Start growing
Needs at least 6 hours of full sun and regular watering. Use a large pot as it grows tall.
GROW SOMETHING WONDERFUL
Cotton
Gossypium hirsutum
Your guide to planting, growing, and getting to know this plant.
THE PLANT NOTEBOOK
Cotton care, from seed onward.
- Botanical name
- Gossypium hirsutum
- Common names
- Upland Cotton
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Genus
- Gossypium
- Species
- G. hirsutum
Growing with your kit
The Seeds In A Cup® observation kit lets kids see the 'Fiber to Fabric' connection firsthand.
Propagation
By seed.
Seasonal growth & harvest
Requires 180 frost-free days to mature. The fiber protects the seeds in the wild.
Growing conditions
Dry, sunny areas with long, warm growing seasons.
Weather & tolerances
High heat tolerance; very low frost tolerance.
Pests & plant health
Boll weevil (historically devastating) and aphids.
Plant safety
Safe for handling; seeds are not for human consumption.
Botanical features
A sub-tropical shrub (grown as an annual) with creamy flowers that turn pink, followed by a 'boll' of white fiber and seeds.
Varieties
Various agricultural strains.
Garden & everyday uses
World’s most important natural fiber. seeds used for oil and livestock feed
Native range & distribution
Native to Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean; widely grown in the US South.
Conservation
Global agricultural commodity.
Name origins
Derived from the Arabic ‘qutun’.
History
Cotton has been spun for over 7,000 years; it shaped the economic history of the American South.