I'm not sure if soaking your seeds will be helpful or not, but I do agree with aquawise regarding the cold treatment. If your seeds are not too old I'm sure some will germinate without any special treatment. However, cold stratification will definitely increase the germination percentage of your Echinacea seed. Winter sowing is fine or you could just put the seeds in a damp paper towel, or a small amount of damp Vermiculite, and keep them in your refrigerator for about a month before sowing them.

If you want serious results, you will need to grow you trees under light at an elevated temperature between 75 F to 95 F. My best growth occured while using a bucket light grow setup with the light on a timer for 16 hours per day. I used 13 - 18 watt daylight CFL. While your tree is small you will use one bucket with a light in it. The bucket can be lined with aluminium foil or painted high gloss white. As your tree gets biger you will eventually have to use 2 buckets and then go to stilts. This really enhances the trees growth and will get you off to a good start. The link below will send you to a post of my trials with success and point out errors so you can avoid them Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0320572518736.html

I have had huge success with my own Bhut and Naga seeds,from fresh seeds from my own pepper pods. Not dried out first. I plant them fresh. maybe dry them for 1 day. I plant mine under the lights in one of my AeroGardens,and use clear plastic wrap on the top of the small pot I plant in, tie the plastic on with a rubberband, it makes it a small greenhouse I think, and I get nearly 100% germination. Seems to love the intense lights. The soil is very warm from being wrapped with the plastic on the top. I think that helps. I have bought seeds from peppermainia.com,but she doesnt have these this year,but hers nearly all came up. I have gotten them from all over the world ,through trades, and I get some really good ones, others I get, none come up at all! Maybe you shouldnt dry them out first. I have had trouble with all my super hot peppers this year. They all have stunted growth for some reason. No taller than 2 feet? But I get a few peppers. I only need a few anyway. But I hear from many growers that they all seem to be having this problem as well. Must be something with the seasons or the seeds. All my hot peppers are fruiting, but they are so small in height. Except my newest one, my 'Hawaiian Chili', that I got seeds from a guy in Hawaii. It is growing like a weed and is still growing, it has peppers shaped like bullets,and very hot. And grows into a big 'shrub' that lasts for years, so he says. Well I have great hopes for these. It just doesnt seem to be the year for Bhuts or Nagas....at least not for big plants.

I think that getting a grafted tree is much better even if it is container grown. I would look for a tree grafted to a rootstock that boasted resistance to wet feet and root rot problems, It is in the winter that many people have their problems with to much/little water. I live in Cincinnati, zone 6, OH and my best 2 trees are in ground planted. My best on put on 60-80 feet of twig growth between October 2014 and May 2015. These trees are under glass in winter