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iammadeofdreams

Is this even possible?

iammadeofdreams
11 years ago

I feel like this might sound nutty, but the only way to learn is to ask...

Can a Maranta twitch? Just a few minutes ago I walked into the completely dark (the sun is down already) room mine it's in and flipped on the light and I swear it twitched like it was startled or something. I just stopped in my tracks and stared at it for awhile. I know they move at night, but isn't that supposed to be super-slow? Can a sudden difference in light levels (like flipping on a switch) cause behavior like this? Or am I just seeing things?

Comments (20)

  • tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
    11 years ago

    It depends how much wine you had at supper.

    You could always try and repeat it tomorrow night.

    tj

  • plantsaremylife_grow
    11 years ago

    Tj- lol

    This does happen! I catch plants all the time "twitching"! I have a castanospermum that twitches every time I turn the tv on!!!!! It's subdle but it does move! I can't explain it! I think it has something to do with static stuff. Sometimes the movement on some plants is quite abrupt. Kind of neat to watch and experience. Kyle

  • tropicbreezent
    11 years ago

    The wine, or the light switch, LOL.

    Although it's in a room is there a possibility there was an insect or something else on it that might have dropped or jumped off starting the plant moving? Maybe you caused a slight draught as you walked in? Another possibility might be that the leaf was growing into something (another leaf?) and it had just got to the point when building pressure finally gave way and the leaf sprung into another position? There's lots of possibilities. Have you had your house checked out for poltergeists?

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    11 years ago

    Oh, indeed they do twitch - some people notice it more than others, it must be something to do with different sensitivities of eyesight. Also, in a book about growing unusual houseplants I remember reading about an oxalis that visibly shakes itself and rearranges its leaves from time to time. Years ago someone here started a thread about plants which moved, and I remember the plant called telegraph plant (maybe hemigraphis) was discussed in that thread too. Some stromanthes can be heard more than seen moving - I do think some people can perceive these phenomena more easily than others.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    There are a lot of vids of Marantas on youtube...

    Maybe you shouldn't sneak around the house like that. Scaring the plants isn't nice! I bet it was deep in prayer. Sheesh!

    I hope you have apologized. No wonder it's struggling, that kind of treatment...

    (Sometimes my jokes miss the mark, so... this is a joke!)

  • iammadeofdreams
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Neat! Now that I know I'm not crazy (on this subject anyways) it makes me want to get some more wacky plants. It seems like every time I look around these forums I find more plants I want. My apartment is going to be a jungle if I give in...

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    It can happen... one of many windows here with a crowd of plants...

  • VaeVictus
    11 years ago

    If you want a plant that in my opinion is far more sensitive than any "sensitive" plant (Mimosa is another)I suggest Averroa Carambola or Starfruit. I planted some seeds from some grocery store fruits and the seedlings move their leaves dramatically in response to stimuli of both light and touch. Sometimes it takes a few seconds after a touch but all of a sudden a leaf or a whole group of leaves will suddenly change their angle or droop into the position of leaves folded for the night. It does take more time for them to resume their former position though - down is quick but up seems harder. Also they droop all their branches when they are too dry.

  • Grantgarden2 Zone 5a/b
    11 years ago

    HAHAHA after i read this post i was watching some tv and one of my plants twitched, it twitched after i read this post. Maybe its planning to take over the world.. Ha i just had to post about it!!

  • dsws
    11 years ago

    The tendency to move in response to various stimuli is even more dramatic in the Audrey II.

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    11 years ago

    VaeVictus, thanks so much for the information. I never heard of that plant. Grantgarden2, which of your plants twitched, just for curiosity? :)

  • emerald1951
    11 years ago

    Hi ..... all plants move and follow the sun, as they grow they move and I guess you could say twitch....
    I grew up on a farm and on a hot quite sunny day...if you walked out into the corn field you could hear and see the corn grow, (don't laugh, try it)....as some one else said a leaf uncurling and the plant moved, you walked in just at the right time......do you ever watch any of those timelapse films of plants blooming, the plants move as it blooms......linda

  • meyermike_1micha
    11 years ago

    Beautiful set-up Purple! Just amazing and such a great job growing too!

    They are much safer in there these days for you and so close to you, that I'll bet they are in great company!
    Can you hear them whisper to you while your head is resting up against your chair? What are they saying?
    Someone here said they saw ther plant twitch!

    Mike:-))

  • Grantgarden2 Zone 5a/b
    11 years ago

    Marguerite, my dracaena Margina (sp)?, only one of the stem moved it was weird!

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    11 years ago

    Thanks, Mike!

    I don't know if this "counts" or not, but there's a pot of heart-leaf Philo almost above my head here at the computer chair (in pic above) and the roots move enough to knock sediment out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. I've noticed dirt on the little table under it, but someone sent me some dormant bulbs and I set the plastic bag there, on the table under that pot. For the past few days, when it's quiet, sometimes we can hear the sediment falling onto the plastic bag. I got in the pot yesterday, looking for a worm or some kind of critter crawling around in there, but there's nothing but roots. I gave it a drink and the roots seem to be resting comfortably, peacefully now...

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    11 years ago

    Grantgarden2, well, that is interesting. Because it wouldn't be that light that a breeze could move it, not just one stem anyway. Every day there is something new with plants. The same for your observations, purple. Of course we are told roots move around looking for water, but to actually see signs of it happening is really something.

  • PRO
    The Ficus Wrangler
    11 years ago

    Plants moving and whispering? Oh yes, I believe it. Have you ever heard of a book called THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS? It's full of accounts and researches into plants' reacting and responding and living in ways not usually considered.

  • User
    11 years ago

    Well I've never caught them twitching, but some of us who grow Hoyas have seen the vines entwining around things (other plant stems, the hanger of the pot, the pot or plant or vines next to it). We've discussed (at Hoya Forum) untangling them, only to find several days later, they've gone right back to where they were & re-tangled into neighboring plants again. I guess they want to go where they want to go.

  • PRO
    The Ficus Wrangler
    11 years ago

    Ha-ha. Pirate Girl, I had to laugh at your comment, reminds me of one of those jokes that is peculiar to a family or group of friends. When my father-in-law was in a nursing home shortly before he died, there was a lady there who suffered from extreme dementia, and all she did, all day long, was sit in a wheelchair and mutter "I just want to go where I want to go, I just want to go where I want to go..." Very sad, really, for the lady, but it did become a special family moment. The opportunity to use it pops up in unexpected places, like when we saw video feeds from Mars,and the Rover was bumping into a rock, backing up, bumping into the rock, backing up, on and on. My husband mutters "I just want to go where I want to go, I just want to go where I want to go," and we all cracked up.