do home crossed cannabis seeds need a period of cold stratification in the fridge or freezer? How long should they be dried before going into the fidge or freezer? Should the cold strat be done in the fridge or freezer?
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Just researching this myself, from what I have read the answer is yes and about a month
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I let the branches dry as normal and then give the seeds two weeks in the open air to rest.
I don’t use a freezer.
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No they don’t need to be froze or have any scarification. Even with freshly shucked seeds you’ll see a 90%+ germ rate. Freeze seeds for long term storage like 5+ years. Scarification is used mostly on older seeds 1-2+ years unfrozen if germ rate is low.
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They will sprout right on the growing bud if you get it wet enough.
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No freezer is not necessary. You do want to let your seeds dry thoroughly before storage to avoid the white mold that will eat them if you shuck too early and do something like encapsulate them. (Speaking from experience) but in my experience they’re mostly dome drying by the time the plant matter is dry enough to shuck with being completely miserable. I’d say in most conditions, short of constant dehum in a closed environment, seed will be dried 6-11 days after chop.
I usually have things hung for about 10 days and open air sub 50rh for at least a few days after that.
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My opinion, the drying and curing process is crucial for optimal storage life, but you can pop fresh beans ASAP 
I use the Budderton method for seed curing, which is to basically spread them out in the bottom of a paper bag, set that bag somewhere decently dry & temperate & forget about em for a few weeks.
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Yes some seeds may need to cure
No you don’t need to use a freezer. That’s too extreme. You can use a fridge if you really want.
But in general most people don’t need to speed it up and just let them properly dry and cure, like as @RookieBuds mentioned.
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Main thing to remember imo is not all seeds are the same. Each plant is different and so are the seeds. The principles are the same, but the seeds vary in size and traits, just like plants.
Also, that they contain a living organism.
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I don’t subscribe to storing seeds in the fridge, that’s just my preference. Here’s why:
EVERY SINGLE TIME you take them out of the refrigerator, you’re exposing those seeds to rapid temperature fluctuaction, in some cases that can cause moisture buildup aka “sweating” of a plastic casing or something. Somewhat unlikely, but it’s an inherent risk each & every time to take something from very cold to a very warm place. And, quite frankly, I like to go thru my seeds from time to time, this is much less shocking to them if I just keep them in dry & temperate storage. This goes double for seed trades, you can rest assured my seeds have been in a consistent enviroment, I’m not gonna pull seeds out of a fridge & mail them for example, again just my 2 cents and preference
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That’s why I advised against the freezer,
And unfortunately,
Growing in my small place means “dry” storage would be subject to more temp fluctuations than the fridge. Lol. That’s why I switched, because I felt like the stuff I was running at that point was gonna affect them eventually more so than a fridge and taking them in and out.
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If I had a root cellar I’d love to keep them in there lmao, I don’t see many of these anymore myself recently
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Nope, I’ve got about 20 new blueberry because I let the beans run long and they were throwing tails while still on the plant 12 hours after a long rainstorm…
Beans just need to be dried properly, which often happens on the plant if you go 6 weeks or longer
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In my experience no you can start em right away. I had recently finished a seed run and they started off the plant with no problems.
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I can tell you that I have previously grown plants outside and brought them in for a cure. Later I found that same strain growing in my backyard. No refrigeration no freezer no nothing. Fell off the plant and grew.
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Some seed stocks are naturally hard to germinate, like a regional hardwire and may benefit from cold stratification.
Some real old seed might also benefit…
Other than that…
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