looking for advice on growing cotton

I really want to produce my own fiber for spinning. Because of my climate (southeastern US) I don't wear wool except for a few months in the year, so I'm thinking cotton. I'm seeing that there are a variety of cotton plants and wonder if anyone can make some recommendations. What variety would be best for growing fiber for spinning? Any tips on planting and cultivation?

I've only sucessfully grown it as a houseplant and in the greenhouse.  It's lovely to grow but very daylight sensitive (our summer days this far north are too long for it to set, so it sets just as the frost is coming on)  
https://permies.com/t/canadian-cotton
https://permies.com/t/108601/permaculture-house-plants/Cotton-House-Plant

A bit about processing.  
https://permies.com/t/49607/Home-processing-Cotton-Linen-small
https://permies.com/t/108689/Growing-Processing-Cotton-Small-Scale


Seeds
Baker Creek is where I got most of mine. Red leaf, white cotton made the best houseplant.  Brown with naked seeds was the easiest to process.

Flower display had some sticks with bolls on them and the seeds from that grew well.

Sally Fox has the best fibre seeds of all, if you can get them.

Anything written by fox is pure gold.

Haven't noticed much difference in spinning for the different kinds of cotton.  I did buy a kilo of unprocessed cotton off etsy (those seeds grew fine) but the fibre hurt my skin so I think it had something icky from the way it was grown on it.  

Depending on which state you are in, there may be limits on where you can grow or if you can get the seeds.  But that isn't very many states.  

In your area you should be able to get seeds from a local farm store, or order from the local Ag Extension office. The volumes they want to sell may be way more than you want though. Ebay and Amazon sell cotton seeds, as well as lots of other venders on line.

Cotton is very susceptible to insects when it is young. Most of my sprouts this year were eaten up. Plan ahead what you will do about that. It also likes rich soil.

It's a pretty and interesting plant with beautiful flowers and beautiful when the bolls pop open. Sadly, I am too far north and can't get an actual cotton crop.

In my experience, cotton needs lots of water.  If this is a problem maybe consider a self-wicking set-up rather than growing directly in the ground.
If you are in a cotton growing area, probably best to steer away from coloured cotton varieties, commercial growers tend to get a bit antsy about contamination of the crop.
I've read, in SpinOff I think, that putting the seeds through a pasta machine will separate the seeds from the fibre; cotton fibre needs lots of twist and needs a washing soda/detergent (with no optical whiteners) scour to remove pectin etc.
Spinning Cotton by Stephanie Gaustad DVD from Long Thread Media covers the subject for once you get the crop.  Happy Growing/Spinning

Cotton is traditionally a desert plant.  Sally Fox writes about this in an issue of Ply Magazine, how cotton was grown as a perennial, without irrigation, and the people used rocks as mulch to collect the dew.

When I grow it, I find it needs very little to get a crop.  I talk about this more in the threads I linked to (and how cotton is grown north of the 49th both in North America and in Russia), but basically 20 min of drip irrigation every 10 days (no external rainfall, in the greenhouse so there is now dew collection) is the minimum I need to get a decent crop.  

In comparison, tomatoes need 30 min every day in those same conditions.  

Most modern books say to grow cotton as we grow tomatoes.  If we can get a crop from tomatoes, we can from cotton.  They don't live as far north as I do.  

I normally grow chiles all winter but decided on a lark to grow cotton this year. I have no idea what I’m doing and am doing poorly. :)

I'm growing these seeds: https://www.thebuffaloseedcompany.com/product/cotton-mississippi-brown-25-seeds-/379

Hello Leigh,

I have not grown cotton, but I can pass on a few historical facts and perspectives about growing cotton.

As R points out, there are desert varieties of cotton.  However, for real cotton production, the plants need water, as in LOTS of water.  This is one of the reasons that it was grown so widely in the American Southeast.  There are desert regions where cotton is grown abundantly--California, Egypt, Russia/Kazakhstan.  But what all these desert production areas have in common is access to abundant irrigation.

Cotton is a very heavy feeder, so whatever you do, make sure that you get ample fertility to the land that you dedicate to cotton production.  This is probably going to be something of a challenge as you likely don't have acres and acres to dedicate to cotton and therefore need a relatively small patch of land to produce a whole lot of cotton.  This will mean LOTS of water and LOTS of nutrients, however you achieve that goal.

