With flu season coming to an end and of course the current chaos going on … many people are looking for options for building their immune system for next year! Elderberry has long had a reputation for doing just this! However, if you’ve looked for it, it isnt the easiest thing to come by!

I’ve always foraged for Elderberry in past years but had decided as soon as we bought land I’d be planting our own trees so I knew I could harvest lots and maybe even be able to make elderberry syrup, gummies, etc for others as well as my own family!

Now that we have land I got looking for where to get trees and discovered that they are quite expensive! Well worth the money in my opinion but still out of my budget currently. So what else could I do …. I started researching and looking!

Growing from seed …. this is quite the process even if you buy the seeds, which eliminates the finding, harvesting at the right time and separating ready seeds from the fruit! Growing from seed requires planting, having them sit at around 80 degrees with sun for 2 months, then refrigerated for 4ish months, then again with heat for 2 ish months, somewhere in the next 1-2 months the seeds will finally SPROUT(hopefully) ! Then with another couple months of growth you could plant very tiny seedlings and hope they make the winter or keep growing indoors for another winter and plant in the spring. You are then looking at at least a couple years before you can harvest your own elderberries.

I don’t know about you but I’m not that patient! Haha nor would I remember when to move plants from warm/cold and so on, it’s just too much work for my brain! The germination rate growing from seed is quite poor as well. So with all these facts in hand I was quite disappointed and doubting if I would go through all the hassles after all. Well I decided I will give it a try, however I’m not putting my Hope’s into that working, I know me 🤷‍♀️ lol!

If you would like to try growing from seed you can purchase 50 seeds for $4.25 here Definitely keep us posted if you decide to grow some or if you have experience growing from seed already?!

Growing from cuttings ….

After getting discouraged about growing my own elderberry from seed, I discovered that it grows quite well from cuttings! Yay!!!

This is far easier as well as faster! You can get fruit the year after planting!

So how do you grow from cuttings? First you’ll need some cuttings which you can either collect yourself if you know 100% which tree is an elderberry. You will need to cut pieces around a foot long and about the diameter of a pencil. Bring them home and you can dip the bottom few inches in rooting compound or, I’ve heard and read that cinnamon works 🤷‍♀️. Then put the bottom few inches into water. Check your water level daily to be sure there is plenty…. you don’t want little root nubs drying up on you!

After a couple weeks you’ll have some nice starter roots and you can easily transfer into a pot or into the ground depending on weather. Here, I will have to pot them for at least a month. As you see in the pictures mine are leafing out so I don’t want those freezing in snow or a frost. Obviously I opted for the much faster gratification of doing cuttings! If you would like to try growing your own you can purchase 12 cuttings here!

With cuttings I’ve also read that after dipping in rooting compound you could just stick the stick into a pot of soil or into the ground and it will root out and grow. I haven’t tried it this way but it would be worth a try!

Maybe its because I feel I have some control over the growth if I can see the roots start growing, maybe it’s the homeschooler/homeschool mom in me that has to watch, document and turn everything into a learning experience, documented for use at a later date 🤷‍♀️🤣 but I prefer seeing it all happen!

Have you ever grown elderberry? Do you think you might give it a try this year? Leave a comment and let us know!