Thanks for the advice George5il, I still have several months to go before i plant these seeds. I soaked the seeds for 24 hours. Now there in a zip-lock with some moist per lite. I just added the captan today ( That's what one seller told me to do) Do you think they will be okay ? Ive got one set of holly seeds in a moist paper towel, they have been in there a couple of months now, and the other day i noticed some black spots on the towel witch i thought was some fungus starting to build up, so thats what prompted me to get a fungicide...???

Captan is the traditional fungicide used on things like pea and bean seeds in the seed trade. I have opened many packs of seeds over the years with "Danger. Seed treated with Captan. Do not use for food or feed" or something to that effect stamped on them. If you want something more "natural" I can offer you this suggestion from personal experience, but please use this as anecdotal evidence only, it's certainly NOT scientific. I have found that cheap medicated bath and body powder from the dollar store, the kind which contains Zinc Oxide plus various essential oils (usually eucalyptus, mint or menthol, sometimes oil of thyme) makes a great fungicide for all kinds of things. This stuff is the equivalent of the name-brand product Gold Bond, but is much cheaper.

Have you had a look over on Winter Sowing for an easy low tech way of sowing perennials outdoors over winter? Very simple and fool proof. Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum

Why bother? Because it's necessary? Because I'd prefer to succeed than fail? Because I want to increase the germination rate? > I have been growing from seed (everything from trees to vegetables) for over 30 years Me too > ...have never used hydrogen peroxide, acids, lemon juice, gibberellins, auxins, colchicine or any of these things. Me either. ...but then I've never had to. Apparently I've never grown anything that requires any sort of special treatment. I've never put seeds in the fire either (except for when I plan to eat them!) but if I decided to grow from seed, Jack Pine, for example, I'd know that fire exposure is required and I just might seek the input from others that know more than I and have had experience having done this. (See serotiny) I don't know this for a fact but my hunch is that the acid pretreatment is intended to simulate the passage of a seed through the digest tract of a bird or other critter. (This is one reason why I ask why sulfuric acid is specified since, to the best of my knowledge, gastric juices are usually (or always?) hydrochloric acid). "Complete germination often takes 2 years. Common Elderberry seeds require pretreatment for good germination during the first year (Worley and Ni xon, 1974). Several pretreatment schemes have been described in scientific literature. One pretreatment scheme involves scarification with sulfuric acid for 10–20 minutes, rinsing, and cold stratifying (2–4 o C) for 60 days..." excerpted from: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/mipmctn10584.pdf Because forum contributors (too) often tend to make suggestions or answer some alternate question that wasn't asked rather than the one that was, I'm guessing there's a likelihood that this post might receive responses like "Why are you bothering with seeds?", "Why don't you just use cuttings?", "It's easier to grow Elderberry from cuttings or live stakes". That's correct. I know this. Because I was able to obtain seed and but don't have access to a bush from where I could get cuttings. If you do have access to Elderberry plants (preferably Sambucus canadensis or Sambucus nigra) and live nearby (Cleveland Ohio area) or would be wiling to send me some cuttings or stakes (of course I'll pay shipping) I'd love to hear from you. Please contact me.