Can Stevia be grown at home?

Considering that nowadays most of the population consume up to one hundred and twenty (horror!) Grams of sugar (including drinks and cakes) every day, with a sugar rate of fifty grams, the question of sugar substitutes, preferably natural and harmless to health, becomes relevant.

It is believed that currently the best natural sweetener is stevia.

This is a sweet herb that can be grown from seeds both in the garden and at home, on the windowsill or on the balcony.

This plant is native to Paraguay, where it is called Guarani. To sweeten a large cup of tea, you only need up to three small leaves of stevia herb. The secret of stevia lies in the previously unknown substance stevioside, which is four hundred times sweeter than sugar, while it does not have a harmful effect on the body, like synthetic glucose or plastic sweeteners.

Benefits of stevia

No wonder this herb is also called honey. In addition to its sweet properties, stevia has many other beneficial effects.

Glycosides normalize metabolic processes, remove toxins and promote the work of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Stevia is used to cleanse blood vessels from cholesterol, reduce sugar levels and generally rejuvenate and heal the body, it has antibacterial properties and its leaves can be used to treat wounds, ulcers, and suppurations. With inflammation of the gums, periodontal disease, flux, stevia leaves are recommended to be chewed.

Growing stevia at home

It is not difficult to grow this and a useful beautiful plant at home, but it should be remembered that without good light and heat, stevia grows sluggishly, while the sweetness content drops.

The stevia pot should be on a south- and southwest-facing windowsill. When growing stevia in the house or on the balcony, pick up a pot of at least two liters, and by all means arrange a drainage of two centimeters, preferably from broken shards. The soil should contain half of the peat compost, a quarter of the garden land and a quarter of coarse sand. At first, fill the pot only halfway, plant seedlings grown from seeds, and as the bush grows, then you will have to add soil.

When the plant reaches twenty centimeters, prune five centimeters of the central stem in the middle of the internode. This will initiate active tillering, the crown of the stevia and the number of leaves will increase. The cut off tip can be rooted and used as a cutting.

For stevia, you just need a fairly frequent, timely watering, a clod of earth should not be drained. However, waterlogging can be dangerous, as the roots rot and the flower dies. This herb loves spraying.

Home care is, first of all, the formation of a bush, for which every six months each shoot is shortened by half by a third, and the wounds are treated with garden varomilis pork fat. In this case, at least three pairs of leaves should remain. New shoots will immediately begin to grow from the dormant buds. So the plants will survive the injury painlessly.

After pruning for several days, make a greenhouse from a plastic jar and hide the pot from direct sunlight.When the growth of young branches begins, the jar is removed for several hours. Pots should not be immediately taken out into the open air, stevia is taught to the sun in partial shade to avoid burns on the leaves. In the summer, bushes from pots are planted in the beds, or containers are added dropwise. In the ground, stevia is grown until September, and when the night temperatures drop to +10, the plant is returned to the windowsill.

When replanting bushes, you should carefully protect the roots and earthy clod, since the stress on the plant can be very strong.

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Stevia is not just an herb that can be used as a sugar substitute, but also a herb that has many medicinal properties. Nevertheless, one cannot say with certainty that it only brings benefits.

Today, quite a large number of people are trying to grow stevia in their own home. This is done in order to be completely confident in its naturalness and purity.

Is it possible to grow stevia at home from seeds

The answer to this question is unambiguous: you can. But, unfortunately, this is not so easy to do, since the seeds of the plant germinate very poorly. Moreover, the sweetness level of this herb may not be the same as originally stated by the seed manufacturer.

In this regard, you should carefully consider all the pros and cons of growing stevia from seeds at home before starting the process. The fact is that it is much easier to buy ready-made seedlings of this plant and continue to grow it yourself, both at the summer cottage and at home.

Nevertheless, if you nevertheless decided to tackle this business from the very beginning, this article will be very useful for you.

Soil selection

This plant thrives best in rich loamy soil, which also contains a large amount of compost.

If stevia grows naturally, then the acidity of the soil should be 4-5. But at home, this figure must be increased to 8-9.

To grow this sweet grass, the soil must be completely clean and free of various grass residues, stones, and even more so weeds. Remember that stevia has shallow roots, which means it is very sensitive to soil quality.

Germinating seeds

In order for the stevia seeds to germinate, it is necessary to act in stages:

1. Several small depressions need to be made in the ground, after which 2-3 seeds should be placed in each of them, which are sprinkled with soil on top. The soil layer above the already planted seeds should be about three centimeters. The surface of the soil must be sprayed with clean water using a spray bottle.
2. The planting site is closed with a plastic lid or foil, and the pot is placed under a fluorescent lamp that works around the clock. In this case, the air temperature in the room should be about 24-27 degrees above zero. Three weeks after planting, the period of constant lighting can be reduced to approximately 15 hours per day.
3. If agricultural technology was not violated, and the seeds themselves were of high quality, then the sprouts should appear from the ground in 7-14 days. As soon as you notice the first greenery, you need to remove the plastic cover.
4. When the leaves on the shoots are clearly visible, the plant needs to be thinned out. It is best if only weak shoots are removed, that is, those on which the leaves are not very pronounced.
5. The growing stevia should be watered with extreme care. The soil in which this plant grows should always be moist, but in no case, not wet. It is best if bottom irrigation is used.
6. When the height of the sprouts is 12-13 centimeters, 2-3 centimeters should be cut from the top of their main stem. Without doing this, the plant will not branch out.

