This year is my first year growing S. rebaudiana from seed. Through lots of research online, I have learned most of what you mentioned above. I haven't tried propagating from cuttings yet (seedlings are only a couple inches tall).

But I'm sure it would work; I even heard of someone getting a 50-50 success rate by just sticking the cuttings into the ground. Obviously a root growth hormone would help a lot.

If I get a particularly sweet plant that I like, I'll probably try and save cuttings from it throughout the year and hopefully keep it going.

I've had my stevia for many years, and the leaves are still overpoweringly sweet - even when the plant is flowering. Mind you, it will invariably die down if I don't remove those flowers! But it always resurrect, although once it took a year to get on with the job.

I have never, ever been able to propagate it from cuttings. I've tried every method known to mankind, and nothing has worked. I honestly don't know why. It's not as though I haven't successfully propagated hundreds of other plants, thousands of times! It's just stevia which seems to be my Achilles' Heel when it comes to propagation.

Still, it's always worth a try. You can use pure honey instead of commercial propagating hormones with confidence. I find it better in many cases than the commercial stuff.

This was a helpful posting. So, I guess it looks like I'll be attempting to get one going with some root hormone and an itsy bitsy green house over winter.