Cultivation Manual Stevia Plants · 2020. 11. 20. · Stevia seeds are light germinators i.e. the...

Cultivation Manual Stevia Plants

© 2020 VehGro B.V. All rights reserved 1

Cultivation Manual

Stevia Plants From seed to plant

VehGro B.V. | Naturaplaza | Steviahouse

Weijinksweg 18

7558 PL

Hengelo (OV), The Netherlands

KvK Number: 7339 6427

BTW Number: NL-85951 1169 B01

Website: www.naturaplaza.com

E-Mail: [email protected]



Table of Contents Inhoudsopgave .................................................................................................................................................. 2

Sowing the Stevia plant .................................................................................................................................... 3

Germination of the Stevia plant ...................................................................................................................... 4

After germination of the Stevia plant ............................................................................................................. 5

Weaning/Potting Stevia plant .......................................................................................................................... 6

Transplant outdoors Stevia plant ................................................................................................................... 7

Stevia plant development ................................................................................................................................ 8

Stevia leaves ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Good Luck! ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................................... 10



Sowing the Stevia plant Growing Stevia is not easy and takes a lot of patience. The Stevia plant is a light-collecting plant and

likes a lot of water. You should take this into account when growing stevia.

Use a good sowing substrate, not potting soil, but garden soil or compost. This contains too much

fertiliser which will burn the delicate roots; the seed will germinate, but after one or two weeks the

plants will fall over.

A good sowing substrate is cactus substrate, coco peat or a mixture of peat, perlite or sand and

clay. You can sow in anything, but remember that the temperature should not drop below 20

degrees and that the soil does not dry out too quickly (cover with transparent foil or glass).

However, it should also not become too cramped, this will cause algae growth or fungi and it will be

done. A grow box with ventilation holes is fine.

Another tip for growing stevia: place it above the radiator at the back of the fridge, where hot air

always rises. Stevia seeds are light germinators i.e. the stevia seeds germinate with sufficient (400

Lux shade - 1500 Lux half shade) and long lasting (14-16 hours) light. Every stevia plant has its

strategy. The stevia seed that falls to the ground in October does nothing (less than 10 hours of

light).



Germination of the Stevia plant Often the stevia seed germinates moderately, which makes growing stevia a difficult task. This is

because the Stevia plant is a self-fertilizer and these seeds have a germination rate of 10%. The

cross pollinated seeds have a germination capacity of 80%. Therefore sow thickly and cover very

thinly.

Sieve a part of the substrate through a sieve with meshes of 1 to 2 millimetres.

Sprinkle this fine powder as evenly as possible over the seeds.

Moisten the whole with the spray. Nothing germinates where it is too thick. So it is better to thin

it than to thick it.

Then add a little more water. When growing stevia, make sure that the soil does not dry out too

much (then it will colour very light and a white powder will form, salts etc.), but the soil should

not be too wet either.



After germination of the Stevia plant The first stevia cotyledons become visible after about 8 days (at 25°C) to 20 days (19°C), depending

on the temperature. Now it is important to keep the temperature constant at 22°C, give enough

light and water only at the bottom. This stage is the most vulnerable moment in the life of the plant.

Water from above makes the cotyledons stick to the soil and die.

The cotyledons now grow slowly from 1 mm to 3 mm diameter.

It can take one to three weeks before the first real leaves become visible. If everything goes too

slow, increase the average temperature by a few degrees and the day length by 1 to 2 hours

more light.

Make sure that there is no white powder on the edges of the pot and no algae.

If you have a greenhouse outside, snails and other vermin can cause a lot of damage.



Weaning/Potting Stevia plant If the roots of the Stevia plant come out of the pot at the bottom, or if two are too close to each

other in a pot, you can carefully transplant them if there are at least 6 pairs of leaves on a plant.

The first pairs of leaves are very small.

The Stevia plant prefers to grow in slightly acidic sandy loamy soil, but is tolerant to the soil type

and pH value. The soil should be constantly moist, but the Stevia plant should not be standing in

water.

The Stevia plant likes long lasting light. Longer days promote leaf growth, shorter days promote

flowering.



Transplant outdoors Stevia plant Transplant young Stevia plants outdoors long after the last risk of night frost. An adult Stevia plant,

standing outside and flowering in autumn with a height of at least 50 cm, tolerates a few degrees of

night frost.

After the first night frost the Stevia plant dies above ground. However, as long as the root ball does

not freeze, the Stevia plant will sprout again in spring. So cover the Stevia plant well and heat it in a

cold winter.



Stevia plant development For a good development of the Stevia plant it is important that the stevia plant:

Does not stand in full sunlight because then the plant dries out, half in the sun is ideal

Not in the wind, the plant is sensitive to it

Does not dehydrate because the plant is water-reducing

Does not bloom, because then the plant dies. Make sure that you always trim the plant so that

the flowering buds do not develop.

By regularly trimming the Stevia plant, the plant develops in width (shrub shape) and less in height.

This is important for the stability of the plant.



Stevia leaves The leaves of the removed twigs can be cut and dried. The leaves can be dried in the oven, a few

minutes at 80 degrees Celsius or for example on a dish in the sun (this takes a little longer). The

result are dried sweet leaves, which can be used in many ways:

Garniture on e.g. yoghurt or ice cream

As tea (boiling with tea leaves or only Stevia leaves)

Ground in bread and other dishes



Good Luck! If you have managed to grow the stevia plants, you can continue to grow Stevia plants with the

mother plants. This method of growing is a lot easier than growing from seed, because cuttings

are less sensitive to all kinds of environmental influences.

All our Steviahouse products can be found at: www.naturaplaza.com

For questions, please mail or call: [email protected] or +31 74 30200

Disclaimer

Neither the author nor the publisher can be held liable for any damage, injury or loss arising from

the use of information in this brochure.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,

without the prior written permission of the publisher.

VehGro B.V. | Naturaplaza | Steviahouse

http://www.naturaplaza.com/

mailto:[email protected]

Cultivation Manual Stevia Plants · 2020. 11. 20. · Stevia seeds are light germinators i.e. the...

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