LOL. They are sort of like candy plants.
Stevia
Ok ya'll got my interest peaked. I'm gonna have to buy a plant now as my father in law has moved in with us and he is diabetic.
-Juli
I just looked at a few stores in St. Pete down here in Florida and didn't find any now :( I should of got a few when I saw them....have to go back to where I got it...
Order from Companion Plants and you won't be sorry! Fast shipping, great packing and beautiful plants!
jasonc: Target garden centers carry stevia. (BassetMom, I understand that Targets up north either don't have garden centers or don't carry much in the way of plants. Down here, it's a great resource: you can get a stevia plant for about $1.50.)
Geez! They sell everything else here at Target! I've never seen stevia locally but maybe it will start showing up soon. I always try mail order as nurseries are notoriously non-accessible for wheelchairs.
Dogzilla: Thanks for the tip...we'll be near one of them today when we go up to St. Pete area...our closest Target is either in Bradenton or down I-75 to Sarasota :) Whenever we end up around one is when we go there hehehe...
Yippie! Target sure enough had Stevia and alot of them too. They were right in the hot sun and all were drooping...all but two so I got those two, I already have one so now I have three...
Dogzilla: Thanks for the great info! They had some other herbs too but not too many and I had all they had :)
Now I've got to go to Target! Let ya know if ours here has them too.
-Juli
Note to jasonc: these are tropical herbs, but will need a lot of water when you get into the horrible dead heat of Florida summer. On the other hand, it's not a terrible tragedy if you forget to water and kill one: they cost less than $2 at Target! Keep checking there: they rotate the herb stock periodically, so in a couple weeks it might be all cilantro, or basil next month... pretty much right up until they clear all the stock to make room for Christmas trees!
Also there's someone on these boards who tells me she works for or owns one of the farms that supply most of the herbs to Target: she guaranteed to me that the herbs are not sprayed with pesticides or anything, so they're safe to eat.
I'm very curious about the Targets up north: waiting for a report on what they carry, or if there's even a garden center.
Nope, no Stevia at our Target here in Victorville, Ca. I asked the lady who worked the dept and she said she had not even seen it on the list of herbs to order. So maybe they have a different supplier in different states or maybe she was just wacked in the head and was giving me any kind of answer(which is what they learn to do in retail) to passify the cust. I'm just gonna have to order it myself online, now that ya all got me interested.
-Juli
Yep, I'm fairly sure we don't ship plants from Fl to Ca without them being big $ makers and with the plant laws here, in Arizona, and Calif. they are strict about different things at different times. An anomynous angel sent me some and it is great.
Frank weighs 375, so I'm whittling on him.
Yepperdoodle! I ordered a plant from Mulberry Creek along with five other types of plants cuz you have to order in sixes.
They had a wonderful care sheet on Stevia which talks about how to grow it in different zones which was interesting. http://mulberrycreek.com/Detailed/187.html
-Juli
Wow, well definately won't use anything chemical on it. and I am wondering where I should actually plant it for the best chances in my well drained sandy garden. My soil perks at 55mph, so I have a sprinkler that runs 2 x a day where it is now.
And mulch it well too, to hold in some moisture.
Juli....great info at the link you gave. Thanks!
I already have mulch on that bed, thanks both of you for the wonderful link and advice.
Sidney
Our Target has a garden department but NO PLANTS!
Im Planning on getting some plants too, when im not sure.
mom and dad are doing the super diet thing and dad is a
diabetic so this plant would be great for them.
Im also working on getting the parts (Glass lab equipment) for a
steam still so i can extract the oils from some of the herbs i grow.
Stevia uses a few tequineques(spelling) water extraction is one way.
Im looking for any info on any of the process, so if you come across anything
please share ... Im looking to produce the white powder from the stevia plant.
VbSparky: Did you check out my stevia.net link above? (Waaayyy above)
Yep , I checked out the link , still need more info though.
I think you can get sweetand green, but does it have to be white?
from what i have been reading, the
white extract powders are the sweetest.
to get that white powder depends on the extraction
process and the quality of the plant.
Okey Dokey!
Hey all, found some more interesting facts at Blossomfarm http://www.blossomfarm.com/plants_tender.htm
I don't know if it's all true.
STEVIA EXTRACT
To make a liquid extract, first dry the stevia leaves. Cover them with distilled water for 48 hours. Then filter through a coffee filter. To that filtered Stevia liquid then add Everclear alcohol at a 4:1 ratio (for every 1 cup of Stevia liquid add 2 oz (Everclear alcohol). Everclear is colorless and has no taste. Label and store in the cupboard. Add a drop or two to beverages.
STEVIA CONVERSION CHART
1 cup sugar equals approximately 1 t. of stevia
1T. sugar equals approximately 1/4 t. stevia
1 t. sugar equals a pinch or 1/16 teaspoon stevia.
-Juli
Thanks, thats good info.
I wonder what Everclear alcohol is and where you can get it from? And I wonder if you can do this with other herbs too?
-Juli
"Everclear" is the max. proof grain alcohol that fraternity members pour into punch. Don't confuse this with rubbing alcohol or wood alcohol, which is not for consumption! You can buy a little bottle of Everclear at your local liquor store if you're over 21.....
I'm not gonna ask how you know that info ;~)
-Juli
haha! actually, it was part of "freshman orientation" instruction from our resident advisor, too many years ago to count..... she wanted to make sure we knew that the "grape kool-aid" punch at those parties (aka, "cattle drives," and isn't that a charming name) wasn't at all harmless!
Hi everyone ... I'm so excited! I went to Home Depot today to look for my ever loved dill (which I DID find) and much to my amazement ... I also found Stevia! I had been reading this thread and was very interested as I currently use Splenda for all my sweetening use. Thanks so much for all the info here. I've gone to the links listed above and have learned a lot about the plants. If anyone has any further info I'd sure be interested.
BTW, for the folks interested in growing Stevia who may be having a hard time finding a plant..... please notice that John316 posted a while ago that he had some seeds, and he may still have some left, as I don't think he got many takers on his initial post. Germination on stevia seems low (about 10% for me and for some others), but I got several seedlings with no trouble, and John's trade was much, much more generous than the 10 per packet I've seen listed in some seed catalogs.
I have blooms, should i remove, or leave? They are pretty little bitys.
I've had great germ rate with seeds...perhaps it's because of my heat mats/greenhouse or perhaps because of my stock. I have no idea.
sugarweed, yes, remove the flowers. You'll get much better foliage growth if you do. Also, some sources have mentioned that the leaves will turn to a "bittery sugar" once the plant starts flowering.
Thanks shoe, I really enjoy them and want to care for them right.
sidney
Yes, pinch them back. As someone posted above, the leaves can get bitter and lose their sweetness if you allow them to flower and/or go to seed. You can cut up to a third of the plant back, dry and use the leaves and by the time you've gone through all that sweetness, it'll be time to harvest again!
Very interesting reading for this recently diagnoised (sp?)diabetic-- I'd love to try some seeds or a cutting-any one have an sase?? So far have not seen any here in sw iowa--
Thanks for the info!! I'll keep searching--
Jeanette
I'll send you a cutting. E-mail me.
How well do they propagate from cuttings as opposed to seed?