With the overnight soak in water completed, it's now time to say goodbye to my seeds for a whole week while they undergo cold stratification in the fridge. What is cold stratification you ask? I did a little research on it and it seems to be a way to encourage seeds to germinate, especially seeds of perennial plants. The purpose is to trick the seeds into thinking that it is the end of winter, and therefore time to germinate and grow. In the past, people would plant their seeds in the fall or winter, and the natural progression from winter to spring would be enough to get the seeds to grow. What the seeds need is a moist environment and cold temperatures, simulating the end of winter and the beginning of the spring thaw.
My bonsai kit instructs me to wrap the seeds in a wet paper towel and seal in a ziplock bag. They are to sit in the fridge for a whole week before they can be planted. I'm slightly regretting not soaking the rest of the seeds now, as I was reading about cold stratification and it seems that a lot of seeds tend to die during this step, and that's the reason why plants often produce so many seeds each year. Well, I guess we'll see if these 2 seeds work! I'll update again in a week when it's time to plant the seeds.
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