How to Cultivate & Plant Elderberry Seeds

Plan your elderberry planting for the fall, and your plants will emerge in the spring. This will provide natural stratification for the seed. Alternatively, you may artificially warm-stratify the seed by keeping them for two months in a mixture of peat, vermiculite and sand at a constant temperature of 70 to 85 degrees F.

Sow plentiful amounts of elderberry seeds 1/4 inch below the surface of a sawdust mulch. Keep the mulch moist until germination, when you may transplant the seedlings to individual small pots filled with potting soil.

Allow the elderberry to establish itself for six to eight months, and then you may plant it outside in the fall or spring.

Select an area outdoors for transplanting that has neutral to mildly acidic soil and is well drained. Amend the soil with compost or manure, and plant the young elderberry 6 to 10 feet apart. Water deeply after planting and frequently thereafter.

Feed the plants the first spring with about 1/8 lb. of a 10-10-10 fertilizer. Additionally, apply 1/2 lb. of this fertilizer for every year of the plant's age, up to 4 lb. Expect the plants to flower and fruit after two to three years.