In the European conditions it is recommended to grow stevia for one year. Initially seedlings are grown (seeds are sown by mid-June), and subsequently the two-month plants are planted outdoors. One really effective method for growing stevia is to immediately sow it on a permanent place using pots. At the bottom of the pot is placed a layer of peat which is thick three centimeters. The best combination of the soil mixture for growing stevia is a mixture of garden soil with peat (3:1) and pH 5,6 – 6,9 (neutral). Stevia seeds are very small, up to 4 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, so they should not be sown deeply, but are directly sown on good wetted soil mixture. These pots are being covered with polyethylene film and are placed somewhere warm (20-25 degrees). In such conditions, germination occurs in about five days. You better keep them in a place where there is light. In about a month you can start taking off the film gradually in order to make the plants get used to the environmental conditions. Be careful not to let the soil get dry and regularly water it.
What exactly is stevia?
It is no accident that stevia is also called sugarleaf – it is the sweetest plant on the planet. In its natural form, stevia is many times sweeter than sugar and up to date it is considered as the best sugar substitute. Stevia comes from South America. It is a perennial grass–like plant form the Chrysanthemum family. About 150 species of stevia are known. Some species are cultivated and grown in an industrial scale in China, Korea, Thailand, Malaysian, Paraguay, Israel and Ukraine. Stevia is also used as natural sweetener in food products, in soft drinks and is especially popular in Japan and China. In the nature, stevia is able to grow practically on every type of soil, but the basic condition for its development is the heat. The optimum temperature of the plant development is 24°-28° degrees. The crop is harvested in the beginning of flowering, when both stems and leaves are cut on the height of five to seven centimeters above the soil. During flowering, the leaves accumulate the maximum quantity of steviosides and when favorable conditions are present, from one square meter can be harvested leaves that can be equal to seven kilograms of sugar.