It is very noteworthy that the leaves cut in this way can already be used in food as a sweetener.

Growing stevia at home

After 8-10 weeks from the moment of sowing, young plants should be transplanted into pots with a diameter of 10-15 centimeters. But you need to be prepared for the fact that as the seedlings continue to grow, they will need even more capacity.

When placing stevia pots in your home, you should not forget that:

• the plant simply cannot live without sunlight, and therefore needs almost round-the-clock lighting;
• stevia does not tolerate a drop in temperature or a cold wind, therefore it can freeze even in late autumn, that is, before the onset of stable frosts;
• do not water the plant too much;
• stevia does not like other plants next to it.

Growing stevia outdoors

When the time comes to transplant home-grown stevia into the open field, there are some rules to follow. The first of them says that before starting this procedure, the plant should be hardened. To do this, you need to transplant the stevia from the place of its germination into a small container. Subsequently, these pots should be exposed to the sun and open air for several hours a day. The time of such a "walk" should be increased every day.

And only after the plants are strong enough, they can be transferred to open ground.

Choosing a landing site

First of all, when choosing a soil, you should pay attention to its pH, which should be either neutral or close to this mark. In order for the plant to feel good in the open field, you need to pick up light soil, in no case clay.

Remember that stevia cannot stand excessive moisture, so it is best to plant it on a hill, and in such a way that water does not drain onto it. This is a lone culture, therefore, there should not be any other plants near the place where it grows.

Stevia is native to the tropics, so it will never grow normally in dampness and darkness, which means this must be avoided.

Planting stevia outdoors

Young grass should be carefully removed from the pot and some of the soil should be kept at its roots. Before that, the planting holes must already be prepared, in which the plants are placed. The roots are carefully sprinkled with earth, which is compacted a little. After this action, the bushes should not be watered. It will be enough just to spray them a little.

The root area must be covered with a fairly large amount of mulch on top. Do not forget that the roots of stevia are located superficially, which means they can dry out easily. At the same time, they do not tolerate too high humidity. That is why mulch is necessary.

Each stevia bush should be planted about 40 centimeters from the other. But the gap between the rows of plants should be made at least 50 centimeters.

Temperature regime

Stevia is a fairly thermophilic plant. Based on this fact, we can conclude that it cannot be planted in the vast majority of regions of the Russian Federation until the end of June. And in some regions, cultivation in the open field is generally impossible.

But in the southern latitudes, stevia grows throughout the year and feels just fine. Unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve the same effect in Russia, so here it is considered an exclusively summer plant. And all because the minimum temperature at which stevia is able to somehow exist is only 4 degrees above zero.

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Today, most urban residents consume up to 120 (!) Grams daily. sugar - including confectionery and sweet drinks. This is at a rate of 50 grams.Such an excessive consumption of synthetic (as opposed to natural fruit sugars) sugar in its pure form leads to the development of dental diseases, metabolic disorders, leading to such severe consequences as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerosis, obesity, kidney disease, skin, neurological disorders. What should lovers of sweets do? Fortunately, there is a natural sweetener in nature - the sweet herb of stevia, which can be grown from seeds in the garden, in the country and even at home, on the balcony or in a flowerpot on the windowsill.

Description and amazing properties of stevia

Botanist Antonio Bertoni in Paraguay discovered this amazing plant for Europeans. Local Indians have long used this herb for making sweet drinks. They called her Guarani. Surprisingly, in order to make a large cup of tea sweet, it is enough to add 2-3 small leaves of this herb. This perennial herb belongs to the Asteraceae family. It grows in all tropical regions of South America. More than 20 thousand species are already known, and every year scientists discover new ones.

French scientists Lavelle and Priddede spent a long time solving the mystery of stevia's sweetness and isolated a new substance, stevioside, which is almost 400 times sweeter than sugar, but does not have the same harmful effects as synthetic glucose or artificial sweeteners.

That is why this plant is also called honey herb.

The beneficial properties and advantages of this herb can be enumerated for a long time - the most important of them are:

• Stevia glycosides, on the contrary, are very useful substances for the body: they normalize metabolic processes, remove toxins and have a very beneficial effect on the cardiovascular and respiratory system.
• Today, stevia is classified as a very effective medicinal plant and is used to cleanse blood vessels from cholesterol, lower sugar levels (it can be safely used by diabetics), as well as general healing and rejuvenation of the body.
• Stevia also has antibacterial properties - its leaves and juice are used to treat ulcers, wounds, and suppurations.
• Chewing the leaves heals gum disease, gumboil, periodontal disease. By the way, an extract of this herb is added to many toothpastes, powders and chewing gums.
• And a few more arguments - in Japan, stevia is grown on an industrial scale, and it is classified as a strategic raw material, while the US Army has completely abandoned the use of sugar and replaced it with stevia extract.
• Chinese medicine included this herb in the list of officially confirmed means for prolonging human life, and at the World Symposium, Stevia received a gold prize.

