Growing Stevia plants

I'm glad to hear that another fellow Stevia blogger has decided to grow his own sweet leaf. His Stevia Rebaudiana seeds arrived from Germany. It seems that he has already sowed his seeds and I can only wish him luck and a great germination rate.

Fortunately enough, already mentioned(in one of my previous posts) Stevia germination study is here for every future Stevia grower and we can all be thankful to Goettemoeller, J. and A. Ching for providing us with so much needed information. I advise all wannabe Stevia Rebaudiana gardeners to read this publication carefully. You should take in consideration the effect of light on Stevia seeds germination, i.e. it has been proven that Stevia seeds need light to germinate, so be aware of that while you're sowing your seeds.

Klaus Seistrup, a fellow Stevia blogger, I wish you good luck and a green thumb with your Stevia seeds, hopefully soon to be some gorgeous Stevia plants!

Seed Germination in Stevia Rebaudiana

A few days ago I stumbled upon an interesting study regarding germination of Stevia Rebaudiana seeds. Germinating those tinny seeds can really be a hassle(as I experienced) and that's why Stevia propagation is usually done by cuttings.
It is pronounced that Poor seed germination is one of the factors limiting large-scale cultivation, what is of special concern for northern growers who must grow this plant as an annual. This study evaluates the influence of pollination treatments as well as the effect of light and darkness during germination of Stevia seeds, so I can advise it to anyone who's about to germinate some Stevia seeds. Maybe it will help you to get better germination rate than I have had with my Stevia seeds!

Stay Sweet!

Stevia in Croatia?

Finally, I've found the web site for which I thought was no longer active, as I wrote in one of my earlier posts Stevia Seeds . I'm referring to this site, owned by people who were good enough to provide me with some Stevia Rebaudiana seeds.

I'm not sure if they're still fully active, but I sent them an e-mail to thank them for the seeds once again. They offer some basic information about Stevia Rebaudiana and some Stevia products, like dried Stevia leaves and Stevia extract. The name of the site refers to my country, i.e. Croatia and it seems their target market seems to be in Croatia, as they say in their offer Where you can buy Stevia in Croatia!. On the other hand, there is not a lot of people in Croatia who know about this plant or have even heard about it. It's like a really well kept secret hidden away from common folks. There was some actions taken by green activists in order to educate the people, but unfortunately it was far from enough for people to hear. Nevertheless, it's a praiseworthy effort! As far as I know there's no official Stevia Rebaudiana production or offering in Croatia, so I'll be safe to guess the owners of this site grow or get their Stevia somewhere else.

I call upon them, come to Croatia, spread the word about Stevia Rebaudiana and scatter some seeds across the land, especially if this still stands: Croatia is one of minority countries in the world where is STEVIA recognized as welfare plant of set.

Opinion on Stevia Rebaudiana

I was just searching Google for some information regarding this beautiful herb and came upon this interesting publication.
It's titled as an Opinion on Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni Plants and Leaves and its' main purpose is to as they say assess the safety from the consumer health point of view of the leaves of Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni as Novel Food. This opinion is brought by European Commission, i.e. its Scientific Committee on Food.
Interestingly enough, I thought to myself, there's somebody who cares about what we eat, NOT!
If this care should be genuine in any sense, it for sure wouldn't allow a bunch of products you can find in your stores today. We are all overdosed on sugar and salt, bunch of additives and chemicals, yet we find so much supposedly unanswered questions and controversy surrounding one plant. As expected, it is concluded that information submitted on Stevia products was insufficient with regard to specification and standardization of the commercial product and contains no safety studies. There are no satisfactory data to support the safe use of these products as ingredients of food or as sucrose substitute for diabetics and obese individuals.
We shouldn't forget that there are cultures(people) around the world that have used Stevia leaf for generations.
It seems to me that there certainly is a way to gather sufficient information regarding the safety of Stevia usage, but is there will!?

Seed Germination

How to germinate Stevia seeds: Stevia seeds are so tiny, you have to be extra careful when handling them. What seed germination method to use, was the first dilemma I encountered. After some researching I decided to go with the paper towel method.

Paper towel method: place seeds you want to germinate in to a moist paper towel. It is a must to keep them in a warm and dark place. To retain moisture, simply put your wet paper towel within a plastic bag and that will do it. At germination, the outside shell of the seed splits and a tiny, white sprout called taproot pops out. When you see those little taproots coming out of the seeds, gently place them(root down) in to the soil and try to keep your soil equally moist for the next few weeks. Over watering presents a big problem in this stage, so be very careful!!!

Stay Sweet!

Stevia Plants

I live in a flat, but still I can find the space and time to grow some beautiful plants. Stevia Rebaudiana has a special place in my garden and as you can see, the plants are pretty small but they are looking great. They are grown totally organic so there will be no problem with possible chemical residues. Soon I´ll be making some 100% home made tea with my own sweet leaf!!!

Here are a few photos of my Stevia plants!