How to Grow Elderberries From Seed

Remove seeds from fresh, ripe elderberries by placing them into a food processor with 1/4 cup of water. Turn the food processor on for three to four seconds at a time until the berries resemble pulp.

Pour the elderberry pulp into a clean, large bowl and add water. Wait two minutes, and then pour off the pulp that floats to the surface of the water. Add more water and wait two more minutes for the pulp to rise again. Pour the excess off again and repeat for as many times as it takes until you see clean elderberry seeds sitting on the bottom of the bowl.

Lay newspaper pages on a flat surface. Drain the water from the clean elderberry seeds and spread them out on the newspaper. Allow the seeds to dry up to one week.

Fill a large, glass jar three-fourths full with moist peat moss and set aside. Add the dried elderberry seeds to a large plastic bowl and add enough sulfuric acid to cover them by 1 inch. Soak the elderberry seeds in the acid for 15 minutes.

Drain the seeds from the sulfuric acid -- wearing thick gloves -- and add them to the glass jar. Close the lid on the jar and shake it so the elderberry seeds blend into the moist peat moss. Store the jar for two months at the bottom of the refrigerator.

Remove the elderberry seeds from the glass jar and place them on top of well-draining soil in a seed-starting flat. Make your own well-draining soil by combining one-third aged manure, one-third potting soil and one-third peat moss. Disperse the elderberry seeds evenly over the soil and sprinkle a layer of soil over the seeds to cover. Press down on top of the soil in the flat with your hands.

Mist the soil with water until dampened, and then move the flat to a cool, shady spot until spring.

Pick out the strongest elderberry seedlings in early spring and plant them in their permanent location. Choose a site in partial to full sun. Elderberries in full sun will require frequent watering to keep the soil moist.

Dig a hole that is 1 square foot in diameter, with a shovel. Remove half of the dirt and add enough aged manure to fill it again. Blend the manure and dirt with the shovel. Poke a hole in the center of the dirt large enough to plant the elderberry seedling, with your finger. Insert the seedling and compact the soil around the elderberry to cover the roots.