Stevia plant and how to grow Stevia in Garden and use it herbal remedy

This article will talk about the Stevia plant and how to grow and use it.
And you can use the sweet leaf, which is also called the stevia plant, instead of sugar. You can grow it in your own home. Stevia is a plant that can be grown from seeds or starts. This post will talk about some basic facts about it, like how to pick and use the leaves and make goods with stevia.
Stevia is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana. The plant is native to Paraguay and Brazil, where it has been used by the Guaraní people for centuries. Stevia has a sweet taste and no calories, making it a popular alternative to sugar.

How does the Stevia bush look?

Stevia, which is sometimes called "sweet leaf" or "sweet herb," doesn't add or take away from the glucose in your blood and doesn't have any calories. Stevia makes things taste sweet. It lives naturally in the high mountains of Paraguay and Brazil, both in South America. A lot of people have used it as a sweetener for a long time. It grows naturally in those places. A long time ago, it was used to sweeten tea and heal wounds. Stevia goods that have already been handled can be used instead of sugar in a more even way. But if you get creative, you can use dried stevia leaves or powders in a lot of different recipes.

On the other hand, you can find over one hundred kinds of stevia in North and South America. This type of stevia is naturally the sweetest, and it is also the type that is made in the largest amounts as a natural sweetener. Lots of people believe that stevioside is up to 300 times sweeter than sucrose, which is table sugar. The leaves have up to 50 percent of this sugar by dry weight. Stevioside may be good for your health in a number of ways. A whole sweet leaf has eleven main steviol glycosides. There are fifty to four hundred times more sugar in these glycosides than in sucrose. When other fake sweeteners are cooked, their sweetness changes. But stevia's sweetness stays the same, even when really hot.

What conditions do stevia trees need to grow?

Both types of stevia need these things:

More than 15 hours of light a day is best for plant growth. This is what will allow the most growth. Having some light shade in the afternoon will help people who live in places that get hot in the summer.
Potting mix or dirt that drains well would work. Most of the time, growing these plants in raised beds works pretty well.
Don't want to use chemical fertilizers? You could use compost or other organic materials in the soil instead. This would help the plants grow faster but not as sweet. So, you won't have to use ingredients that were made by people. Plants that have been given too much fertilizer are also more likely to get sick.
There is always a lot of water on the ground. The wild stevia plant does best where the soil is damp but not soaked. It likes to grow near water sources. Is it possible that organic mulch could help keep the earth the same amount of wet?
With any luck, the plants will grow to be between one and three feet tall, though they might be shorter in colder places. They will also be about the same width. Plants can grow in pots that are at least one foot wide or in yard beds with 18-inch gaps between them.
In hardiness zones 8 and up, plants can survive the winter if you keep them warm. If you want to keep plants from one year to the next, you should bring them inside before the first hard frost in places where it gets cold.
This plant can live for three to five years or even longer if you take good care of it. It slowly loses its strength, though, as it ages. There are a lot of different ways to grow new plants, like using leaves or letting the plants build on their own. As they grow, plants often put down roots where their stems touch the ground.

How to Get a Stevia Plant

These days, you can get stevia trees in a lot of places outside, as well as in pet stores and online. When you go plant shopping in person, look for plants that are small and have tops that are at least the size of the pot. When you pick plants, this is the most important thing to keep in mind. Besides that, the leaves should be a healthy color, and there shouldn't be any obvious signs of stress, like brown leaf tips or dirt that isn't getting enough water.

If you want to know more about how to start plants from seeds indoors and then move them to the yard, keep reading. You can take care of many plants from seeds for the same price as one plant from a nursery.

When is the best time to use your stevia?
When you want to gather your stevia plant, remember to pick the leaves before the little white flowers appear. Because the plant is putting more of its power into the flowers, the leaves are not as tasty. Now the leaves taste different. (This is something that most plants in the yard have, like lettuce and herbs. Flowers smell like salty lettuce and herbs, but not as strong. Flowers are the same as herbs.

You can pick the leaves off the plant as needed or cut the plant in half in the middle of summer and at the beginning of fall. If you want to keep your plants through the winter, you should leave at least six inches of the plant whole. This will let them grow back, which is important.

These plants will bud less often if they get less than 14 hours of sunshine each day, whether they are inside or outside as the days get shorter. You should cut back the plants if they start to flower so that they have room for new leaves. Cut these plants back.

Once stevia has been dried, it is also germ-free.
All parts of the stevia plant are sweet, but the leaves are sweeter than the stem, which is why most people throw away the stem. Stevia comes from a plant that is used to make sweets. You can take the right parts of the plant, roll them into little balls less than an inch across, and hang them to dry. This process can go the way you want it to. You can take off the leaves when they are dry enough.

