How to Grow Touch Me Not Plant (Lajwanti) From Seed in a Pot
To grow a touch me not plant (lajwanti, chhui mui, Mimosa pudica), pour hot water over the seeds and leave them to soak overnight, sow them shallow in warm weather from March onwards, and keep the pot in full sun. Children love it because the leaves fold the moment you touch them. Grow it in a pot, though, not loose in a bed: the stems carry small hooked prickles and the plant seeds itself everywhere.
Lajwanti at a glance
- What it is: a low, sprawling legume with fern like leaves that fold when touched
- Method: seed, after a hot water soak; cuttings are unreliable
- Sowing (plains): March to July
- Pot: 5 to 10 litres (8 to 10 inch), one to three plants
- Sun: full sun, at least 6 hours
- Flowers: fluffy pink balls about 1 cm across, roughly three months after sowing
- Watch out: prickly stems, sticky seed pods, spreads as a weed
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How to identify the real touch me not plant
Several plants are called touch me not, which confuses nursery buyers.
- Lajwanti (Mimosa pudica): feathery leaves made of tiny paired leaflets that fold up within a second or two when touched and droop at night. Stems reddish brown to purple, with short curved prickles. Flowers are pale to purplish pink fluffy balls on short stalks. Seed pods are small, flat, with bristly edges that stick to clothes.
- Garden balsam (gul mehndi), also sold as “touch me not”: fleshy stems, no prickles, cup shaped flowers, and seed pods that burst when touched. The leaves never fold.
- Other mimosas and acacias: similar leaves but they move slowly or not at all, and many grow into large shrubs.
The simple test: brush a leaf with a finger. If the leaflets snap shut in a couple of seconds, it is lajwanti.
Where it grows well, and the honest verdict
| Zone | Verdict | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Karachi, coastal | Plant, in a pot | Warm and humid; grows almost all year |
| Multan, Sukkur, Bahawalpur | Plant | Loves heat; water in June |
| Lahore, Faisalabad, Delhi | Plant | Grows March to November, sulks in winter |
| Islamabad, Peshawar | Maybe | Grow as a summer annual; frost kills it |
| Hills | Skip, or indoors only | Too cold |
In the open ground it is a weed of farms and lawns in many warm countries. The Queensland government lists it as an invasive plant whose seeds stay alive in the soil for many years and catch on people and animals. One plant can make hundreds of seeds a year. A pot keeps it in check.
How to grow touch me not plant from seed, step by step
- Put seeds in a cup and pour over water just off the boil. Leave them overnight. The coat is hard and waterproof; research on its germination confirms scarification is what breaks dormancy.
- Next morning, pick out the seeds that have swollen. Repeat the hot soak for any that stayed small and hard.
- Fill a pot with 2 parts soil, 1 part sand, 1 part compost. It likes a lean, free draining mix; see our potting mix guide.
- Sow swollen seeds no deeper than about 0.5 cm. In the same work, seedlings came up best from the surface to 2 cm deep and not at all from 8 cm.
- Keep damp and warm. Shoots usually show in one to two weeks in warm weather.
- Thin to one to three seedlings per pot once they have a few leaves. They don’t like being moved, so sow where they will stay.
The seed coat step that changes everything
Untreated lajwanti seed can sit for weeks and come up in ones and twos. The hot water soak, then picking out only the swollen seeds, gives an even pot of seedlings within days. If you have very few seeds, gently rub each one on sandpaper until the dark coat just dulls, then soak in warm water.
Can you propagate lajwanti from cuttings?
Sometimes, but not reliably. Soft tip cuttings in moist sand in warm, humid weather occasionally root, much like the herb cuttings in our mint and tulsi cuttings guide, but most rot. Seed is easier and faster. A pot that has flowered will also drop its own seed, so expect volunteers.
Care through the year
- Sun: full sun keeps it compact and flowering. In shade it stretches and the leaves fold lazily.
- Water: when the top 2 to 3 cm is dry. On 45°C days in Multan, a small pot may need water daily. In the monsoon, empty the saucer.
- Feeding: very little. Like other legumes it fixes some nitrogen; a spoon of compost each month is plenty.
- Winter and frost nights: growth slows right down in cold weather. On the plains, move the pot into a sunny, sheltered corner. In Islamabad treat it as a summer plant and resow.
- Pests: mostly spider mites and mealybugs in dry heat. Wash leaves with plain water; use soap spray if needed.
Don’t keep touching it all day. Each fold costs the plant energy, and a constantly prodded plant looks tired and grows less.
The prickles on the stems can scratch, so show children to brush the leaves with one finger and not grab stems. Don’t let them or pets chew it: it contains mimosine, which is known to harm grazing cattle, and no part is a snack. Wash hands after handling. Don’t plant it in lawns or near farmland, and pick off seed pods before they dry if you want to stop it spreading. For a wider list of risky garden plants, see poisonous plants for kids and pets.
About harvesting and uses
People search when to harvest lajwanti because the plant appears in Ayurvedic and Unani texts. That is tradition, and this page stays on growing; we don’t recommend picking it for home remedies. If you want seed for next year, let a few pods turn brown, snip them into a paper bag before they shatter, and store dry.
Touch me not plant questions
How do I grow a touch me not plant at home?
Soak the seed in hot water overnight, sow it shallow in a small pot of free draining mix, and keep it warm and in full sun. Seedlings appear within one to two weeks.
Why are my lajwanti seeds not germinating?
The hard seed coat keeps water out. Without a hot water soak or a light scratch on sandpaper, most seeds stay dormant for weeks.
Why does the touch me not plant close its leaves?
Touch triggers a quick loss of water pressure in cells at the base of each leaflet, so the leaves fold. They also fold at night and reopen in light.
Can touch me not grow indoors?
On a very bright windowsill, yes, but it gets leggy without direct sun. A sunny balcony is far better.
Is touch me not plant a perennial?
It can live a few years in frost free warmth, but on the North Indian and Pakistani plains it usually behaves as a summer plant and is easiest resown each spring.
Is the touch me not plant safe for pets?
Keep pets from chewing it. The prickles scratch, and its mimosine is a known problem for grazing animals.
Why is my touch me not plant not closing?
A stressed plant (cold, too little light, dry or overwatered) responds slowly. Give it sun and warmth and it recovers.
Lajwanti ka paudha kaise lagaye?
Beej ko garam paani mein raat bhar bhigo dein, phoole hue beej halka sa mitti mein dabayein, gamla dhoop mein rakhein aur mitti halki namm rakhein.
More flowering plants in Phool aur Paudhe.