The berries were ripe. I ate plenty of them while picking them. There were a lot of empty seeds when I separated the seeds from the berries. Those floated but there were enough good seeds, too, that sunk.

According to most sources, germination rate is low.....~40%. As to germination protcol. check out this link.

I've tried to grow huckleberry from seed, specifically Vaccinium Ovatum, and they were difficult to germinate. I cold stratified them for 60 days in the frig see before giving them any light. Even worse the few that did germinate grew about a centimeter but no further. They stayed that way for almost two months refusing to grow or die. I finally threw them out and purchased a plant. It is also very slow growing.

gardengal48, I saw that PDF earlier but I guess I've mostly ignored it. I'm not following it very well. Perhaps I should rethink that. The article recommends much cooler temps for seed germination than what I've been using and I'm not sure how to get those temps at this time of the year. I do have an unheated storage room in the basement. That might be the coolest I could make the seed tray but I'm not sure how I'd alternate the temp between 55 F and 64 F on a 12 hr cycle as suggested by the article. Maybe a heating pad on a timer would get close to those temps. This article by University of Idaho has different seed germination temperature recommendations. I've somewhat been following those recommendations but temps have been about 5 F warmer.

Gred, years ago with a different batch of seed I tried some different soil mixes for germination. Eventually I had some success with germination by using long fiber sphagnum moss. However, the roots grew in to the moss fibers and appeared to be girdled causing the plants to become stunted. I had the same problem with the seedlings not growing and not dying. For my current batch of seeds I tried using a non-sphagnum/peat based soil mix but now I'm thinking that may have been a mistake and I should have tried using a soil mix that included regular peat.

1. Polypompholyx, I didn't use any special mix, just a gallon of premium, organic potting soil with a couple cups of spent coffee grounds for extra acidity. I hadn't encountered the Univ of Wsh PDF file on propagation, but upon scanning it, it appears that they are aware of the slow growth rate after germination. That's what stumped me. I expected them to take off once germinated, which I've always considered the greatest hurdle. I also didn't try to provide timed supplemental heat or light. It just sounds like too much bother. If I try again I'll do it outside in a cold frame, starting mid to late winter, initially without any direct sunlight and then slowly allow just a bit.