This is an update showing two months of growth , July to September ( not accounting for my own cutting and use ).

View the July video to see the entire system:

Can a system this small — only 24 linear feet of hydroponic tubing — make money?

No. Even though stevia sells for $2 a dry ounce, this system would produce only a few ounces a day of green leaf.

However, if a person is diagnosed as border-line type-2 diabetes and they cannot break their sugar habit, this system would save many many thousands of dollars in doctor fees, hospital stays, prosthetic legs and / or wheelchairs.

24 linear feet of hydroponic stevia cannot supply a health food market or a cafe serving herbal teas. I present this system as a proof-of-concept.

The system, in total, cost approximately $150. This does not include the price of new pipe — I used discarded 6 inch, 1 inch, and 3/4 inch PVC. The solar panel and pump cost $75 through Amazon.com. I found the reservoir. Federico of Hydro Suppliers donated the clay pebbles.

The cost of paint on the reservoir, the miscellaneous fittings, the neoprene end caps ( also purchased through Amazon.com ) totaled another $75 approximately.

The chain link panel — I received that for making a video commercial.

A person with ingenuity and patience could assemble a system totaling 100s of linear feet if they knew plumbers working construction projects. I did not buy any of the 6 inch PVC new. Zero. All of came as scrap intended for landfill dumping.

An urban lot, fenced off and locked, could become a production center for stevia. I believe a grower could get the highest price for stevia as green leaf for specialty diet restaurants. If the grower could not sell the stevia fresh, dry it, sell it to tea shops.

A production lot would require security — chainlink, barbed wire, good locks. Felons engaged in growing of illegal substances would dismantle and disappear the hydroponic system. They can get $100? $500? an ounce wholesale for their products.

Such is our society. Narcotics get serious money. Money for Porsches and SUVs. This sugar substitute that could stop the progress of type-2 diabetes will only sell at a price three or four times the price of tea or coffee.