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Touch-Me-Nots?

C

carniverous newbie

Trying to find out if anyone knows about "touch-me-nots"? I don't even know what they're proper name is. Apparently they fold in when touched. If anyone knows, can you tell me where I can find them, if they're carniverous or not, or if they would be small enough to fare well in my terrarium with my CP's?

Thanks!
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thats called a sensitive plant. im not sure where to get them. but i have rally kool plants
 
Do you have a store (something online I can check out for curiousity), or do you trade?
 
well i dont knwo an online place i got mine threw a local plant nursery
 
Carnivorous Newbie, I have a pack of Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) seeds which I never had time/space to sow (I will soon with my new (larger) highland enclosure. The company name on this packet is Lake Valley Seeds. I got it from a Franks Nursery and Crafts garden center shop. When I was a kid my uncle gave me some Mimosa seeds by Northrup King called "Ticklish Tim" which was the same plant. It grew in very low humidity under a normal 2 light flourescent at that time I just had a few "weird" plants in my room on a shelf. Mimosa pudica is a very easy and neat plant-wait til it flowers they look like pink pincusions!

I also had a plant called the Aquatic Sensitive plant which had the same type of touch sensitive leaves but grew from a floating stem which looked like a white cigar which had been floating in water. This one folds up it's leaves on it's own after about 12 hours or so of light each day.
 
Um Touch-me-nots are NOT Mimosa/sensitive plants. They are called touch me nots because of thier explosive seed pods. If you touch their seed pods they explode hurling thier seed 30-40 feet away!
 
I mentioned sensitive plants based on his description of leaves that fold in when touched. I'd never heard them called Touch Me Nots but things have different 'trade names' everywhere you go.
 
  • #10
That's how it is here in North Carolina. They are also considered a weed.
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  • #11
Touch-me-not usually means jewelweed around here. I can see how a mimosa could acquire such a trade name, that is what he is decribing.

carnivorous newbie - I've grown mimosa pudica, it is easy to germinate (may be very quick if soaked overnight in hot water, but it is not required) and will grow well on a sunny windowsill. It doesn't need nearly as much water or humidity as cps and tap water works fine. The plant grows reasonably fast, especially compared to cps. It gorws well in a mix of peat and sand.
I don't know how it would do in a terrarium, I've only tried it on windowsills.
 
  • #12
I think jewelweeds would be a good addition to a bog garden. They tend to grow in wetter soils. They can get quite large, so you'd better have room. The flowers are showy and are very much loved by hummingbirds and other nectar addicts.
 
  • #13
Thanks everybody! I searched online for pics and what-not, and I found that mimosa pudica was the plant I was looking for. A friend of mine is in love with these, and she'd love to grow them. Maybe I'll shop around for Lake Valley Seeds and see what I can find! Or maybe even a local garden center.
Thanks also for the growing tips carnivorous23! I'll have to pass that on to my friend, and maybe get some for myself to add to my terrarium once I get a larger one!  
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 From the pics they look quite beautiful!

Thanks again everyone!  
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  • #14
Just watch for their thorns. They are prickly little devils.
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  • #16
Thorns???  The ones around here don't have thorns; they're kinda like impations(I not sure if that's how you spellthat.)
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  • #17
One other quick thing to add.

Mimosa get relatively large, the ones in the seed packets that you usally find at garden centres will reach 12-24 inches tall, others (carefull about cuttings from friends on this one) grow into 20-30 ft trees and have a spread about the same. Also the seeds you buy are usually annuals, not always though if you find one that isn't let me know where you got it!
 
  • #18
I just posted a bunch of two types of Mimosa seed that I collected in Sumatra, to Phill and Jaie for them to distribute over there in the states.
One kind grows to about a metre tall and is a REALLY spiky little guy.
The other is almost a tree, it gets right up to about 4 metres tall.
Both have leaves that collapse when you touch them.

I sent a heap of seeds so message PFT and I expect they will send you some seeds for the price of postage.

Cheers, Troy.
 
  • #20
i think touch me nots are mimosas... mimosas have seed pods that explode then touched, or by themselves.
 
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