Stevia cultivation can be done by every amateur gardener. Stevia can be grown from green cuttings, layers, bush dividing, but all these methods require some serious loss of time and energy, especially during the cold months. The easiest way for growing stevia is by planting seeds. You can use the instructions below to avoid possible mistakes.

Stevia is extremely sensitive towards the soil mixture. The best choice is to use equal amounts of humus and forest soil (or peat). You have to screen these two types of soil without adding any additional components and mix them well. Fill any type of pot with that mixture at about 10-12 cm depth or you can also use plastic disposable cups. Tap the mixture well and make a plane surface by wetting it with warm water. Sprinkle the stevia seeds on the soil surface and press them with your thumb. Stevia seeds are really small and they should not be planted at more then 0.5 cm depth. At 1 mm up to 4 seeds can be placed. Many amateur gardeners do not comply with this requirement and plant the seeds at 2-3 cm depth and they can not develop well although the good germination.

Cover stevia crop with transparent film. Stevia seeds can germinate at a temperature about 17-20 degrees, but the optimum temperature for their development is 25-30 degrees. It is good if the temperature around the root zone is 2-3 degrees higher than the temperature at the surface. Check the crop daily and watch out that the soil under the film is not dry. Stevia seedlings are different from the other cultures in the aspect that they do not grow in height. Moderately water every day. Prick in stevia seedlings until they reach the 6-8 leaf stage. Stevia should be tempered, so you carefully need to make the plants get used to the sunlight. After the period of spring frosts has passed, the seedlings can be planted in the garden. Plant stevia seedlings in rows, leaving space of 25-30 cm between the plants and 50-60 cm between the rows. The cares that you have to take when cultivating stevia in your home garden are the usual – watering, earthing up and weed control.