Cotton Plant Profile

Cotton Plant Profile

Cotton (Gossypium species) is a plant family with a long and tangled history. It has been cultivated and used by humans for thousands of years. Cotton is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old and New Worlds. There are about 50 Gossypium species.

Growing Cotton ornamentally is gaining popularity. It is an interesting and unique plant when used as a thriller in a container or in a garden bed planting. It especially pairs well with tropical-themed gardens.

In USDA Zones 8-10, Cotton is easy to grow from seed that is direct-sown in the soil once the chance of last frost has passed in the spring. In Zones 5-7, it can be started early under grow lights indoors, similar to tomato plant timings.

Cotton is an annual crop. It prefers full sun, well-draining soils, and average moisture.

The plant has maple-like leaves and is a tall and spindly similar to Okra, Hollyhocks, and other members of the Mallow family. The flowers are hibiscus-like and they form seedheads as they dry and mature on the plant, which are the white fibrous “bolls” of cotton fluff. You can cut these off and dry them to use in crafts and to collect the seeds for next year’s plantings.

Some attractive varieties to try in a home garden setting include ‘Red Beauty’, ‘Albe Red Variegated’, and ‘Black Beautiful’.

Cotton: You Can Grow That!

 

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio, Video. Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz

Editing by Ellen Isaacson

 

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If you liked this video, we think you will like these other Plant Profiles:

~ Okra Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/09/okra-plant-profile.html

~ Hardy Hibiscus Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2019/08/plant-profile-hardy-hibiscus-hibiscus.html

~ Abutilon Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2023/02/abutilon-plant-profile.html

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DIY: Real Cotton Wreath

Last summer I grew cotton in my community garden plot. Just three plants, but they provided enough cotton bolls for me to use in making this wreath. I dried the cotton over the winter time--laying the cut branches flat on an old window screen in my unheated sunroom. 

   This wreath retails for $50+ for faux cotton and $100 for the real thing. Not including labor and tools, the cost of this project was well under $10.  I am quite pleased with the results.

Materials:

Cotton bolls (grow your own or buy stems)

14-inch Wire wreath frame
Wire cutters

Pliers

Floral wire 26 gauge

Steps:

1. Group sets of 3 cotton bolls together and wire them close to their base. Leaving a small length of stem on them (about 3 inches.)
2. Arrange the sets of 3 on the wreath frame. Using more of the floral wire to secure them well.
3. Once you have filled in the frame. Hold it up and turn it over and give it a good shake. Secure any cotton that may come loose.
4. Cut a length of wire to make a hanging loop, if desired.
5. Optional, add a ribbon or other decorative touches.

This is a monthly blog series on DIY projects for the beginning home gardener. Look for the other installments in this DIY blog series by putting "DIY" in the search box here at washingtongardener.blogspot.com. 

Fenton Friday: HIgh Cotton

I reported earlier on my experiment in growing Red Cotton. (See post here:
http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2017/07/fenton-friday-cotton-squares.html)
Several of you asked me to share how it turned out and I am happy to say the I have several fluffy heads of white cotton! So cool looking. I plan on hanging the plants to dry in my sunroom and using them in a dried-flower wreath.

In the rest of the plot, all the cool-season seedlings are coming along, except the Spinach, which may be a dud batch, but we will give it another week or so to see.

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: Does This Look Like Okra to you?!

At the far back right corner of my community garden plot is a tall, red gorgeous plant with dramatic tropical leaves. It is supposed to be a Red Okra. It is not.

The seedling I was given this spring at a local plant swap was labeled as an Okra and it sure looked like one to me. As it grew over the summer, I patiently waited for the familiar hibiscus-like blossoms to form and the the horn-shaped fruit to form. I waited and waited and waited.

Finally, a few weeks ago, a flower started to form. The spike was not at all okra-like. It was more like the clusters of some tall grasses. And then it hit me. This is NO Red Okra! It is the Castor Bean plant. Not only is it NOT edible, but its seeds are quite deadly. WTH! What kind of careless person mixes these two plants up and passes them on to unsuspecting gardeners!

It is not the first bait-and-switch seedling mix-up I have been the victim of in my plot -- see last year's "flowering" Tobacco debacle here -- and it likely won't be the last. So, what to do in future? I generally trust fellow gardeners to be correct in their labeling, but from now on I should be more selective in quizzing gardeners at the local plant swaps I attend.

How about you, what mislabeling crimes have you suffered from in your garden?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: Cotton Squares

I did some reading up on growing Cotton today and found out that the flower buds are called "squares." That was a new term to me. Then after flowering, the seed pods are called "bolls." As the seeds develop, the cotton fiber grows and then the pods burst open to form that classic cotton ball of white fluff. I cannot wait! On my 3 Red Cotton plants, I have about 30-45 bolls forming -- enough to make, well, not much. No matter, as I have no plans to transform them to woven cloth anyway. I want to use them in dried flower arrangements.

In the rest of the plot, the continuing heat wave is making the Peppers and Melons very happy. The rest of the veggies are putting on serious growth. The 'Red Currant' Tomatoes are flowering away and are starting to form fruits as well, which surprises me, as I had always heard tomatoes stop producing in the heat.

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: Red Cotton

This week, I planted: 7 kinds of Tomatoes and herbs such as Holy Basil, Genovese Basil, Chamomile. I also stuck in a row of Marigold seedlings I got in at a plant swap to border the tomatoes.

Two new additions that I am very excited to be trying out for the first time this year are Malabar Spinach and Red Cotton. The three cotton plants (pictured above) are from the Silver Spring Garden Club Garden Mart and are already a healthy foot+ in size. I have no idea on cotton spacing. (The only research I could find was for huge farm fields of it!) I may have planted them a bit too close together, we shall see.
   Fort the Malabar Spinach, a green that thrives in heat and loves to climb, I constructed a ladder-like two-side trellis that I aim to train it up. I may add a companion climber to the other side. Perhaps a Mouse Melon?

The daily rains have stopped that means I am entering the "run over and water before Noon" phase of the season -- meanwhile, I still have a lot of things needing to be planted and we are due for record heat wave in the next few days. This will be a test of real endurance for me and the plot!

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)