My seeds came from Park Seeds. I paid 4.95 for 50 seeds, and had 100% germination. They've since been transplanted, and are still doing OK. While Stevia extracts are up to 300 times more sweet than sugar, if you just use the plant leaf as is, it is 30 times sweeter than sugar, so one leaf might do. Using the whole leaf you may notice other tastes. If you soak the leaves (minus any veins) in warm water to extract the sweetness, you will have less of these tastes. I don't mind the other tastes and am too lazy to extract. Plus the dried leaves hold their sweetness, almost indefinitely I've been, so I just dry some down and store it like other spices. If you do extract, remember the seetness is in the leafs, the bitter stuff is in the stems and the veins of the leaves so the more you cut up the plant and separeate out the peices the more you will refine. Here is a pretty good link http://www.sweetess.com/stevia/#q2

I've been growing stevia for a couple years now. I originally got 4 rooted cuttings by mail order. I understand that it is native to South America and is a relative of the mint family but obviously not nearly so vigorous as mint. Many varieties are perennial in the right climate though the root systems may loose vigor as the plants age. Taking cuttings each year is supposed to help keep you going. I've heard it is best to grow cuttings from a plant you know to be nice and sweet since growing from seed may produce plants that are not as sweet. As I said, I've been growing it for a couple years now (when I started growing it, you could not buy stevia sweeteners in the grocery store, only in health food stores as a supplement, but I've heard that the FDA has approved it now.) I have not been nearly as successful at growing it as I had hoped though I still have some growing. Some of it is in the Aquaponics system as small cuttings that seem to have taken. Any that I had left outdoors over the freeze has died back to the ground but seems to be sprouting some new growth now, I'm hoping the new growth will be more vigorous since the plants have been pretty slow to produce enough leaves for my needs. Here is how I make my own liquid sweetener from it. I harvest by pruning the plants back by about 1/2, it is best to do it just as flower buds are forming but before the flowers open. I dry these in the dehydrator. (Often I will take some cuttings from the best looking stems by cutting off most of the leaves and sticking the stems in the Aquaponic beds.) Once the leaves are dry I will strip them off the stems (I crunch them up some but I don't really powder them) and put a cup of them along with a cup of water into a french press coffee cup. I let that sit for a day or two. Then I press and drain out reserving the sweet water. Discard the spent leaves. Put another cup of dried leaves in the french press and pour the reserved sweet water over the new dried leaves. (So you are making the liquid double strong.) Let that sit for another day or so. Press and put the liquid and pour into a convenient bottle to keep in the fridge. I use about a teaspoon of the liquid in my coffee depending on how sweet the batch came out. Stevia does have a very "green" taste to it which takes some getting used to but not so bad. For hot teas one can simply put some dried leaves into the tea strainer along with the other tea ingredients. How strong or sweet the stevia is will not only depend on the particular plants the leaves came from but also when the leaves were harvested since the leaves are supposed to be at their sweetest just before flowering. Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx

Cuttings should be taken in summer. The plant is climatically suited to climates from temperate to sub-tropical where temperatures range between 21-43°C, with an average of 24°C, but it will also grow in the tropics, where it prefers shade and will also grow in cold climates with winter protection. Plants in the ground have been noted to take minimal frosts. It is a somewhat temperamental plant and may be slow to grow at first. Even in ideal conditions, it is not uncommon for plants to die suddenly or to lose their leaves. As long as the roots are alive, the plant may regrow. Poor, loose, well drained soil is recommended. To be perfectly honest, I have NEVER had any success propagating stevia from cuttings! And goodness knows, I've tried often enough! Try chopping off their heads. I have found that tip cuttings are very delicate and the top few leaves almost invariably die. If the leaves are large, I usually cut them in half, too. This reduces transpiration, and encourages the plant to put a lot of energy into growing roots. Dipping the cut end into PURE honey will also encourage root development and prevent microbial attack. I actually prefer to take cuttings from further down the stem, even quite woody parts (I am speaking generally, not specifically about stevia), and I find them far more reliable to strike. Make sure to use a good quality potting mix (a propagating mix is ideal because it's more porous), and keep it just barely moist. Obviously, this plant needs some heat. A bottom heating pad would be ideal for it, but a plastic cloche (or tent) over the entire pot would simulate hot-house conditions for it. It's one plant not to give up on, however. If any roots have formed, it could well survive, even though the above-ground bits are as dead as doornails. With stevia, you just never know! Good luck!

TONI rub it in will you? Mine didn't make it and I used the vermiculite and bag trick this time! I did actually manage to get some sedum to finally put on some roots, last year I did my rooting in August with hardwood cuttings I am going to try that again this year and see how it goes. I have a purple butterfly bush, a honeycomb BB and a red bottle brush I wish to try this time. I SOOOOO hope the bottle brush takes it is sooo pretty. I do have a few hardwood cuttings of a smoke tree in water and I thought they were dead so I was going to through them out the other day and noticed some callousing and thought NO WAY is that root starts BUT I honestly THINK it is so I stuck them back in the water! I SOOOO hope those make it and are not just a false start LOL. Toni I think I am gonna send cuttings to you we can share my cuttings LOL. Thanks for the update, you know I really AM glad you are having so much success right? I really am, I think it is wonderful! OHH OHH OHHH, someone TELL ME PLEASE HOW I should do some Weeping Pussy Willow cuttings? Someone sent me a bunch and right now they are just in water is this good? OR what would be the best approch? They are hardwood from the base and from the limbs. ANY advice would be sooo much appreciated PLEASE. :) Fran