Storing Plant Cuttings

My guess would be that there is no easy solution to this. You cannot stop the growth process and if the plants dont get light, nurishment and CO2 they will die. They will survive a couple of days. Storing them cool and dark would probably be the worst idea. With water and light at "room temp" a better idea. The only plants I can think of that have a decent shelf life is those grown emersed. They still need light though (something many LFS forget). That mineral wool they use or the goo for emersed plants would work. Not sure where to get it or exactly what it contains.

i keep a small uncovered mason jar next to my tank filled with whatever water. tank water, tap water whatever. I would use that as my trash can/recycle bin for plants. My jar is so dense with plant trimmings that it is almost like a green sponge. The plants have been in there for months. I will top it off with tap water/tank water every couple weeks. The plants never die. They maybe lose their green and melt slightly, but its like a own eco system inside. Theres a layer of brown stuff at the bottom. I threw in some shrimps but they probably dead by now.

if you put the plants in the fridge, they will get so cold they will change into hibernation mode and live.

I haven't done it, but my LFS's supplier for plants stores their plant bunches in plastic bags, refrigerated.

There seems to be something to the idea of refrigeration. Florists keep their flowers in the fridge. They have lights in those fridges, but I don't know if those are for the flowers or so that people can see what's inside.

Given the varying opinions, it looks like some testing is necessary...

For carbon hungry plants, you could try growing them emergently for awhile. Plant them in substrate in a shallow tray, have leaves exposed to air, cover with plastic wrap, poke holes in plastic, etc.