The plant is native to Middle and South America. The native Indio's used it for more then 1500 years as a sweetener. Dry Stevia leaf is 30 times sweeter than sugar. Today Stevia is used mainly in Asia and South America. The main current commercial constraint on the Stevia industry is a ban on it's use in food products in the US. This is based on the suspicion that a derivative of stevioside may be harmful to humans. Until further research is conducted, stevia can only be sold as a dietary supplement and a skin care product but not as a sweetener in the US.

Stevia is a short day plant, that means the flowering period lies in the winter month in the northern hemisphere, it needs well drained soil and high temperatues of about 20C. That means over the summer months the plant can be outside in a container, but over the winter months we had to bring the plant inside by temperatures about 15C-20C, the plant need as much light as possible and not very much water. You also can allow the plant to dye down over the winter, the new growth starts very late the following year. Best harvesting time is autumn.