Grow and Sell Stevia Plants

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INTRODUCTION

You need not be a South American planter to be a successful stevia grower. While the herb’s native locale may make it appear somewhat exotic, it has proved to be quite adaptable and capable of being cultivated in climate zones as diverse as Florida and southern Canada.

True, home-grown stevia may lack the potency of refined white stevia extract; whole stevioside content generally ranges from 81 to 91 percent, as compared to a leaf level of approximately 12 percent. But it can provide you with a quantity of freshly harvested stevia ‘tea leaves’ to augment your supply of commercial stevia sweeteners.

Organic gardeners in particular should find stevia an ideal addition to their yield. Though nontoxic, stevia plants have been found to have insect-repelling tendencies. Their very sweetness, in fact, may be a kind of natural defense mechanism against aphids and other bugs that find it not to their taste. Perhaps that’s why crop-devouring grasshoppers have been reported to bypass stevia under cultivation.

Then, too, raising stevia yourself, whether in your back yard or on your balcony, is another positive way you can personally (and quite legally) protest the wrongheaded government policies that have for so long deprived the American people of its benefits — a kind of contemporary Victory Garden.

HOW TO START

It would be difficult, at best, to start a stevia patch from scratch — that is, by planting seeds. Even if you could get them to germinate, results might well prove disappointing, since stevioside levels can vary greatly in plants grown from seed.

The recommended method is rather to buy garden-ready ‘starter’ plants, which given stevia’s ‘growing’ popularity, may well be obtainable from a nursery or herbalist in your area — provided you’re willing to scout around a bit. If you’re not, or are unsuccessful in locating any, there are at least three growers of high-quality stevia who will ship you as many baby plants as you’d like.

Keep in mind that not all stevia plants are created equal in terms of stevioside content, and, hence, sweetness. It’s therefore a good idea to try to determine if the plants you’re buying have been grown from cuttings whose source was high in stevioside.

Because tender young stevia plants are especially sensitive to low temperatures, it’s important that you wait until the danger of frost is past and soil temperatures are well into the 50s and 60s before transplanting them into your garden.

Once you begin, it’s best to plant your stevia in rows 20 to 24 inches apart, leaving about 18 inches between plants. Your plants should grow to a height of about 30 inches and a width of 18 to 24 inches.

THE CARE

Stevia plants do best in a rich, loamy soil — the same kind in which common garden-variety plants thrive. Since the feeder roots tend to be quite near the surface, it is a good idea to add compost for extra nutrients if the soil in your area is sandy.

Besides being sensitive to cold during their developmental stage, the roots can also be adversely affected by excessive levels of moisture. So take care not to overwater them and to make sure the soil in which they are planted drains easily and isn’t soggy or subject to flooding or puddling.

Frequent light watering is recommended during the summer months. Adding a layer of compost or your favorite mulch around each stevia plant will help keep the shallow feeder roots from drying out.

Stevia plants respond well to fertilizers with a lower nitrogen content than the fertilizer’s phosphoric acid or potash content. Most organic fertilizers would work well, since they release nitrogen slowly.

GROW STEVIA WITHOUT LAND

Just because you live within the confines of an apartment or condominium doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the benefits of stevia farming. This versatile plant can be grown either in pots on your balcony or any sunny spot, or else in a hydroponic unit. Stevia plants also do quite well in “container gardens.” A 10″ to 12″ diameter container filled with a lightweight growing mix is an ideal size for each plant. A little mulch on the top will help retain the moisture in the shallow root zone. A properly fertilized hydroponic unit or container garden can provide you with as much stevia as an outdoor garden, if not more.

WHERE TO SELL
The best way to sell Stevia, is online. This would be a little hard to find companies or direct clients. So we are offering a website and you will easy publish your photos of the grown Stevia. Trade Medical Plants is an website that shows the latest offers of medical plants. You will be able to publish your plant and with a little bit luck you will find any costumer.

Chamomille (Matricaria recutita)

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German chamomile grows from seeds sown directly in their garden location.

German chamomile grown in a garden

The seeds are very tiny—almost dust like—so the seed bed should be well-prepared. They can be scattered on the soil’s surface, then gently tamped down with the flat side of a hoe. Plant early in the spring, about the same time you would plant peas. The young seedlings will withstand a mild frost.

Seeds of Chamomile

The seeds generally germinate in a week to ten days. Germination begins at temperatures of about 45° F. The plants grow slowly at first, and need to be kept well weeded. After four to five weeks, a growth spurt occurs, resulting in a rosette of leaves. Young seedlings, about 1 or 2 inches tall, are easily transplanted, but older ones do not survive this process.

If you plant around the first of June in the North, expect flowering in mid to late July or early August. Here in the southern Ozarks, self-sown plants complete their life cycle by mid-June. Blooms develop continuously, and once flowering commences, harvesting is possible every ten days to two weeks.

When I was at the Sabbathday Lake, Maine, Shaker community back in the late seventies, we planted double rows of German chamomile 10 inches apart and harvested the flowers with a blueberry rake. Commercial growers in northern Europe get two to three cuttings of flowers during a season.

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Grow and Sell Stevia Plants

Chamomille (Matricaria recutita)