Stevia

I am starting to grow stevia in my home garden. Anyone with experience growing and harvesting? Looking for advice and tips.

I've heard it benefits from lots of pinching back.

I finally got a seedling to get about four inches from seed, and am babying that one along. And I have one about 18" tall which I'd gotten at about 5" from Richter's. I keep it in the shade (the sun in July and Aug. down here is brutal) and it seems to be doing all right. If you'll pinch it back, it will bush out. It's a delightful plant to have -- if you can keep your grandchildren from chewing it up with the chocolate mint! I have had no luck trying to root cuttings, and most of the seeds that sprouted died. I'd mainly watch out for too much direct sun. Good luck!

My cuttings have all rooted with ease. I noticed that my plant grows a while and then the leaves slowly turn brown and the plant looks terrible. Then I cut the whole top off and it sprouts a healthy new top. Other people have said they let the first frost kill back the shoots then bring it in for the winter and the tops grow back. Watch out for whiteflies when you have it inside for the winter, they love my plant.

Maybe you can get some help here:
http://www.stevia.net/growingstevia.htm

I've grown it for quite a few years now; it's quite a good seller at the mkt.

Brownale, a hearty WELCOME TO DG!

The quickest rundown on Stevia growing is a light amount of N is a good thing for good foliage growth. (Fish emulsion drench, not foliar; compost or compost leach or tea is good! Should you prefer a man-made fertilizer then Osmocote or the like is fine.)

Pinching will encourage more shoots to come on thereby giving you a bigger harvest.

I've had a plant come back for 4 (maybe 5 ) years now that is planted in the ground. It is much hardier than given credit for. Perhaps you should stick one in a flower bed up by your house or something, just to see how well it does for you as a perennial. (Mulch the roots well in the winter.)

For an easy use of the "sugar"....put some dried leaves (about a quarter of a cup) in a jar and add 2 cups of water that is almost boiling. Stir it up and cover for overnite. Next day pour off the water (leaves the leaves in the bottom of the jar) and you may want to pout the water thru some cheesecloth to get rid of any "floaters" (leave bits).

You'll need to keep this mix in the fridge and can use it by the teaspoonful for sweetening drinks, foods, etc. It's not as sweet as the commercial powders but will still do you justice. (Will take about 1 or 2 tablespoons to sweeten a cup of tea.)

Hope you find this helpful!
Shoe.

Gorgeous stevia plant, Shoe! And thanks for the "recipe".

Katlian, how do you root yours? Mine wouldn't do a thing.

We take a few leaves off the plant and toss them in the teapot with the tea while it brews. The plants turn into bushy four foot shrubs around here.

I cut vigorous shoots with 3 to 4 pairs of leaves and strip off the bottom pair. Then I dip each one in rooting hormone (rootone usually) and stick it into a plastic cup full of wet perlite. Then I put the cups in a tray on the kitchen table and keep the perlite just wet enough to keep them from wilting. The shoots I cut two weeks ago already have quarter inch roots.

Thanks for all the help on Stevia. The two transplants I put out are growing well. After the suggestions here, I have cut back the tips to see how much they will bush out. Have already harvested a few stems, dried them, and ground for a sweetener. Unfortunately, the ground product does not dissolve in a cup of tea bag tea... so I will try whole leaves next. The ground product added to loose tea sweetens very well and stays in the loose tea.
Think I have a winner here! I have used the clear concentrate for several months and like it. That is why I got into growing the plant.