Sweetleaf is a delicous sweet natural substitute for sugar. It originates from Paraguay in South-America. The leaves are used fresh or dried to sweeten tea, coffee or anything else. The fresh leaves can also be used to make a very sweet tisane. Some people say that the leaves of sweetleaf are 30 times sweeter than sugar. In the Netherlands this perennial is mainly grown as an annual. Height: 100 cm. Sweetleaf can also be sown and grown in pots, but these plants stay smaller in height.
Indoor sowing: february
Outdoor sowing: mid may - june
Sowing depth: shallow
Germinationtemp. : 18 - 22 °C
Germination: 2 - 3 weeks
Plant distance: 50 cm
Sowing distance in rows: 50 cm
Plant position: sunny and sheltered
Sow indoors from february on in seeding trays with some potting soil. Keep the temperature constantly at 20 °C to aid the germination. These seeds are known to germinate very irregularly, it can take a long time before any seedlings emerge and not all the seeds will sprout. Sow the seeds on top of the soil and press them down gently, because Sweetleaf needs light to germinate. Cover the seeding trays with a lid or some clingfilm to preserve the moisture. Remove the lid or clingfilm when the seedlings first emerge. Keep moist.
Let the seedlings adjust to outside conditions from mid may, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrost. Plant them, after a couple of days, on a sunny, sheltered spot with enough light and some free draining soil.
Sow outdoors, from the middle of may, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrost. Sow on a sunny, sheltered spot with a lot of light and in some free draining soil. Rake in the seeds gently or press them down in to the soil . Keep moist and weedfree. Thin the seedlings to 50 cm apart when they are large enough to handle. Cut the tops of the plants when the seedlings are about 20-25 cm tall.
Harvest the leaves by cutting them with a knife of scissors. Leave the roots to grown on and to make sure that there is some new growth to harvest later on in the season. Use the harvested leaves fresh or dry them to make Sweetleaf powder.
