hardwood blueberry cuttings...can they freeze?

I'm planning to take some hardwood blueberry cuttings this month following some guidelines I've saved from information here at permies.

My question is:
...can they freeze?

I have everything ready for outdoor propagation including a shade house but then I wondered if the cuttings need to be above freezing?

I could wait a bit...untill the end of february?

I'm not real experienced with propagating blueberries from hardwood cuttings (I use the layering method), but my guess would be to keep your cuttings in a humid environment between 40 and 75 degrees. I'd probably wait in your situation till things are above freezing. I think they might benefit from bottom heat as well. One youtube grower has a propagation bed in his climate-controlled greenhouse with  a timer to sprinkle the cuttings with water every 5 or 10 minutes and also protects the cuttings from cold or heat.

thanks mk!

I should be more patient and do either softwood cuttings or try layering.
I really don't want to have to bring them indoors and I didn't cover the hoop house this year

Do you have a simple method for layering?

Layering seems like an easier way for me and does not require the expensive humidity and temperature-controlled greenhouses that big-time blueberry farms use.  I've also noticed that evergreen varieties  with Southern Highbush genes that retain their leaves in the winter such as Legacy or Misty are much easier to propagate either way than the deciduous, leaf dropping Northern Highbush varieties like Blueray.

Basically, I just select some longer, low-hanging branches on my favorite varieties, remove the leaves from the middle of the branch and then scrape off a lengthwise slit of bark from the bottom side of the branch. I dig a small hole under the branch and fill it with barkdust or compost. Then I get a piece of stiff wire, like a fence staple or old coat hanger and hold the slit in the branch down over the hole, and pile a small hill of bark dust or compost over the top. Then I place a small log over that for extra weight. I mulch and water the area throughout the summer. Then next winter I remove the small log and kind of snoop around in the area of the hole. If I see roots, then I cut the branch with pruners and gently dig up the plant. Then I put it into a 1 or 2 gallon pot with acidic potting soil- basically just regular potting soil mixed with fir bark or peat. I fertilize a bit with acid mix throughout the summer and then transplant the plant the following winter into a compost and bark- enriched hole.

I imagine that you could also apply cloning gel or rooting hormone powder to the slit on the bottom of the branch before wiring it into place. In fact, I need to get some new cloning gel and some fir bark soon to help start some new cuttings and layerings over the next few weeks. I also need some fir bark dust to pot up some layered ones I did last year. Blueberries need acidic soil.

Judith, here's a video that shows a variation on the layering method that I use, basically using a pot for the layered plant:



There's also a bunch of other videos on youtube that show how to do softwood cuttings- you might try both methods and see which works best.

thanks again!
and I appreciate your written directions as I am rarely able to watch videos.

This is a high bush and might even be blue ray?  We've lost track.
It is the best producer and best flavor of all we have left so I want to propagate some more bushes.

This one is  from a cutting that was actually broken from another bush by a neighbors dog more than five years ago...the dog is the size of a young calf and much heavier and just used to walk right through our plants until we put up a fence.

It was a hardwood cutting started outdoors in peat moss in a pot and not expected to survive but it did!  
I can't remember the time of year though ..not winter so it must have had leaves?