A Basic Guide for Growing Stevia
Growing stevia has somewhat of a reputation for being a difficult starter. In order to make sure that your efforts at growing a stevia plant are not in vain, you should educate yourself about the plant’s environmental requirements. That is where this guide comes in handy! We are going to talk about the sun, soil, and water requirements of this herb as well as give you a few pointers for harvesting the leaves of this sweet herb.
Stevia is an herb that is often referred to as the Sweet Herb of Paraguay and is a popular herb grown all over South America. It is a natural sweetener that provides ten times the sweetness of sugar but does not contain any calories. A little nibble on one of this herb’s leaves will prove just how divinely sweet this plant can be! Just one tablespoon of the dried, powdered stevia leaves is equivalent to roughly one cup of “normal” sugar and can be substituted in baking as such. As you can see, having your own stevia plant or patch can prove quite convenient, not to mention save you a bundle by cutting back your need to buy sugar from the store!
Before you run off to buy a stevia plant, there are a few things that you must consider. First and foremost is whether or not you live in an area where stevia can grow. Stevia is pretty sensitive to cold temperatures and usually won’t do well in an area where the winter temperatures drop below 35 degrees F. This is why in the North America, places such as Southern California, Florida, and Mexico are seen as the best places to grow stevia successfully. If you try to grow stevia in a cooler climate, you will have to treat it as an annual, which means that after a year you will need to replace the plant altogether. If you do live in a warmer climate, then you may treat the stevia plant as a perennial, although I recommend replacing it after three years for the best harvest results.
Stevia may be grown indoors, but will likely also be have to be treated as an annual this way. This herb needs at least four hours of sunlight per day, so a sunny windowsill or an open patch in the garden will do nicely. The stevia should be planted after the threat of frost has passed and the soil has reached a temperature of at least 60 degrees F. If you intend to plant your stevia indoors, you will need a pot that is at least one foot in diameter. The stevia’s soil requirements aren’t too picky, but it does best in a sandy loam soil. If you are using potting soil, try to get one that is high in organic matter and that is of good quality. If you are growing stevia outdoors and want to plant more than one, be sure to space them at least two feet apart, as this is the average spread of a single stevia plant. If planting a patch, space the rows apart by at least two feet—three is better.
Once you have your stevia potted or transplanted into the ground, give the soil a light watering and then add a thick layer of mulch to keep the moisture in. The general rule for watering is to do so when the stevia starts to wilt, as watering it too often can reduce the quality of the herb’s leaves and even rot the roots. The addition of mulch also provides a protective barrier for the roots of this plant, which have a tendency to migrate towards the surface. In warm weather, you may need to water the Stevia once or twice a week until normal rainfall resumes.
To harvest the leaves, simply pick them of as you need them. Alternatively, you can trim the stem of the plant about a third of the way down and use the leaves from that. The plant should continue to grow, but in a bushier fashion. The leaves of the stevia are sweetest when they are picked before the flowers bloom on this plant and all harvesting should be done before the first frost sets in. In autumn, after harvesting is complete, trim the plant down to about six inches in height. This will improve the plant’s chances of coming back the next year.
I hope you have found this guide to be helpful. Growing stevia can be very rewarding and it doesn’t require a great deal of effort once you understand the type of environment this herb needs to flourish.