Harvesting cotton without some sort of mechanization is no fun.  The husks are hard and covered with sharp, thorny prickles.  It is very easy to get bloody hands picking cotton, especially if you have never done so before.  I don't know if you can find a very small scale cotton harvester at a reasonable price.  These machines are relatively new, so there are unlikely to be many antique versions out there, but maybe you could find one.  Alternatively, maybe there is some type of very small-scale harvester that is aimed at cotton production in the third world where cotton is grown on very small scales.  Honestly, I just don't know but I would research this well in advance of planting.

Once you have the cotton, you will have to separate the cotton fiber from the cotton seeds which will be spread throughout the fibers.  This fact alone drastically limited cotton production in the United States (and the world) until the invention of the cotton gin.  You may be able to find an old antique cotton gin in working order, or there may be some sort of new, modern small-scale cotton gin designed precisely for this application.  I have never looked for this type of device, but I would look well before planting the actual cotton seed as separating the seed from fiber is a long, tedious job.

I hope that some of this is helpful,


Eric

Lots of good information here, and I can certainly check all the boxes for growing cotton.

HOWEVER, even though cotton is a major production crop in my state, growing ornamental cotton is "strongly discouraged" by the state, and is defined as follows.

Ornamental cotton means cotton of any color planted on any premise for purposes other than commercial production for lint and includes seeds, bolls, potted plants or any portions of the plant being distributed or offered for sale. This term encompasses cotton planted for educational purposes, as a tourist attraction, for retail or wholesale sale as a growing or dried plant, for individual use or for personal satisfaction.

For $40, I can apply for a permit from the Director of Regulatory and Public Service Programs. The application process requires an assessment of location, intended plot size, and pest conditions. I have the sense the state would want to do boll weevil monitoring of my little patch as well.

Rethinking this now, as I'm not sure I want the rigmarole.

Is a houseplant an option for now?  You can still get a harvest and they can be quite pretty.

Also, I've never been able to find desert variety or Sally fox cotton here, so my sucess growing and harvesting with very little water is with regular varieties.   Both as perennial and annuals.

I worry about this high water need thing.  I hear it a lot, and yet, it's not universal.  My expirence over several years (documented in the threads I linked to) suggest this might be a myth we unknowingly parrot designed to discourage people growing their own cotton.  As a houseplant, or small garden plant, or as a perennial, the water needs are very different than the style of growing on an industrial scale.

r ranson wrote:Is a houseplant an option for now?  You can still get a harvest and they can be quite pretty.

Good question. The information at the state regulatory services site doesn't mention houseplants, but they do mention potted plants

planted on any premise for purposes other than commercial production for lint and includes seeds, bolls, potted plants

I understand that boll weevils are terribly destructive, but it's still a bit of a disappointment.

If one day you do decide to grow cotton, keep this in mind. Your weather can't be much different than mine. Here, commercial cotton is seeded about at the end of the spring thunderstorms, but before the seasonal drought begins. It is grown with only rain, no supplemental watering.

The few times I've tried it, I watered when nearby plants needed it. In general, I tend to only water anything when establishing a planting and during July and August. I have not harvested much. But I didn't plant enough to call it a crop either. Oh, I did learn that cotton hates being shaded.

As to separating the cotton and the seed, there are varieties that you can just squeeze the seed out. They are described as being able to spin from the seed. It's been a few years, and I don't remember the names. Bolls are very poky. But if you're not doing 1/4 acre or more, if it's problematic for you, a long upholstery needle could be used to spear the cotton from the side and pull it out that way.

I worry about this high water need thing.

Yes, probably a specific to my situation of warm wet winters and hot dry summers (i.e. no rain to speak of, possible monsoon feed-off if we're at all lucky).   When first investigating the possibility of cotton growing, a radio talk-back gardener advised a move to Pakistan!  Not happening, nohow, so I grew the plants in pots.  Soaked the seeds first then got the plants started in small peat pots - in the dark in a cupboard - found they didn't like to be in the light - no idea why. Then transferred to bigger pots outside, in the recommended "sunniest spot".   They don't appreciate having their roots disturbed in the transplant process.  These are all things observed in several growing seasons.  
Northern parts of the country grow commercial cotton using flood irrigation on "marginal" land areas.  So if the area has a regular supply of rainfall then supplementary watering less likely to be necessary.