrigerator. It is desirable that the temperature indicators do not exceed +2 ° C, so if you have the opportunity to use the regulator, then you should not neglect them. Considering that there are no completely identical refrigerators, the specific storage location of the prepared segments will be different: it is better for someone to place the package directly under the freezer, for someone in the compartment for greens and vegetables.The main thing to remember: the freezer and the refrigerator are different things, that is, your task is not to freeze the selected cuttings, but simply to keep them cool.

To maintain the desired humidity, you can pre-wrap the cuttings in a damp cloth or paper and only then pack them in bags. Alternatively, this solution is also suitable: first, cut the bundles with paraffin (completely or just the ends) and then wrap them in a moistened cloth and place them in a loosely tied plastic bag.

In the lower compartment, the temperature is usually kept within + 2 ... +4 ° C, which allows storing cuttings there until the end of winter. However, it should not be forgotten that the stone-seed rocks (apricot, plum, cherry plum, etc.) already have buds in March, so keeping them in the fridge is not easy.

How to check the safety of cuttings in the spring

With the arrival of spring and the approach of the graft of cuttings prepared in the fall, the question arises: how to check their quality, that is, the level of preservation. First of all, carefully inspect each segment and conduct a series of simple tests. So, the bark of the cutting must be fresh and smooth, and if it is dry and shriveled, then it can be thrown away, because it is no longer suitable.

With a slight bending, viable cuttings should be elastic and sufficiently elastic, but if your specimen is cracked or broken, it could not survive the winter. With a cross-section, you should see the exposed wood of a light green color with all the signs of freshness, but if this is not the case, then it is better to immediately put the workpiece aside. The buds that are present on a healthy stem usually fit snugly, and their scales are smooth and elastic to the touch.

If you cut such a kidney along, then the cut will be light green, without any brown inclusions.

If the cuttings meet all the above requirements, it remains to check them for possible frostbite. To do this, make fresh slices from the bottom and place each copy in a jar of clean water.

If your workpieces have survived the winter well, the water in the tank will remain completely transparent, but if this is not the case, you will see a yellowish-brownish liquid color. Knowing all the stages of storage and preparation of cuttings for future vaccinations, you will not only be able to diversify the taste characteristics of the fruit from your garden, but also increase the viability of plants.