You could also cut the roots and take the leaves off of them. Once they are dry, you can use a dehydrator on low heat. You can buy one or make one yourself. This is not the same way to do it. It is possible for dried leaves to stay fresh for many years if they are kept in a glass jar with a lid. Besides that, they can be ground into a powder in groups by following the recipes' instructions.

I put together a bunch of leaves from my stevia plant that were in bloom in the fall.
If you look at the stems and leaves very carefully, you can see that they are fuzzy.

If you follow these steps, you can also make a stevia extract. You can also cut the leaves up and add them to tea mixes straight. You can pick either of these two options.


How to Make Stevia Extract: Step-by-Step Guide
It's easy to separate a stevia leaf from its stem. Hemp can be used whether it is fresh or dried. But I've read that the extract from dry leaves is often a little edger than the extract from fresh leaves. Stephái can be used in two ways. This type of extract lasts longer, so I like to use it.

To make stevia extract, you need something that is based on alcohol.
Stevia leaves, either fresh or dry, should be used first. Before I put my fresh vegetables through the salad maker, I always give them a quick wash.

You need to cut those stevia leaves. Add enough vodka to cover the leaves once they are all cut up and in the glass jar. The process is now complete.

It should be kept in a cool place out of direct sunlight for two days. After that, you should shake or mix it a few times every day. The jar should be thrown away after that. To keep them safe, I put mine in the pantry.

If you wait longer, the taste will get stronger, so don't do it. If you let the tea steep for too long, it might taste bitter. Don't add stems if you want to get more information. One part of stevia that gives it its sweet taste is called steviol glycoside. These foods only have small amounts of it.

The leaves should be pressed through a coffee filter or something else very fine after two days. This has to be done. The extract needs to be cooked over low heat from a raw state. If you boil it, it will burn and taste bad.

Boil the mixture slowly for twenty to thirty minutes and let some of the alcohol drain out. This will make the extract stronger. As it gets heavier and thicker, there's a chance that some pieces will come loose.

After going through a filter, the mixture should be put into a container that won't let air in. I used a bottle that had been used for vanilla extract before. Liquor bottles with droppers are a good choice if you can find them. The bottle is made of clear glass and can hold one ounce. It also has twelve droppers inside. This is mostly because you only need a few drops of extract to make a drink or food sweet.
This package has the image, the text, and the date. If you put these stevia extracts in the fridge, they will stay fresh for about three months. I thought this extract tasted great and had a very small bitterness to it. Since the very small bottles of extract cost at least ten dollars each, it's clear that you can save money by doing it yourself.


You can watch the movie below to see me make the most current batch of extract that we've made. In case the movie doesn't play, make sure that any ad filters are turned off.
At home, you can make your own stevia extract with water as the base.

The people who live in the area

One cup of water and half a cup of dried stevia leaves that have been stored in a vessel that won't leak
Here are the steps to take.

Put water in a small pot and heat it up until it just starts to bubble. to keep it from boiling over. A few very small bubbles should be all that can be seen. As soon as the dried stevia leaves are well mixed in, take the pan off the heat. For forty minutes, leave the lid on and let it sit. Take off the leaves from the mix of things. You should store the mix in a clean glass jar. For up to two weeks, keep it in the fridge sealed.

You can get about a half cup of stevia powder by doing these things. Tea and other drinks that need more sweetness should have this ingredient mixed in with them.

Making good use of your stevia plant
In most recipes, you can use fresh leaves instead of dried powder or liquid extract. You are free to try it either way, though. To make sure the taste is spread out more evenly in the thing that is being sweetened, this step is taken. One way to use them is to mix them into soups, fruit salads, and tea.

Three to four tablespoons of dry green stevia is about the same as a cup of white sugar when you want to add sweetness to something. Stevia is kind of sweet. The Sweet Leaf Recipe Book has some good Stevia Sweet Recipes: Sugar-Free in a Natural Way. You should look into or find one. This is because using stevia instead of sugar will change the way the food tastes and can be baked, but not how it is baked.

The method used to change stevia into sugar
There is no way to tell the difference between sugar and sweet leaf when it comes to baking. Start with no more than fifty percent stevia if you want to use it instead of sugar. Next, slowly add more as you see how it feels and how well it bakes. You don't have to use sugar when you use stevia.

With both liquor-based stevia extract and pure white stevia powder, it's important to remember the following:

It's the same amount of sugar as one teaspoon of stevia powder or extract.
One teaspoon of sugar is the same as six to nine drops of stevia extract or half a teaspoon of stevia powder.
One teaspoon of sugar is equal to two to four drops of stevia juice or a sprinkle of stevia powder.
Stevia plants' seed roots are grown to make them bigger.

