VIDEO: Grow, Harvest, and Process Your Own Stevia – The Best Natural Sweetener

 

  • is an easy-to-grow plant that thrives particularly well in warmer climates (zones 10 and above) but can also be grown indoors as a houseplant, allowing year-round cultivation.
  • This plant is valued for its leaves, which are 300 times sweeter than traditional table sugar, offering a natural sweetening alternative for those monitoring their blood sugar or reducing calorie intake.
  • Stevia seeds are widely available online, typically costing around $5 for a packet of 50 seeds. The plant requires frequent watering to stay healthy, and its leaves can be used fresh to sweeten beverages like tea and coffee.
  • Harvested stevia leaves can be dried in a dehydrator to extend their usability. Drying the leaves intensifies the sweetness and makes them more convenient to store and use over time.
  • For processing, dried stevia leaves can be ground into a coarse or fine powder using a coffee grinder. For those without electricity, a mortar and pestle can be used. The processed stevia is excellent for sweetening drinks and can be used in baking when ground finely.

Video source: PREPSTEADERS /

30 thoughts on “VIDEO: Grow, Harvest, and Process Your Own Stevia – The Best Natural Sweetener

  1. I have a pot if stevia I have been growing for several years. I boughr the plant at Lowes one year and it has been in the same large planter since then. It has flowers each year, it burns brown during winter and comes back out each spring. I bring it inside during winter and place it outside adter all frost is gone.
    I have not used it, but will this year after watchingvthis vedio. Tks, Christa. I have used purchaed powered stevia for years in everything, from cereal to cooked desserts. It is wonderful. God is so good to provide everything we need in nature.

  2. I've grown stevia for 3 or 4 years and it always came back till this year. I had let it go to seed and sprinkled them around and they came up, but taste nothing like stevia. 😢 I'm going to try again.

    Its my first time watching one of your videos and I will be watching more. Newly subscribed.

  3. I went out and bought a stevia plant and ate a couple of leaves – a full grown leaf and a small baby leaf. You are correct that it is very sweet. But you failed to say that it is also very, very bitter at the same time! Are they supposed to be like that? Does this bitterness go away when it's dried? Or could my plant be one that has already flowered and they just cut them off? Thank you for your help!

  4. Thank you for this video. I finally found a couple stevia plants at a farmers market. However, my plants are spindly with small, white flowers and some spent flowers. Should I cut it back to encourage growth? It has taken so long to find these plants that I don’t want to do anything that might damage it.

  5. I’m in a high rise apartment in zone 7. My patio is on the north side of the building so gets absolutely no direct sunlight. I purchased two stevia plants from a farm market and I cut those two into about 12 cuttings. Only 6 of those thrived. The rest turned black even though they were raised in the came seed soil, moisture, and lighting. When I transplanted the 6, i found really feeble roots, thin link fibers, and only one longish yet thin taproot which broke the second I lifted the plant from the seed starter.

    Is anyone else having problems starting and transplanting their stevia?

  6. The beginning of your video when the drums start flipping clips acts like a strobe and to me is difficult to indure and harmful. Maybe you can rethink how to get peoples attention

  7. The sweet-leaved raspberry (Rubus suavissimus) also has the same use,which is also frost-resistant compared to stevia. According to traditional Chinese medicine, it is used to make a medicinal drink known as Sweet tea Tian-cha. The raspberry version of steviol, called rubusoside, provides the sweet taste of the leaves of this raspberry.

  8. at 5:25, you wouldn't be able to use the food dehydrator. Chances are electricity would come back on in a few hours. Your video is most helpful. I might seek out the Hamilton Beach grinder. I might try growing Stevia this season. I did not do well at all re. tomatoes. Reason: too much shade on my small balcony. I did well with Coleus and a few herbs.

  9. I grew stevia the first time in 2023, but I only grew one plant. I dehydrated the leaves and made them into a powder form, but it definitely doesn’t mix well in coffee or tea. But as you said it’s good for baking. So I’m going to keep the leaves course. Thank you so much for all the info!!

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