Personally, I think you botched your test. The purpose of letting the seed freeze over winter is to let it go dormant. Putting it in the freezer for 4 hours basically just froze it, not made it go dormant. Probably killed the germ.
Repeat the test, only this time, put it in the fridge for about a week. Then move it to the freezer for about 2 months, then back to the fridge for at least a week, then to the ambient air for a week or so, then plant. That will come closer to duplicating winter.
Think about it, if you went out in the yard and pulled a plug of grass and put it in the deep freeze, I'm gonna say it would just die. No time for the plant to go dormant. No offense, but sounds to me like you make a better computer guy than a farmer LOL.
I want to add also, that in the case of rye and winter wheat (both plants in the grass family) you actually plant in the fall so the seed germinates, then it starts growing in the spring. In CAD's example, he puts the seed out on top of snow. Snow melts, seed embeds in the soil and grows when it gets warm. Optimal start time for growth is when it warms up in the spring, and before it's dry enough to plant. I can go on about the other reasons for success rate, but the big thing here is I think you killed the germ on your seed by just taking it from a warm environment to a below freezing one without time for the seed to go dormant.
|