Surely many have heard of such a plant as stevia, and most would like to know more about this herb. In fact, this is not just a plant, but also an excellent remedy, a leader among products that can replace sugar.
I'll make a reservation right away that stevia is more likely to be medicinal than vegetable crops. But, given its extraordinary popularity, I would like to talk in detail about this plant.
Cultural history
Stevia is native to the subtropical regions of Latin America. The first Spaniards who had already arrived here drew attention to the fact that local Indians sweetened their mate tea and other drinks with the leaves of this plant.
Interestingly, until 1970, Paraguayans successfully suppressed any attempts by foreigners to take out stevia seeds from the country.
Chemical composition and properties of stevia
Stevia contains many aromatic substances that are similar in characteristics to coffee. It is not for nothing that the Indians called this plant honey grass. The source of stevia's sweetness is the sweet glycoside stevioside, which in its pure form, according to numerous sources, is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar. It is found in all parts of the plant, but most of all in the leaves.
However, its most important feature is that insulin is not required for its assimilation by our body, so stevia can be eaten by patients with diabetes mellitus. When people with this serious disease really want something sweet, you can safely take a stevia leaf or slightly sweeten the water with powder from its dry leaves.
Despite its sweetness, stevia has almost zero calorie content - only 18 kcal, which is even less than the “champions” from the end of the list in terms of calorie content - cabbage and strawberries.
It is for this that honey grass is loved by all those seeking to lose weight. After all, stevia gives a unique opportunity to lose weight and indulge in sweets.
Steviosides have another valuable property - they are able to suppress the development of pathogenic microflora. Therefore, when processing berries and fruits, they are both a sweetener and a preservative.
Botanical portrait
Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) Is a perennial herb from the Asteraceae family with an annually dying aerial part and a thick fleshy rhizome. The root system is fibrous, highly branched, located in the upper soil layer.
In its homeland in Paraguay, it reaches a height of 1.5 m, and in culture - no more than 60–80 cm, forming a highly branched bush with 10–15 shoots in the second year.
Small leaves with short cuttings are similar to mint leaves. Its shoots end in loose inflorescences, consisting of 3-5 small white flowers. Stevia seeds form a little, and a significant part of them turns out to be unviable.
Growing stevia
Growing conditions... When growing stevia in an annual culture in the open field, it is necessary to select a humid, sunny place for it, completely protected from the north wind. The optimum temperature for growing it is +22 ... + 28 ° С. During the period of active growth with insufficient moisture in the soil and air, its leaves wither easily.
The soil... Slightly acidic light loams and sandy loam soils are best suited for the successful growth of stevia. During the autumn preparation of clay soil, it is necessary to introduce significant doses of river sand and peat.
Reproduction... Every gardener can easily grow stevia. It reproduces by green cuttings, layering, dividing the bush. But the easiest way is to grow it from seeds.
In the natural conditions of the Urals, stevia cannot winter. Therefore, it is easier to grow it in your summer cottage as an annual crop, annually growing seedlings from seeds, planting rooted cuttings in the ground or dividing the rhizome.
With seed reproduction, sowing seeds is done early, approximately at the time of sowing for seedlings of tomato seeds.
First of all, it is necessary to prepare the forest humus soil in advance. To do this, in the forest under trees or bushes, it is necessary to remove the upper non-rotten leaves, under them there will be humus from the leaves. They need to fill a container with a layer of 10–12 cm or plastic cups and moisten them with warm water.
Then it is advisable to awaken dry stevia seeds by processing them in "Zircon" according to the instructions, and then mix them with a pinch of sand and sow on top of well-prepared loose soil without burying them in the soil (I repeat - without deepening), otherwise there will be no shoots even with high germination seeds.
Then the box is covered with foil and placed in a warm place with a temperature of +26 ... + 28 ° С. Crops should be checked daily so that the soil under the film does not dry out. When shoots appear, the film is removed, and the box is placed in a warm and bright place.
Stevia seedlings differ from seedlings of other crops in that they do not stretch. After the appearance of 4–5 true leaves, the seedlings are transplanted into separate containers, deepening to the first leaves. The cut plants should be shaded with spunbond or gauze for better survival. Seedlings need to be watered regularly, since they do not tolerate a lack of moisture in the soil.
Seedlings are planted in the ground when the threat of recurrent frosts has passed. If, when planting seedlings, the air temperature is below + 15 ° C, then such a planting will not be successful.
When propagated by cuttings, they can be taken from plants that grow on the windowsill or from specially prepared mother plants from the garden. To do this, in early autumn, their main stem is greatly shortened, leaving stumps 5-6 cm long, the plant is dug up, transplanted into a flower pot, covered with moist earth so that only these stumps stick out of the ground, and in winter they are stored in the basement, on the lower shelf of the refrigerator or by the balcony at a temperature of + 4–8 ° С (not lower and not higher).
During winter storage, neither drying of the rhizomes nor their waterlogging should be allowed.
When the buds of the plant begin to swell in April, the plants are exposed to a sunny window, where the shoots grow rapidly. When the shoots reach a length of 6-7 cm, they are cut off. Then, it is advisable to wrap the lower ends of the cuttings with a soft paper towel and place them in a jar of water so that they only touch the surface of the water, otherwise the growing roots may die.
When the roots appear, the cuttings are planted in pre-boiled sand, sprinkled with leaf humus and plastic bags are put on a container with rooting cuttings, airing them every day.
After 10-12 days, when the cuttings take root, they are planted in pots and placed on the window. And when the threat of frost in early June has passed, they are planted in a permanent place with a distance of 25–30 cm between them. First, young plants are covered with a film cover for several days, and then they are completely removed.
Care... Throughout the summer, the plants must be systematically weeded out of the weeds and the soil must be slightly loosened. During the growing season, it must be fed 2-3 times with complex fertilizer, this is especially important after each leaf cut. Stevia does not tolerate drought well, but does not like excess water either.
"Ural gardener" No. 41, 2017
