PlantFiles: Touch-me-not, Tickleme Plant, Tickle Me Plant, Sensitive Plant, Humble Plant
Mimosa pudica

This is a fun houseplant. Touch its leaves and watch them curl right before your eyes!
My seeds were up in 5 days... I love this plat.

Thomas Jefferson planted Sensitive Plant seeds at Monticello in 1811, and it has been know to have been listed on many early nineteenth-century seed lists.

From your friends at Botanical Interests: Although you may have read some negative comments about Sensitive Plant when it is grown in the wild, it is a fantastic houseplant. Kids love to touch its leaves and watch them curl right before their eyes! If the plant is agitated further, an entire branch will droop down (a temporary condition). It has fern-like leaves with reddish-brown prickly stems and 1" globe-shaped pale lilac pink flowers that appear in mid-summer. You can grow it in a container outside or as a houseplant. Since it is only a perennial in the tropics, it should be brought indoors for the winter. Sensitive Plant is not carnivorous, and it should be grown in containers only, since it is naturalized in some parts of the United States.

Planted seeds after soaking in two bouts of hot water in some houseplant soil targetted for seed starting.
The seeds sprouted in 2 days and have been growing visibly by the hour.

Great plant for discouraged hobbyists who have not had much success. Plus its fun to play with!

How old does the plant need to get before the leaves will become sensitive?

this plant is very fun!! i grew it from seed about 2 months ago and it has already set buds and is making new leaves every day!!!!
i cant beleive there are negative posts on this!

Sensitive Plant, Sowing Instructions: Soak the seed in hot water (140F) for 2 hours before sowing. Sow late winter to mid spring at (70-75F) on the surface of a good well drained seed compost and gently firm down. Keep soil damp but not wet. Do not exclude light, sealing in a polythene bag after sowing is helpful. Germination usually takes 21-30 days. Mine germinated fast by pouring the hot water on top of them & leaving them overnight. Some sources recommend soaking the seeds for 10-20 minutes in either hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol instead.

Some mimosoids are difficult to germinate, owing to tough shells.
Once established, mimosoid plants are quite easy to grow.

Mimosoids are legumes, distantly related to peas and beans. The important thing about this is that these plants all require microbes known as nitrogen-fixing bacteria to be present in the soil. These species of bacteria (including members of the genii Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium) form a symbiotic relationship with the plants. They form cultures on the plants' roots known as nodules, and the bacteria convert nitrogen (N2, which the plants can not use) into ammonia (NH3, which plants can use).

Without these bacteria, the plants will generally exhibit weak growth and die while still seedlings. There are a few ways to innoculate your plants with these microbes. Another method is to buy vetch seeds and plant them in the soil at the same time as you plant your mimosoids. Let the vetch establish a root system, and grow to several inches tall, then pinch them back to the soil line. This can also be done using common pea seeds.

Given adequate root space, they will grow rapidly. Alternatively, many species can be kept in small pots and grown into attractive bonsai specimens. Give them good light, water them according to the sort of environment the plant is naturally used to, and feed them with nitrogen rich fertilizer. The hardest part in growing these plants is getting them established. Once you have a healthy seedling, with proper care, your mimosoid plants should be some of the easiest in your collection to care for.

You may wish to start the seeds out in an inorganic medium such as perlite, coarse aquarium sand, or grit rather than using an organic-rich soil or potting mix. If using an organic potting mix, add some sphagnum moss, as this has some fungicidal properties. After the plants have germinated, you can transplant them into potting mix.

They're definitely very interesting plants, and it's fun to watch their leaves fold up and then slowly open up again. I live in the tropics (Townsville, Australia), and these plants can really do well here. The well-known method of soaking the seed pods in very hot 'tap' water for 20 minutes, followed by very shallow planting of the seed pods in moist soil under bright conditions should have them germinate in 5 days or so. Once a seed germinates, the pair of embryonic leaves (cotyledons) grow really fast, within 1 to 2 days. The first leaflets develop really quickly as well. After the very first set of leaflets open up, it takes maybe half a day before they seem to become sensitive to touch. The new leaflets continue to increase in size, taking a couple of days or so to get to their full leaflet size. The first set of leaves normally has 3 pairs of leaflets. The second and third set of leaflets develop together next to each other, with 4 pairs of leaflets for each set. The fourth and fifth set of leaflets develop together next to each other, each set with 5 pairs of leaflets.

i have one on my window in scotland and have little seed pods at the base of the flower stem. my plant is 2 foot tall and the its only 3 mouth old. i get 3 to 4 flowers a day. they only last one day. my child loves it we can spend a long time tuoching its leaves.

A very annoying weed in Northern Australia where it spreads in lawns - very 'ouch' if you walk on them barefooted. Any disturbed ground will become infested with them. Known here in Cairns as "Sensitive weed" - control in lawns is best achieved by being vigilant when mowing and pulling the plants out whenever you see them.

Each time my mimosa gets a new leaves, they get spots on them and die. Now all except the very top part of my plant has leaves and has never flowered. Also I read somewhere that the more you touch them, the faster they will die because this plant is not long lived in the first place.

About 20 years ago I acquired a few seeds of this plant. One sprouted and grew in my garden for several years to about 2 feet tall and wide. It was amazing how quickly the leaves closed when you touched them. The San Diego climate seemed well-suited to this plant but it died after about 5 years... It did produce flowers but I don't recall any seed resulting therefrom. The common name hereabouts is Sensitive Plant.

This plant is very fun! Evenyone loves to 'play' with it. Here in Ohio I will treat it as an house plant. My husband remembers his Grandmother having one when he was growing up!

Grown from seed sown late May. Now August and plants are approx. 6ins high.
Leaves close when touched or wafted by breeze and also stems collapse at night so that plant looks dead! Fascinating plant for Children. Here in Middle England plants are treated as Houseplants.