Growing Cotton as a Potted House Plant

Last year, a friend was visiting the state of Georgia and knew I had previously mentioned that I would love to have a piece of cotton from a real cotton plant. Seeing a field running alongside the highway, she decided to stop and see if she could get a piece for me. She took a walk along the edge of a field and spied a cotton boll that was open. She picked it and headed back to her truck. Before she got away from the field, she realized the farmer's dogs were coming after her and my lovely, but slightly chubby friend (also known as fluffy) had to make a run for it. However, she managed to hold onto the cotton boll and proudly delivered it to me when she returned home. I am not sure she realized the chance she was taking or the fact that she probably could have been charged with theft, but I loved my cotton boll and the seeds that were hidden inside. I really appreciate the chance she had taken with life and limb to procure this fabulous plant for me. I also appreciate the cotton farmer and his dogs that did not eat her along a desolate remote southern Georgia highway.

I have always wanted to grow a cotton plant; however, cotton is a perennial subtropical plant and it needs a growing season of 120 to 180 frost-free days. Where cotton is grown commercially, the soils for cotton cultivation are the alluvial soils, black soils, and red sand loam. The soil needs to be rich in nitrogen and potassium and this can be mixed in before planting. Another application of fertilizer that includes potash may be added as a top dressing right before your cotton plant begins to flower.

In order to plant it in my area, I had to start the seeds six weeks before I planned to transplant them to large flowerpots outside. I used small 4-inch peat pots filled with a loamy soil that I had added sand to, mixed, along with some fertilizer, and was slightly damp. I planted three seeds one inch deep in each pot for a total of four pots (since my boll only had 15 seeds and a couple appeared too small). I put them on a table in a sunny area of my house and turned them a little bit each day so that each pot received sun in every area. Plants began to show around day 20.

Cotton needs the temperature to be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit in order for the seeds to germinate and then 70-80 degree temperatures for the plant to grow strong and healthy. I began to water my plants for the first time at five weeks for several days. After the weather in my zone had warmed up to being over 60 degrees during the day, I transplanted my cotton plants to large pots. You can also plant them directly into the ground as long as any chance of freezing has past; however, I wanted to place them in pots so I could bring them inside for the winter. At this time, I began to water them on a regular basis of every 8-10 days for a total of 16 weeks. Stop watering at this time in order for the plant to begin drying up and for the bolls to finish developing.

Cotton plants are dark green with flowers that appear after about 35-45 days and the plant itself may grow from three to four feet tall. The flowers are beautiful but do not last very long, a few days at best before they drop off, but the plant will continue to flower for about a month. . After that, the bolls appear, the cotton and seeds will begin to grow inside for approximately another thirty days. Once they have reached maturity, the bolls will burst open showing the cotton fibers. In fact, the cotton plant is a relative of the hibiscus and is a shrub in the family Gossypium hirsutum, which supplies 90% of all cotton grown in the world today.

Cotton is a beautiful plant with thick green foliage and very pretty light yellow flowers. If I lived in an area where I could grow several plants, I would be tempted to learn how to card, spin, and make items with my own cotton. It is definitely worth trying to grow these beautiful plants, both for the plant itself and for the cotton bolls and it is not a difficult task.

Some sources about growing cotton are included below, although most deal with commercial planting. With common sense and trial and error, anyone can grow cotton.

Cotton

Cotton Production

How to Grow Cotton

My first attempt at growing cotton yielded me approximately 30 bolls of cotton. I saved all the seeds along with my plants, which have been brought inside for the winter months. I plan to package each cotton boll complete with seeds and a sheet of directions inside a small peat planting pot. They will make excellent gifts for Christmas presents this year to family and friends who have shown an interest in planting cotton.