stevia

just got my stevia seeds in post today ,

il plant them and see if i can get free sugar lol ,

there supposed to be 100 times stronger than sugar ,

anyone try growing it

 

Its a new one on me. I've heard about it, and it sounds good, but whenever I do a web search about it I just get loads of results about ready made, processed foods.

What have you learnt about it, the actual plant I mean. Is it annual? Will it grow outdoors in the UK? How do you use it as a sugar substitute etc?

 

New one on me too - I found the Wikipedia entry which may be helpful:

Stevia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

a-a

 

Found this, which may also be helpful:

Stevia rebaudiana Stevia PFAF Plant Database

 

its new to me aswell
but its very widely used in european countries ,apparently there was a ban on it or something

from what ive learned it will grow in uk ok ,and frome what i can make out u can ground the dried leaves to give you a powder to use as sugar or use the bare leave ,
im still looking into it ,

just another thing i want to try ,
ive seen stevia sweetners in the shops tescos and lidls

 

We were in Florida recently and saw pots of Stevia in the garden section of a DIY. We tried a leaf and it is really great! Just a little nibble and it was pleasantly sweet without being sickly sweet. If I see it over here in cold Germany, I'll get a pot to try and we'll definitely get a pot next time we go to Florida again later this year.

 

I have grown Stevie from seed,I have to say the germination rate from the seeds I brought was very poor,maybe 50 percent I'm being generous. If you grow peppers or seeds that require a really warm start you maybe lucky,be patient they take their time to sprout. I don't see why they couldn't grow in England, its grown in Canada but I bet they bring it in during the winter months. I ended up buying a plant ,then took cuttings from that. If you can get it to the woody stage of growth the leaf sweetness is intense .The root system is very shallow,maybe you could get away with piling compost then mulch right up to the stalk to keep the root system from freezing in winter that is if your going to try to grow it out side . I brought mine inside for the winter as I have dont greenhouse. I grew mine to make tea , I cant start to imagine how many leaves you would have to dry to make a bag of sugar.I don't dry them for tea making ,just pour boiling water over the fresh leaves much like mint tea its also good in homemade lemonade if you bruise the leaves first.Its a good sugar substitute for diabetics.

 

Alan Titchmarsh had an item on his show yesterday. You might catch up with it on his tv website.

 

been using stevia for a while now as sweetener

Hi guys,
have been using stevia as concentrated powder, as a sweetener tablet and as dried leaves.
The leaves have some own taste so I put them in my herbal teas where they don't disturb the taste
the powder or tablets have less of a by-taste
The taste in general is different to sugar, it does not give such a round full taste and if the food itself is acidic, stevia does not manage to sweeten it as much as sugar does, thats why in ready made food (drinks etc) they always combine it with real sugar
As far as I have heard they have loosened the ban on it in some european countries lately, well I anyway think real sugar can be harmful too, its all a question of the right quantity

GROW:pickflower: WEEDS, THEY LOOK NICE TOO

 

Then they're not weeds. A weed is just a plant that has grown where you don't want it to. If you grow it, its not a weed, and therefore you can't grow weeds.

 

I haven't as yet grown the stevia plant (but I am considering it for next year), but I have bought some of the stevia powder and so far I actually don't mind it. Although you really have to make sure that you don't add too much of the powder as it is seriously sweet - so if you would normally have a full teaspoon only use less than a quarter. Is it actually possible at home to dry the leaves to make some form of powder?