PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Stevia
Stevia rebaudiana
🌿 Herb
🔁 Perennial
The "sweet leaf": fresh leaves are many times sweeter than sugar. A tender perennial for a sunny windowsill or summer patio pot.
At a glance: harvest from late May.
When to plant and care for it
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Plant
Harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Stevia: what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Keep evenly moist, never waterlogged
- Soil
- Free-draining compost
- Spacing
- 30 cm
- Height
- 50 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- Liquid feed monthly in summer
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 9–11
Step by step
- Late April – mid June · 2 weeks after the last spring frost
Plant
Plant at the same depth as in its pot, 30 cm apart, in a sunny, sheltered spot. Firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant” · Late April
Water In
Water well, then keep just moist while it settles in.
- 30–51 days after “Water In” · Late May – mid June
First Light Harvest
Once it is growing strongly, snip a few sprigs — never more than a third of the plant at once.
Every year
- JuneMove Outside
Stand the pot in a sunny, sheltered spot once nights are warm.
- AugustMain Harvest
Cut stems just before flowering, when sweetness peaks; dry the leaves.
- SeptemberBring Indoors
Bring indoors before the frost and water sparingly through winter.
