Vitex / Chaste Tree from seed

Hello friends

I recently bought some Chaste Tree seeds, but had no luck germinating them.
Here's what I did:
1. Soaked the seeds for 24 hours
2. Placed a few seeds in 4" pots
3. Placed under grow lights in the basement
4. Put a heat mat under 1/2 of the pots to see if it helped with germination
... about a month goes by and nothing.

Everything I read said they did not need any pretreatment.

I contacted the seed company and they said they need 6-8 weeks cold stratification.

Fast forward to today, I now have the replacement seeds, but want to see if anyone has grown these from seed.

Thanks!

Yes, but accidentally.  I've had them germinate in soil where they apparently fell over the winter.  I'm in zone 8a, in the desert SW. This hasn't happened often.  So it does lend to a stratification period being necessary. Those seeds you've already put in pots might sprout next spring.  Or you might stick them in the freezer or fridge for a bit and speed the process.

An easier way to propagate is from cuttings. Have you seen any in your neighborhood?  Last year I took dormant cuttings at the end of fall, put them in pots with some rooting hormone, and left them in a cold greenhouse in a tote with a clear lid set loosely on it.  I kept them from drying out.  Our temps went to 14F.  Come spring about 90% sprouted.  I ended up with so many I had some to give away!  And they have almost all bloomed in their first year.  Once put in a bigger pot, they grew to about 1-2' high.  

Online, people used cuttings in many stages.  I didn't see many examples of dormant cuttings, but it worked spectacularly.

Thanks for the info Kim!
I'll start the cold stratification process!

I've never seen a Vitex in Michigan... likely because we're zone 6 (the coldest a Vitex will tolerate), so I'll have to plant it near the house or barn to give it a microenvironment to survive our winters.

Have a good one and thanks again!