Ways to cold stratify seeds - Ask Extension
Is it acceptable to simply keep the seeds in their packets and place them in a small container outside for the winter to achieve cold stratification? ...
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Ways to cold stratify seeds #922859
Asked December 14, 2025, 4:07 PM EST
Is it acceptable to simply keep the seeds in their packets and place them in a small container outside for the winter to achieve cold stratification? And if so, leave them outside or bury the small plastic container under some snow to recreate a similar 'insulation' that seeds on soil surface normally receive?
Dakota County Minnesota
Expert Response
Thank you for your question.
Here is good information. DO NOT FREEZE the seeds.
https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2022-01-27-seed-stratification-what-seeds-require-cold-treatment
Some sites will say this is to break down the shell. It is much more interesting than that--cold turns on genes by a gene switch called an epigene that triggers the seed to germinate in the spring. For example, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.911804/full
Here is good information. DO NOT FREEZE the seeds.
https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2022-01-27-seed-stratification-what-seeds-require-cold-treatment
Some sites will say this is to break down the shell. It is much more interesting than that--cold turns on genes by a gene switch called an epigene that triggers the seed to germinate in the spring. For example, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.911804/full
