Viability of seedlings out of the freezer.

[sgbotsford]

I'm trying to get a handle on holding seedlings.

I buy seedlings for my own use in my tree farm, as well as selling seedlings to the public. This year I'm going through 48 boxes of trees.

At present I've got a cold room -- an insulated shed with barrels of ice from winter that stays at 2-4 C even on a hot day.

Seedlings arrive, mostly stil somewhat frozen, and they can stay in cold room for a week, thawing very slowly.

Then I pull them out, and they are set out in bundles on trays lined with carpet. These are place in moderately dense shade (under spruce) and a springker runs 4 minutes 4 times a day to keep the carpet damp. Most species seem ok with this for at least 2 weeks.

Question: Can I increase the time in the cold room?

How do other people stretch the time for seedling storage?