2020 Scion Exchange: Saturday, April 25 from 11:00am to 2:00pm; at the Alex Community Food Centre at 4920 17 Ave SE. CANCELLED Unfortunately, this year's exchange must be cancelled due to COVID-19. Please see our Facebook page to contact people who might have scion wood to share or sell.
If you want to collect scionwood from your trees this year, you can see the excellent articles on the DBG Fruit Growers Group site (see Resources). With their permission, we are also publishing their instructions here.
Collecting and Storing Scionwood (by Jo Granger)When to collect scionwood depends on where you live. For most of our group living around central Alberta, we collect when the fruit tree is dormant. In central Alberta, the ground can be frozen for up to six months of the year and therefore you could say the fruit tree is usually dormant from beginning November to the middle of April, and sometimes longer or shorter depending on the year.
So, a few people may collect scionwood late in the fall before any winter kill damage can occur. The trick is how do you store scionwood ( in good condition for 6 months) for such a long time, before you will be ready to graft in mid-May to early June the following year in our area?
So the few that decide to go this route ( fall collection) usually wrap, insulate it and bury it, in a protected spot ( North side of building, shed etc., where there lots of shade and hopefully lots of snow as well ).This is what works for them.
But the majority in this area, collect their scionwood anywhere from January to late March (occasionally into mid-April) depending on the year and depending on the individuals and while the tree is still dormant (no swollen buds). Some collect early, some later. There is no hard and fast rule. Whatever works best for each in their area and works for their schedule etc. For those of us that live out in the countryside, we usually must wait till we do not need snowshoes to get to our fruit trees. Some years I have collected scionwood in mid-February during a warm spell. But other years I must wait till the second part of March or early April.
People living in town or city may be able to collect their scionwood earlier as it heats up quicker there and the snow starts melting sooner. So, take into consideration where you live.
Scionwood also sometimes called " scion" or "budstick" is to be collected from last season's new strong growth. The first picture shows all the new growth can be trimmed back, this makes excellent scionwood material. Try to get wood that is about the thickness of a pencil. This may be easy to do with apples and pears but may not practical for cherries as usually the cherry scionwood is much thinner and may also dry out much quicker.
Make sure you have all your equipment ready before heading out. Disinfect your pruners (disinfecting wipes work great). Have bags, buckets, permanent marker, painters' tape or other labels, and ladder ready. Label, Label, Label. In case I forgot to tell you LABEL IT.
Since you are outside anyway, this may also a great time to prune away any dead, diseased, rubbing and unwanted branches from your fruit trees if you only have a few. However, do not leave your cut scionwood lying out and drying out in the bright sun. Keep your scionwood in a cool, shady spot.
Do not use older wood that has fruiting spurs on them (middle picture, second row). This does not make for the best scionwood. Scionwood should have 3-5 buds. Long scionwood can be cut down to required size to fit in large zippered bags in fridge or before grafting later in the season.
Put labeled scionwood inside zippered bags, with slightly moist paper towel and store in refrigerator away from fruit. Do Not use Freezer to store scions, as this will cause drying out, injury and death.
Make sure paper towel is not too wet or this will cause mold issues. Not too wet, not too dry. Just right. Check your scionwood bags every couple of weeks, if you see any tiny dark spots appearing in your paper towel, remove paper towel from zipper bag and let bag air out a bit before returning to the fridge. Keep checking from time to time.
Some people decide to seal the ends of their scions with wax to prevent them from drying out. If you decide to use this method, make sure was does not get too hot and just a quick dip is all that is needed. Dark coloured wax is easier to see than light coloured wax. You can use blue, green food colouring in your wax to make it more visible.
When spring blooms come around (mid-May to early June around here) it is time to graft. Remember to cut off the bottom waxy end before grafting. Some people also cut off the bottom 1/2 inch (1-2 cm) off their scion before grafting, assuming you have a long scion. This is just to remove any potential of dried off bottom end and encourage higher grafting success.