How to Grow Stevia and Make Homemade Stevia Extract

I hope you enjoy this guest post from Laura Buckler on growing Stevia and how to make an extract from it. 

Most of us are trying to replace unhealthy food with the most natural options available on the market, but natural is not accessible to anyone. The more natural and ecological a product is, the more expensive it becomes. These circumstances leave us with the traditional method, which is taking care of our health by growing and crafting products on our own.

Stevia is amongst the best natural replacements for all types of sweeteners. It became very popular even though its extract is not very accessible, and you won’t always find at the store. For your convenience, in today’s post, we have prepared a simple step-by-step guide for growing stevia in your own house.

 

Planting the Seeds

After you prepared the cells, place about 3 seeds in each shell and cover them with potting soil 3 mm thick. Next, we must settle the soil by misting water over it. Make sure you don’t forget to place a plastic cover. 

Stevia needs a lot of light, at least at first, so, you’d better provide fluorescent lightning 24/day. After the stevia starts showing 15/day for the next 3 weeks, it will be just fine. As well, stevia requires to be kept at an average of 25 degrees C, 77 degrees F.

 

Germination

In about 7 to 14 days when the seedlings are emerging, the plastic cover should be removed to prevent the stevia from rotting. After the stevia is starting to grow visibly, for a better growing, keep just one plant per cell by cutting the weaker plants at the soil level.

The watering process should be repeated at every three, four, or even five days according to the soil. Just make sure you always keep the soil moist. 

 

Transplanting the Seedings

When the seedlings get around 12 cm tall, 41/2 inches, (after 8-10 weeks) it’s about time to place them into your garden or in a bigger pot. It’s also the time to trim 3 or 5 cm or about 1 inch, from the top to encourage branching.

If you want to place your plants in a larger pot, all you have to do is to pick a bigger pot which is about 10 to 13 cm, 41/2 inches, wide and fill it with soil. Concerning the placement in your garden, it might be a bit complicated as the plant requires hardening. Let’s see what hardening is about:

• Gradually let the port outside (day by day), increasing the number of hours spent outside each day. This is done so the plant can accommodate to the outside climate.
• Make sure you place it in a protected space where is no direct sun and wind.
• In about a week at the top, the seedings should be ready for the big change.

Be aware, as stevia doesn’t indulge frost, so whenever the temperature is about to drop below 4 degrees C, 39 degrees F, put it back inside.

 

Harvest and Dry

Here’s the simplest part. You can harvest your stevia any time you want and dry it like any other plant on an old newspaper in a place with no humidity or hang it in a bunch with a maximum of 3 cm, 1 inch, diameter.

Keep in mind that it’s the leaves that are the sweetest, so you might get rid of the steams from the start. The dried leaves won’t let you down for some years now if you store them in a sealed jar. 

 

Homemade Stevia Extract with Alcohol

The recipe is quite simple once you grow your own stevia but let me give you some heads up as the dried leaves seem to be a bit bitter compared to the fresh ones. Therefore, make as much stevia extract while the leaves are fresh.

First, you must clean the leaves and put them in a glass jar. If the leaves are dried, make sure you don’t make a powder out of them as it can get messy. Next, pour just enough alcohol to cover the leaves. Do not try this recipe with rubbing alcohol, the best would be with vodka as it the purest alcohol, no taste, and no added flavors to ruin the stevia flavor. If you want it even more natural, you can try a special recipe that includes water.

Label the jar if needed and place it in a cool area of your house with no sunlight. Leave it there for 48 hours at tops and at least one day. Leaving the stevia in alcohol longer than two days will leave you with a bitter extract.

Also, during these two days, make sure you shake the jar gently every now and then to leverage as much sweetness from the leaves as possible.

With the two days gone, we’re ready to filter and then cook the stevia alcohol infusion to make the extract more concentrate and to get rid of some alcohol. Do not boil the infusion, you’ll waste all your hard work. Cook it at a low heat and simmer it softly for 20 to 30 minutes. You’ll notice that the color will turn darker and some particulates may appear. You must get rid of them immediately.

Now, you’re ready to store your extract in any tiny tincture or vanilla extract bottles, as you’ll only need one or two drops to sweeten your drinks. Cover it, label it, date it, and you’re all set. The extract should be stored in the refrigerator for about three months. 

Conclusion 

It wasn’t that hard, right? Now you can save some money and prepare the most natural stevia extract you can ever wish for, and it’ll be all your work. Isn’t it satisfying? This natural process won’t cost you a lot of money, but you’ll have to pay with your time and attention. My opinion? It’s totally worth it

BIO

Laura Buckler can help you recognize your inner ant true potential and motive, followed by the right kind of influence to understand the simplicity of life and its pros, using her freelance writing. Also she is a great essay writer at Essays.ScholarAdvisor. Follow her on twitter.