Stevia

[4grandbabies]

I ordered a stevia plant... am looking forward to learning more about its care. I was going to pot it, and have it inside in the winter-here in Mo.

 

[hoosier]

PunkinPeep - Did you try rooting cuttings last fall? Any success?
I didn't know about pruning PLUS I thought it was supposed to overwinter, so I have lost mine. I want to buy another this year and use it to start others if possible. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PunkinPeep]

PunkinPeep - Did you try rooting cuttings last fall? Any success?
I didn't know about pruning PLUS I thought it was supposed to overwinter, so I have lost mine. I want to buy another this year and use it to start others if possible. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

yes, it did try, but that doesn't say much. i'm just not very good at it - or don't know what i'm doing. i had a couple that looked like they might make it, but then i let them get too dry or something - so i ended up dumping the whole bunch.

i planted my original stevia - or transplanted it from a pot to the garden - after i had harvested all i could in the fall. it looked dead as dead until about two weeks ago or so, and then it greened right up, and it's looking nice.

i'm going to have to get better at rooting those cuttings though, or i won't have much of a stevia harvest. one plant is nice, but it doesn't do enough to really use on a regular basis. and i've read that after about the second or third year, it's not as good.

 

[4grandbabies]

I live in central Mo, so will have it inside in the winter...This is a learning experience for me, but from what I read on these replys, I may have to take cuttings, I had no idea they did not last very long.

 

[hoodat]

Stevia would do quite well here in San Diego but I tried the taste and didn't like it. To me it seems to leave the same after taste you get from sacharine.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Stevia would do quite well here in San Diego but I tried the taste and didn't like it. To me it seems to leave the same after taste you get from sacharine.

Oh, i love the flavor of stevia. It doesn't taste anything like saccharin to me. I can't stand the taste of synthetic sweeteners.

I don't like stevia in coffee, but in tea or as as sweetener for cranberry juice, it's just amazing.

 

[PunkinPeep]

At some point on this thread, we've mentioned pruning stevia.

It's looking like it's time to prune mine, and i got to looking and found this article. It doesn't get super descriptive, but it's sort of helpful, and i thought i would share.

http://www.bellaonline.net/articles/art10528.asp

 

[jojo54]

Stevia would do quite well here in San Diego but I tried the taste and didn't like it. To me it seems to leave the same after taste you get from sacharine.

Oh, i love the flavor of stevia. It doesn't taste anything like saccharin to me. I can't stand the taste of synthetic sweeteners.

I don't like stevia in coffee, but in tea or as as sweetener for cranberry juice, it's just amazing.

I like the leaves right from the garden to chew. I dried some last year and use in sometimes when I brew leaf tea. I haven't found a way to use it so you don't have to strain the leaves out of your cup.

If I use a blender on the dry leaves, I just get dust that still floats in the tea so I strain them out with the tea leaves instead.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I like the leaves right from the garden to chew. I dried some last year and use in sometimes when I brew leaf tea. I haven't found a way to use it so you don't have to strain the leaves out of your cup.

If I use a blender on the dry leaves, I just get dust that still floats in the tea so I strain them out with the tea leaves instead.

Me too. I noticed my one plant outside, and i grabbed a leaf to see how the flavor was this early in the season. YUM.

I pruned it, and now i'm simmering the leaves i pruned to see if i can make some sweet "tea" to add to my -- well, whatever i want.

Snagging a leaf to eat while working outside is a really wonderful treat.

 

[jojo54]

I pruned it, and now i'm simmering the leaves i pruned to see if i can make some sweet "tea" to add to my -- well, whatever i want.

Snagging a leaf to eat while working outside is a really wonderful treat.

Let us know how that works. Maybe you've come up with a plan to be able to use it.