I have a barn, I have a greenhouse, I have one whole room in my house dedicated to seedlings and infant cuttings.  With all that space dedicated to my particular mental instability, why would I leave 4 buckets of fig limbs (couple of hundred cuttings), waiting to be cut into cuttings out in this kind of weather (4 nights of 20f, buckets of water frozen solid)?

I would like to say that it was the Russians, or at least Donald Trump, that caused it but, sadly, It is my fault for losing (maybe) my Celeste cutting campaign.  I don't imagine a recount would accomplish anything so maybe I simply take the loss and move on.

They are all Celeste and easily replaced but it is such a waste, assuming they are done.
I won't toss them, I will mark them and treat them like all the other cuttings which takes up space, time, and other resources for maybe a lost cause, Kinda like mislabeled fig trees.

If everything has it's place, why were the limbs not in their place?  Answer: ME NOT PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION!

If anyone has had a similar experience please let me know how you proceeded and what the results were.

Everyone makes mistakes, Im the king at them.

I bread one of my female rabbits for a winter batch.
My inexperience did not know mother rabbits cannot
move their young like cats and dogs.
Well of all times for her first batch she had them outside the nest box
and they all froze to death. That was last week, even before this last cold snap.
I hang my head for breeding her before cold weather,
lesson learned.

Doug

I feel both your pain. I don't see why your cuttings won't survive just like any other branches that manage to survive dormant through the winter on the tree. As to the rabbits, most of us hover and watch close to the 30th day until the kits are kindled so they can be put into the nest box asap. A high-sided nest box helps keep them from being dragged out while nursing as well.

We counted the days, put a purchased nesting box in for
her 3 days early.
But we all have to sleep, it was found first thing in the morning.
I had to put babies back in the box on the first doe 2 month ago.
Luckily I got to them before they froze. But it was much warmer then
I will just not breed for winter born rabbits.
2 out of 3 females produced fine.
Doug

If the temperature never got below 20 they may be ok.  But if the bucket was full of water the expansion of the water inside the cells may have killed them.  Since the bucket water would have frozen first It's still possible the water in the branches didn't have enough room to expand to burst the cell walls.  If you bring the bucket in and let everything thaw if they're dead I imagine the bark will slide off and you'll know.  If the bark is normal when they're not frozen a tiny scrape will tell the story.

Best of luck.

Thx
One night got to 18f for a while.  I am letting the buckets thaw slowly and will check.  I think the bark test is a good one.

Hi Danny,

I have cuttings rooting on my patio and despite 18 degree temperatures, I was able to root many this way. I don't know how long your cuttings are, but would place them sideways in potting mix with one or two nodes exposed a bit and let them do their thing. You'll know by spring which ones are alive. Good Luck.

Thx

These are not cuttings, they are  2-4ft limbs I am getting ready to cut into cuttings.  They were sitting in buckets of water which froze to a depth of 4-6in.  I think I will be able to tell within the first week or so if they are going to make it.  Like Bob said if the bark slides or wipes of, they are history.