We are sure that you have already wanted to grow this wonderful herb from seeds on your own. And how to do it - in more detail later, especially since caring for her does not present any difficulties.

Secrets of growing stevia

It is possible to grow this beautiful and useful plant both in the open field and at home, the care differs little. Initially, it must be borne in mind that this plant is tropical and does not overwinter with us - it must either be transferred to a house, a greenhouse in flowerpots, or the bush will freeze out. The most important condition is good illumination and sufficient heat. Without this, stevia will grow sluggishly, and the amount of accumulated sweetness will dramatically decrease.

The optimal place at home is windows facing south and southwest. In the country, in the open ground, the beds should be oriented from north to south and they should be placed on the western and southern slopes - this greatly facilitates the care of the plant.

There are two ways to propagate stevia: from seeds and by cuttings. The second method is used when only one bush is brought into the room for the winter, and the rest die in the open field.

If you decide to grow stevia in a house or on a balcony, then the pot must be at least 2 liters in volume, and it is imperative to arrange a drainage of 2 cm - best of all from broken shards. The soil is optimal with this composition: 50% peat compost with the addition of a quarter of the usual garden soil and coarse sand. Initially, the pot needs to be filled only halfway, a stalk or seedlings grown from seeds should be planted, and in the future it will be necessary to add soil as the bush grows.

When the planted plant grows and reaches 20 cm in height, it is imperative to prune the central stem at a height of about 5 cm from the top, and be sure to do it in the middle of the internode. This will cause active tillering and an increase in the stevia crown and the number of leaves. This cut off top can be used as a cutting and rooted.

Growing stevia from seeds should be started by sowing in April in disposable cups. Seeds sprout amicably, and after 1.5 months, the seedlings can already be planted in a permanent place.

Caring for stevia does not differ from the standard care for other indoor plants - timely watering, rather frequent, preventing the clod of earth from draining. Waterlogging is no less dangerous - the roots quickly rot, and the flower dies. Loves this herb spraying.

Indoor and outdoor care

The cultivation of stevia assumes that the subsequent care at home consists in the formation of a bush, when periodically every 5-6 months each shoot is shortened by half or by a third (medium-sized branches). There should be at least 3 pairs of leaves. From the dormant buds, new shoots will immediately begin to grow. After pruning, it is recommended to treat the wounds with pork fat or garden pitch - so the plants will survive the injury painlessly.

After trimming, care includes such a mandatory operation: you need to make a greenhouse from a plastic can or a plastic bag for several days and remove the pot from direct sunlight. If the stevia is not trimmed, it will stretch out a lot and the yield of the leaves will drop. When young twigs begin to grow, the jar is gradually removed for several hours. Pots are also taken out into the open air not immediately, but accustoming to the sun first in partial shade, otherwise there will be burns on the leaves. In the summer, you can plant them out of pots in the country house on the beds or just dig in containers.

Growing stevia in the ground can be carried out until September, and when night temperatures drop to +10, the plant must be returned to the windowsill or cuttings must be collected.

When replanting bushes, you must try to preserve the roots and an earthen ball as much as possible, otherwise the plant will recover for a long time after stress.

Useful Tips

• Experienced gardeners advise to highlight the stevia in winter - then the leaves will be as sweet as in summer.
• And another tip is to update the bushes with cuttings every 3-4 years. This gives the plant a new soil and youthful vigor.
• The third observation is that stevia responds better to watering with boiled water than raw water.
• The optimum temperature for the content is from 22 to 28 degrees.
• In beds, it is best to grow where legumes used to grow.
• Collect the leaves as needed, primarily those at which the edges are wrapped. In general, the leaves ripen as early as 3 months - they become brittle. They must be cut off, not keeping them on the bush for more than 4-5 months. Dry the leaves and use fresh, keeping in the refrigerator.

Application in traditional medicine

Sweet healing infusion. Pour 1 teaspoon of powder from dry stevia leaves with a glass of boiling water and keep in a water bath (or in a thermos) for 15-20 minutes, then strain and drink for stomach diseases, obesity. You can also apply to non-healing wounds, rinse the mouth with gingivitis and tonsillitis.

Tea. Pour 200 ml of boiling water over a third teaspoon of stevia leaves, leave for 1 minute. Add a slice of lemon or a mint leaf and drink as you please.

It is recommended to sprinkle abscesses on the body with dry stevia powder for half an hour, and then rinse with warm water. The infusion is also rubbed into the scalp to strengthen the hair and make paired masks soaked in hot infusion with a towel to smooth out wrinkles.