How To Grow Stevia Sweetener…All By Yourself!
Have you ever wondered how to grow stevia plant in your own backyard? Well this quick tutorial will take you through the basics, and show you how to get started growing stevia sweetener yourself.
Buying Stevia
If you are going to be growing this stuff, you are going to need to get your hands on a starter batch of Stevia.
Starting without a starter is nearly impossible, and would take years to do; it would be like deciding to invent your own car rather than buying or building one.
It’s incredibly difficult, and requires complex cross-pollination, something that’s completely impractical for a singular hobbyist.
I very highly recommend that you order your first batch of stevia from Stevia Plant.com. The company that sells their Stevia sweetener through that website is called “Herbal Advantage”, and they have the best Stevia on the market.
Through an intense and complicated process of cross-pollination and selection, they have created a Stevia plant that no longer has a bad aftertaste.
Pretty sweet huh? (Pun definitely intended…)
You can order the basic set of plants for $24, and their 70 Rooted Cuttings for 75$.
Once You Have Your Plant…
You have to wait until spring before you plant your Stevia. It’s because the plant is pretty sensitive and needs the soil to be above 65 Degrees Fahrenheit before it can grow properly.
Once the season is right, get your plot of land ready. Make sure you use just a standard fertilizer (not that nasty lawn fertilizer, that stuff is sure to make your stevia taste nasty!)
Space out the plants about 16-20 Inches apart. That will give them some adequate room to grow, and you know…keep your garden organized and all!
Quick Tips For Caring For Your Stevia
- Be sure not to over water your Stevia. The roots are very sensitive, especially to coldness and excess moisture.
- Add compost on the top layer of soil for extra richness.
- Water lightly, frequently, rather than watering heavy less frequently.
- Organic fertilizers are recommended (the ones with low-nitrogen)
How To Grow Stevia: Harvesting Your Stevia
You want to wait until Fall before you harvest your Stevia.
There is no set period of time, but you will be wanting to wait as long as possible before clipping them.
A good rule of thumb is, “If there’s frost on the ground, it’s too late”. So based on the climate of your area, try and harvest the Stevia plant just before the time where there is frost on the ground.
To harvest them, just take gardening shears, and and cut off all the branches.
After you’ve cut the branches off, you can strip the leaves off of the plant.
How To Grow Stevia: Preparation To Eat
Now just take the Stevia, and put it on some sort of screen.
Basically you just need to set the plant out to dry, and water needs to be able to run off of it.
Make sure it is in the sun, and 12 hours later you should have a mighty fine, ready to eat Stevia plant.
After that, you can either take the leaves whole (and put them in your tea or coffee), or you can put them in a blender and turn them to Stevia Powder.
How you prepare it is up to you, all depending on how you plan to use the Stevia.
And that’s the whole kaboodle!
