Stevia is a natural sweetener. It contains the unique substance stevioside, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia can be consumed by people with diabetes, kidney and liver diseases.
The origin of stevia
Stevia is a plant from the aster family. This herbaceous perennial loves the hot climate. The homeland of stevia is considered Sri Lanka. The more light and heat a plant receives, the more stevioside is formed in its leaves.
The temperature regime when growing stevia
It is very difficult to grow stevia in open ground. During a sharp drop in temperature, the plant dies. The bush disappears already at a temperature of + 12 ° C, therefore, in the northern part of Russia, stevia is planted in pots at home.
In the south of Russia, this sweet plant is planted in a greenhouse or open ground in the summer, but in winter and autumn it is transplanted into a cache-pot and grown at home.
The optimum temperature for growing stevia is from 22 ° C to 34 ° C. At the same time, the plant does not tolerate stagnation of water and windy weather, so you should choose a place protected from the wind with good lighting.
Growing Stevia at Home
Stevia at home
The bush when grown at home is unpretentious, if you follow the growing technology. Stevia care begins even before sowing the seeds in the pots.
1. In order to get a strong spreading bush, stratify the seeds.
Stratification - cooling of seeds to a temperature from 0 ° C to + 3 ° C. When stratification of planting material, you stop all the physiological processes that occur inside the seed. When the ambient temperature rises again to + 10 ° C or higher, the seed starts a protective reaction and begins to germinate. Seed germination is significantly increased.
2. Select the correct soil composition.
After stratification, stevia will sprout on any soil except soil with a high salt content. However, for intensive development, stevia is best sown in a sandy sandy substrate with a high content of humus or rotted mullein. Soil acidity should be neutral, approximately 6-7PH.
Soil acidity
If stevia is planted in acidic soil, the bush will not develop well. The immunity of stevia will decrease, which will lead to the defeat of fungal diseases. Treat stevia with fungicides so that the plant does not die. Spray regularly every three days for two weeks. It is better to use biological products.
The most suitable substrate for growing stevia consists of horse peat, vermicompost and sand in equal proportions. Peat has a high acidity, therefore, to normalize the acid-base balance, dolomite flour is added to the substrate. It is not advisable to lime the substrate, since the roots of the plant can be burned.
The substrate should be loose and loose, so that stevia builds up a developed root system. Such soil passes water well, it is saturated with nitrogen, so the stevia seedlings will quickly grow.
3. Increase the daylight hours of young shoots. Use the correct backlight.
After the appearance of the first shoots, a cache-pot with stevia is placed on the windowsill of a south or south-west window. Sunlight has a good effect on the growth of young shoots. To speed up the growth of stevia, you can use artificial lighting.
Incandescent bulbs to increase daylight hours are not suitable, since they emit a large amount of thermal energy. Moreover, the range of light waves emitted by them is very small. If you put the lamps too close to the young shoots, Stevia will get burns.
For illumination, it is better to use diode lamps in blue and red. It is the blue and red spectrum of light waves that plants need at the stage of active growth in order to form a large number of new shoots.
4. Form a stevia in the form of a bush.
After the stevia reaches a height of 5cm, you can begin its formation. The lower leaves of the bush are removed, and the top is pinched so that the plant forms more lateral shoots.
The second formation is carried out two weeks after the first trimming. They remove all the thin shoots of stevia, as well as those twigs that touch each other and grow inside the bush. They obscure other shoots and prevent them from growing.
If formation is not carried out, then stevia will grow into one thin and long stem with a small number of leaves.
Formed Stevia
During the second pruning, stevia can be cut:
• choose a strong shoot with 8-12 leaves for propagation;
• cut off a part with four leafy kidneys from it;
• plant the stalk in a separate pot or in open ground.
A stalk can take root in open ground only if the stevia is properly cared for.
Outdoor Stevia Care Tips
There are several rules for growing stevia in open ground:
1. Cuttings need to be planted in June, when the soil warms up to + 15 ° C.
In order for guaranteed stevia to take root, a houseplant can be planted in the open ground as a whole. After transplanting, the earth is well shed with warm water.
2. Disinfect the soil and treat the bush against pests.
Stevia is susceptible to damage to aphids and other pests. Disinfect the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate once every two weeks during the summer to get rid of soil insects - thrips that suck the juice from the roots of the plant.
In case of aphid damage, use only biological preparations, since stevia will fade when using chemical insecticides.
3. Properly water the stevia.
Stevia does not tolerate drought, but even with stagnation of water, the bush will also die. Watering the plant is necessary every two days, 0.5 l of water for each adult plant.
4. Regularly fertilize stevia.
In open ground, the bush will grow intensively. The plant spends a large amount of nutrients on the formation of new shoots, so the bushes need to be fed.
When growing stevia in open ground, a solution of chicken manure in a proportion of 100 g per 10 l of water is applied to the soil. The plant can be fed with complex mineral fertilizers for flowering crops, so that stevia planted flower buds.
5. In August, transfer stevia back to the cache-pot. Move it to a warm room.
In mid-August, stevia must be transplanted into a cache-pot. Divide the rhizome of the bush into parts to obtain several strong plants. In a warm room, stevia will bloom in beautiful white colors due to temperature differences.
Blooming stevia. Plant care
In order for stevia not to lose flowers, watering in the autumn is reduced. Water the plant once a week. Water is poured into the pan.
During flowering, a stevia bush is fed once a week with potash fertilizers. With such top dressing, the formation of stevioside increases.
Stevia seed harvest
Flowering stevia lasts two weeks. After flowering, you can collect the seeds. The stevia fruit is a black nut with one seed.
The size of the fetus is from 0.5mm to 2mm. Seeds must be dried on the windowsill for a week. After collecting the seeds, stratify them and plant them in a pot.
