414 · Stevia

About this plant

Stevia gives you a sugar-free sweetener you can pick a leaf at a time — one leaf sweetens a cup of tea. It is fussy from seed, which is exactly why buying it as a started plant is worth it. Give it a pot with afternoon shade and pinch the flower buds to keep the leaves sweet rather than bitter.

Planting it at home

When to plant out

Wait until after our last frost (about mid-February) and warm soil — usually March. Until then keep the pot in a sunny, sheltered spot and bring it in on cold nights.

Where

Container with afternoon shade; easy to move as the season turns

Spacing

18–24 in (West Coast Seeds: 60 cm)

Size

1–2 ft tall and about as wide (NCSU)

Care

Sun

Full sun in spring; AFTERNOON SHADE in low-desert summer

Water

Moderate and even — moist but well drained; over-watering causes root rot (NCSU)

Feed

Light feeding only; too much fertilizer weakens the flavor (general guide).

Pick / harvest

Just as it begins to flower — but prune flowers off for best-tasting leaves (NCSU)

Good to know

Grown from

Seed — sown by FHCG volunteers

Uses

Sweetens tea, 1 leaf per cup

Life cycle

Tender perennial

Heirloom or hybrid

Heirloom — saved seeds grow true

Pollinators

Minor — small flowers get some bee traffic, but you should be pinching them off anyway.

Caution

Daisy family: may bother ragweed allergies.

Days to harvest / bloom

~90 days to first leaf harvest (NCSU)

Heat (our summer)

Low to moderate — give afternoon shade in our heat (West Coast Seeds)

Color

Small white flowers with pale-purple accents; bright green foliage