Care for Sensitive Plants (Mimosa Pudica) and other houseplants?

March 11, 2005 10:45 AM

Any tips on how to make Sensitive Plants (the fern-like ones that close their leaves when you touch them) thrive? I can usually keep them pretty happy for a few months, but they gradually become more and more unresponsive and eventually die. I'm in Southern California and will be moving to a new place with a greenhouse, and am fairly ignorant in the ways of plant-tending. Another question, just for sucking as much possible information out of this as possible: Anyone have any indoor plants they really like? If so, how do you make *those* thrive?
posted by sirion to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

I don't know about Sensitive Plant care especially, but I'll bet if you Google and/or talk to someone in a nursery you'll be able to pinpoint why yours aren't surviving. Too much sun? Too much water? (Did you know if you touch them a lot it'll literally wear them out?)

But I do know some about indoor plants: to make them thrive you must choose kinds that have been grown for indoor use. They need adequate light, and do not overwater them! A Pothos vine is a good choice: fast-growing, forgiving, pretty. I always like a nice Boston fern on top of my tall bookcases, and I keep a dozen or so assorted succulents in tiny pots on my kitchen window sill.

I'm so jealous you're getting a greenhouse! I've never had one (although I want one desperately), and if I were you, I'd probably get a how-to book... They can be a little complicated in terms of temperature, humidity, etc.
posted by Specklet at 11:31 AM on March 11, 2005

I've grown African violets indoors for a while. They seem hard to kill, and if they get enough light, they bloom pretty flowers that you can pick and put on cheese and crackers to impress your friends at dinner parties. They're also easy to propagate by just ripping off a leaf and planting it into a pot of soil.
posted by bonheur at 11:38 AM on March 11, 2005

That plant you're trying to grow wants to be a Mimosa tree, living in a warm moist climate as an understory specimen. Lots of bright filtered light is needed (emphasis on the "filtered"), and humid air. "Triggering" is stressful for them; try to avoid it.

When you want to grow exotics, find out the name and look up what their natural environment is like; try to mimic those conditions as much as possible.

Greenhouses are generally too hot for most plants. Pay special attention to airflow and make sure you're able to protect what you're growing from the sun at some point.

If i were you, and beginning to work in a greenhouse, i'd experiment with beautiful edibles.
posted by reflecked at 11:51 AM on March 11, 2005

That plant you're trying to grow wants to be a Mimosa tree...

Not necessarily, reflecked. The Mimosa tree is of the same family as the Sensitive Plant (Leguminosae) and also demonstrates seismonastic movement, but they are different species. The tree is Albizia julibrissin, can grow upwards of 40 feet, and the plant, Mimosa pudica, is bushy and grows 2-4 feet.

In addition, there are many different types of (also non-carnivorous) plants besides the Leguminosae family that also have the characteristic of seismonastic movement.

Anyway, I think that cultivating beautiful edibles is a great idea.
posted by Specklet at 1:00 PM on March 11, 2005

True, Specklet.. i was generalising. The environmental requirements of the plant and the tree are the same. I should have said " wants to be a LITTLE Mimosa tree". Good for you, on reminding me to not be hasty and non-specific.
posted by reflecked at 1:19 PM on March 11, 2005

Low maintenance plant:

I have a jade plant that gets about 3 hours of hot afternoon sun. I water once a week or so. If I forget, the leaves start shriveling as their water is used up, but recover when watered. I repotted it once about 5 years ago. It's 15 years old now.
posted by jjj606 at 2:26 PM on March 11, 2005

I am very jealous that you get to move somewhere with a greenhouse! And that you live in Cali. As for my favorite indoor plants: a certain bug-resistant, delicate variety of thyme, and aloes, which thrive in an east facing window, and are quicky responsive to care/love. Within a couple of years they'll also produce pups (little aloes growing off the mother)!
posted by scazza at 3:17 PM on March 11, 2005

Response by poster: Great answers. Some remaining questions:

Specklet: What's "triggering"?

If a greenhouse tends to be too hot for most plants, what's the purpose of one?

Thanks to all!
posted by sirion at 10:39 PM on March 11, 2005

Response by poster: On second read, i see you meant triggering the mimosa (i think). I thought sensitive plants were unlike Venus Flytraps in their mechanism, and they could be triggered without problem?
posted by sirion at 10:41 PM on March 11, 2005

(It was actually refleckted who used the word, not me.) It means don't touch the plant for fun. Yes, Venus Flytraps have a different mechanism, but the principle is the same: it takes the plant considerable energy to move, and there is wear and tear on the cells. Making it close up to show your friends every once in a while is okay, but don't touch it constantly.

I disagree with refleckted that a greenhouse is too hot for most plants, but would say rather that the temperature and humidity must be monitored. The purpose of having a greenhouse is that you can control the environment within for optimal growing conditions. As I mentioned before, I suggest getting a basic how-to book before you start messing about.
posted by Specklet at 10:16 AM on March 12, 2005