From The Spruce.com:

Not all plant seeds are ready to sprout as soon as you put them in the soil. Some hard-shelled seeds need a bit more coaxing and some need a temperature change to trigger the end of dormancy. Scarification (cracking the hard outer shell) and stratification (fooling seeds into thinking they've been through winter) are two simple techniques that will save you a lot of frustration when starting seeds.

Stratification and scarification occur naturally when seeds stay outdoors through the cold winter.

Some seeds have outer shells that are extremely hard and don’t allow water through. This is one way a seed stays dormant in the fall and winter until growing conditions improve.

You may be upset when you look for your efforts to bear fruit and you can't see the evidence above ground. Sometimes the action is not visible, you may be in a dormant phase in preparation for your growing season.

Not all seeds are ready to sprout as soon as you put them into the soil. You may look at what other people are doing and try to mimic their path not knowing that you're a different kind of plant that requires a different set of conditions and will develop on a different timeline.

Don't judge the progress of the apple tree with the same criteria you use to measure an oak tree.

All seeds are not the same.

You're maturing and preparing to sprout, blossom and bear fruit in your own time.

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