Sweet stevia or surarleaf is perennial herbaceous subshrub which origin is in Paraguay. For many years behind, Indians from South America and then Spaniard were using it as a sweetener to fruit, drinks and wines. Gradually after that with sugar cane getting more and more famous, stevia fell into oblivion.

Nowadays, when millions of people suffer from diabetes, arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and caries, stevia properties let it take the leading role as a sugar substitute in diet and medical nutrition. Stevia does not contain sucrose, its sweet taste is determined by stevisoid glycoside, which is 25-300 times sweeter than sugar. In the human body this stevisoid is hydrolyzed to carbon and polypeptide under the influence of enzymes, and after that they are subjected to further digestion and absorption. Because of that stevia significantly differs from the other sugar substitutes, which do not include into the natural biochemical processes, but are completely separate from the body in an unchanged form.

Using of stevia is recommended to all – patients and healthy people, adults and children. Its frequent use decreases blood sugar content, cholesterol and radionuclides, increases immunity and improves cell regeneration and metabolism.

Stevisoides do not have side effects and do not cause addiction. Except them, stevia also contains substances with antimicrobial effect, which allows it to be used in the canning industry as natural preservatives and sweeteners. Stevia can be successfully used in home canning.

Before using it, dry stevia is cut into small pieces, but there should be kept in mind that the smaller the particles are, the brighter is the sweet taste of the final product.

In fruit canning, it is enough to add 10-12 leaflets to 1 liter of syrup. Stevia can be added in teas or herbal mixtures.

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.

Stevia is planted in an open area only when the danger of late spring frosts has passed. As an exception this could happen earlier as long as you have provided a temporary coverage for your stevia plantations. Stevia plants are planted from seedlings according to the scheme 40×20 cm (20 cm interlinear space and 40 cm line space).

When planting stevia you need to choose a sunny area with the possibility of getting shade during the hottest hours of the day. Stevia is growing well in different soil types, under the condition that fertilizing is done on the first place. The only soil type which is not suitable for it is the clay soil. In the conditions of dry summer it is necessary to be watered under the rates of 0.5-1 liter per plant – 6 to 10 times a season. At the same time it is necessary that stevia beds are earthed up, because the plants are slowly developing in the first month after planting and there is a possibility of too much weed growing. In the beginning of July, when stevia starts flowering, the first cut is done. The plants are deeply cut, leaving shoots about 2-3 cm long and a few leaves. Stevia is thoroughly watered after that and fed with a solution of manure or mineral fertilizers.

All the leaves from the cut branches are separated and died for the period of 3-5 days in a shade. Dried stevia leaves can be stored up to 5 years in a glass container for herbs. Stevia cutting can be done during the whole summer, every 2-3 weeks.

The period of growing stevia from sowing to harvesting is about 16-18 weeks. The crop has to be harvested when stevia begins to flourish. Exactly in this period the maximum quantity of steviosides is accumulated in the stevia leaves. In the homeland of stevia, Paraguay, flowering occurs in the period from January to March, and in the conditions of the north latitude and temperate zone (which also includes Europe) it occurs in the period from July to September. Duration of the day also has an effect over plant growing and development. The short day is favorable to flowering and seed formation. The longer day contributes to formation of branches and leaves and respectively increases the accumulation of steviosides. Under optimum conditions and good farming practices from one square meter of stevia plants, seven kilograms of sugar can be gathered. Stevia harvesting is really simple. The stems are cut at a height of 5-6 cm above the ground and are died in a light and airy room.

If you have some well grown stevia plants, you can easily increase their population, using the propagation method by cuttings. The cuttings are parts of the non-wooden stem with leaves and leaf buds. They could be rooted and reproduce the original mother plant in such a way. In order to cut them you have to use the non-wooden part of the stem, pruning shears or scissors. Cut the bottom part a few millimeters below the leaf and the upper part a few millimeters above the leaf. Reduce the amount of leaves in order to evaporate less water. As a substrate for rooting stevia cuttings you can use pure river sand, peat-soil mixture or perlite. The ready stevia cuttings are put into the substrate as much as to hold into it. You can make holes in it in advance with the help of a nail or a stick. You should not put them too close to each other so that you can avoid shading and the fight for light among the plants. After putting the cuttings you have to spray them with water, using a sprayer. In the period when stevia is rooting, the plants need to get optimal light and temperature about 20° degrees. Keep high air humidity by regularly spraying the plant with a sprayer. When you take a good care for the cuttings, they can have roots in about a month. After you make sure that all the plants are well rooted, you can graft them in a pot or in the garden.