How to Grow Stevia at Home
Stevia is a natural sweetening plant that you can grow at home easily. You can use Stevia leaves for sweetening tea and other drinks as a substitute for sugar. The process of growing the plant is not the difficult one; however, the plant grows from a seed with a great amount of difficulty. Instead, if you buy a small plant and grow it, it is a lot easier. Nevertheless, the amount of care is needed equally in both cases. Once you plan the entire process and take it step by step, you can grow the plant at home.
Instructions
-
1
Plant or Seeds
Stevia plants are difficult to grow from seeds, since they have very poor germination rate. Therefore, if you buy Stevia in form of a small plant, it is better and you can grow it at your home easily. Although you can grow the plant from seeds, there is no guarantee the plant will grow, as success ratio is not 100 per cent. -
2
Soil Preparation
Stevia plants can be grown in the fertile soil. Also, preparation of soil takes a lot of hard work. You will have to dig the soil properly and prepare it with addition of some compost in it. The mixture of compost gives additional nutrients to the plant and it can grow faster. This also helps the plant during initial phase of growth. Compost work even more effectively when you add water to soil. The process of the soil preparation takes as much work as does preparation of soil for other plants. -
3
Care of Plants
Stevia plants do not need any special care. They just need frequent water and sunlight. It is recommended to keep the plant in the sunlight during summer days. Also increase frequency of water to the plant during the summer. Further, you do not need to spray an anti-insect spray etc, because the plant naturally is insect free. It repels attack of any disease and insect itself. There are not other particular requirements for the plant during its growth process, except for routine watering and cleaning. You can clean Stevia leaves with a soft cloth. Also, make sure you wash leaves before using them in tea or any other drink.
