STEVIA

Growing Stevia growing stevia in the gardenGrow stevia for its sweet leaves and for the green color it brings to your herb garden. Stevia is a pretty, green plant that looks a little like some of the flowering salvias. In the Garden Although stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) looks like an average green plant, it is an exciting choice for the herb garden because of the natural, calorie-free sweetness found in its leaves. Appreciated by diabetics and dieters, stevia is a tender perennial that loves the warm sun and dies back in a freeze. However, in zones 9 and warmer, the roots usually survive the winter and will come back in the spring. It can overwinter in zone 8, too, with protection. Gardeners in frost-free areas enjoy growing stevia year-round, allowing it to grow into a small shrub. However, vigor declines after the second year, so if you want to harvest the maximum amount of foliage, it pays to replant. If you garden in containers, give your stevia plant at least a 12-inch pot with a quality potting mix. Place it in full sun, and water whenever the top inch of potting soil feels dry. Soil, Planting, and Care Plant your stevia so that it has about 18 inches of room to call its own. In the loose, loamy, well-drained soil that the plant prefers, it will grow 1 to 3 feet in height, depending on the length of your growing season. Wait until after all danger of frost has passed before planting. Feed with compost or Bonnie Herb and Vegetable Plant Food as directed on the label. Mulch to prevent the plant from drying out on hot summer days. Container-grown plants will benefit from the same plant food and mulch. Troubleshooting Stevia doesn’t like soggy soil, so make sure that it has good drainage, or the roots could rot. A sure sign of rot is wilting from which the plant doesn’t recover after watering. Fortunately, few insects bother stevia plants. Harvest and Storage When your stevia plant blooms in fall, trim off the flowers and the plant will make more leaves. Stevia bears small white flowers in the fall. At this point, the plant stretches out and offers fewer good leaves for harvest. Trim off the blooms to keep the plant producing leaves as long as possible. Leaves are sweetest in the cool temperatures of autumn. They also taste best prior to the plant blooming. To preserve summer’s plenty and to make stevia convenient to use, dry it. Cut whole stems and then strip the leaves and tender stem tips. Place these on loosely woven fabric or non-metal screening outdoors on a dry, sunny day. One day should be long enough to dry the leaves; be sure to bring them in before the dew dampens them again. You can also use a food dehydrator if you have one. Once the leaves are crisp, crush them by hand or powder them with a food processor. Store in an airtight container. While the powdered leaves will not dissolve, they are a wonderful way to sweeten your beverages and foods. Uses Stevia leaves can be used to sweeten tea and other drinks. Stevia is grown for its leaves that give food and beverages sweet taste without the calories of sugar. Use the fresh leaves during the growing season to sweeten tea. The sweetness in the leaves is approximately one-fourth as concentrated as the white, powdered stevia sold at the store. When sweetening with powdered leaves, use about 1/8 teaspoon of dried stevia to equal the sweetness of 1 teaspoon of sugar. Remember, while stevia will withstand the heat of cooking, it will not caramelize like sugar or feed yeast for breads. Download our How to Grow Herbs instructions. They are in .PDF format. Get gardening info on the go with our free app, HOMEGROWN with Bonnie Plants. Find out more, or download it now for iPhone or Android. FAQs I tried packets of stevia from the grocery store. Do the fresh leaves taste better? Can I simply put a leaf of stevia into my glass of tea to sweeten it? Where did stevia come from? How many plants do I need for a family of four? https://healthyfoodwhisperer.com/quit-smoking-herb-amazing-cigarettes-will-taste-awful-grow-herb/ TO QUIT SMOKING THIS HERB IS AMAZING! CIGARETTES WILL TASTE AWFUL, BUT HOW TO GROW THIS HERB? Health Tips, Herbs & Oils We all know smoking is bad and cannot ditch this habit. Nicotine is why we smoke and are addicts. We depend on it and smoke even more. If we lack nicotine dose, we crave smoking and feel hungry, stressed, angry too. This is called withdrawal and needs quite some time. Physical signs can be gone after a while but the mental craving stays. If you want to stop smoking, read more below. HOW TO USE STEVIA FOR THIS AIM? German experts said that this can even cure alcoholism and smoking. It blocks signals for craving inside. This plant belongs to chrysanthemum of Paraguay and there is used as sugar. For smoking addicts, put some drops stevia on the tongue and it will kill the desire for smokes. You can find it in any health store as powder and liquid. Also, it is good for diabetics , obese people and those with hypertension. Also nourishes the skin and is in many cosmetics. Dermatitis and acne is cured this way. HOW TO GROW THIS AT HOME? Stevia grows in low heat and warm climate, also survives zone 9 in winter and grows again during spring. With good protection it reaches even zone 8. For container growing, get 12 inch pot and good soil. Put this in lit area and the top must be dry. SOIL, PLANTING, CARE If it is planted in loose, drained and loamy soil, it can reach 3 metres depending on the season. Before planting this, remove all frost. In the soil put veggie plant food or maybe Bonnie Herb to stop damage in the summer as well. TROUBLESHOOTING Stevia is not good with soggy soil so drain soil to prevent rotting roots. If wilts, cannot be saved with water and is useless. STORAGE AND HARVESTING When a bloom appears, remove petals and more leaves will follow. In fall, stevia gives white flowers and a few leaves. Trim and cut the blooms. The leaves are sweeter as fall ends and taste amazing before blooming. Dry them and make powder stevia. Stem is cut and leaves too, but striped. Spread them on fabric and outdoors. One day is perfect for drying them out and then bring them inside to keep them safe from dew. Use dehydrator too for dry leaves, then crush them, grind them and replace sugar with this! Source and imageource: organichealthuniverse.com