It's the same way to plant stevia seeds as it is any other kind of yard seed. Please check out my website. It has more information on lights and how to start seeds indoors. The book "Growing and Using Stevia" says that darker seeds tend to grow faster than lighter ones. These directions are pretty much the same as the ones in the book. It's best to plant seeds outside eight to ten weeks before you move the plants to a new spot.

One to three seeds should be in each cell. After that, you should cover them well with a layer of fine potting soil or vermiculite that is eighteen inches deep. You can spray or mist the dirt with water to make it settle down. Some people say to put the seeds inside a clear plastic bag. Clear food containers can be recycled, or you can buy things that are made just for growing seeds. It should be between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so you should use fluorescent lights. The book "Growing and Using Stevia" says that the lights should be on 24 hours a day at first and then at least 15 hours a day for three weeks. After putting the seeds, do this.

Stevia seeds that have grown roots
In seven to fourteen days, the seedlings should grow. The cover should be taken off of the plants once they have grown to keep them from getting any wetter. As seedlings grow, one leaf should be cut off of each cell so that they have their own leaves when they are at their fastest growth. One weak plant at a time can be taken out from the dirt base and cut off to reach this goal.

As the book says, water the dirt from below once every three to five days to keep it moist without getting wet. I watered it from above, like I do with most of my other plants. As the plants grow, a very small amount of fish emulsion or another natural fertilizer could be added to the water. You can do both of these things at the same time.

How to Plant Stevia in the Garden: 

When the plants are about five inches tall, cut the main stalk off by one to two inches. This will help them spread out. It's possible to add sweetness to food with these leaves if you want to. Plants should be in pots that are four to five inches across.

Get plants used to being outside before you put them in the yard. To do this, put plants and pots outside every day for a few hours in a covered area away from direct sunlight and wind. After this, the plants will be better able to handle the weather. As the summer goes on, kids should spend more time outside. You can move the plants from their pots to a spot with full sun once they are used to the outside weather. Then you can put them in the yard.

When it gets below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, you should either cover the stevia plants or bring them inside because they can't live in cold weather. They will stay healthy and happy with this.

In the fall, some plants were brought inside to stay warm. One of those plants is in this picture. This plant was brought inside for the winter. It is getting a little longer because it isn't getting enough sun.
You should get some Stevia plants and try them out!

You should really grow these plants if you want to try something new in your yard or if you use stevia a lot and want to save money by growing your own. Either of these things could happen if you want to try something new in the yard. For many years, I've been raising plants at our house in the northern part of Wisconsin.

With more time to learn how to make stevia extract, I could have saved some money. This is the only thing that makes me feel bad right now. I couldn't figure out how to make it anymore.
How does Stevia taste, and can it be mixed with other herbs or foods for palatability?
Stevia has a sweet taste, often described as slightly sweeter than sugar but with a mild, pleasant aftertaste. It can be easily incorporated into a variety of foods and beverages to enhance their sweetness without adding calories. Stevia blends well with other herbs and foods, making it a versatile sweetener. You can mix it with herbs for herbal teas or use it in cooking and baking recipes as a sugar substitute.

What other supplements work well together with Stevia?
Stevia is a natural sweetener that can be complemented with various supplements and ingredients to support specific health goals. Here are some supplements and combinations that work well with Stevia:

Chromium: Chromium is often paired with Stevia to support healthy blood sugar levels. Stevia can be used as a sugar substitute for those looking to reduce sugar intake, and chromium helps regulate blood sugar.
Fiber: Combining Stevia with dietary fiber supplements like psyllium husk or glucomannan can aid in weight management and digestive health. Stevia can enhance the flavor of fiber-rich foods, making them more palatable.
Green Tea Extract: Stevia can be added to Green Tea to sweeten it naturally. The combination of Stevia and green tea provides antioxidants and supports weight management and metabolism.
Probiotics: Stevia can be used as a sweetener in yogurt and probiotic-rich foods. This combination supports digestive health while keeping sugar intake low.
Cinnamon Bark: Stevia pairs well with Cinnamon Bark, which may help regulate blood sugar and enhance the flavor of recipes without the need for added sugar.
Vitamin C: Combining Stevia with vitamin C supplements can create a refreshing, sugar-free citrus drink. This combination provides immune support and hydration.
Collagen Peptides: Stevia can be used to sweeten collagen-rich smoothies or beverages. This combination supports skin, joint, and connective tissue health.
Bitter Melon Extract: Bitter melon is used to support blood sugar levels, and Stevia can help make bitter melon-based recipes more palatable.
Magnesium: Stevia can be added to magnesium supplements for a more pleasant taste. This combination supports relaxation, muscle function, and overall health.
L-Theanine: Stevia can be used to sweeten herbal teas containing L-Theanine, promoting a sense of relaxation and focus.