The facts in profile format
- Plant family: Mallow family
- Genus: Gossypium
- Origin: South Africa, India, South America
- Habit: upright, up to 2 m high, branched
- Leaves: alternate, three-part, hairy
- Flowers: yellow, red or white, five-fold
- Use: textile industry, oil production, seed cake production, ornamental plants
- Propagation: self-sowing, sowing
- Location requirements: sunny to partially shaded, warm and humid
- Soil requirements: heavy, moist
- Special features: poisonous
A very warm plant
Although cotton is perennial and can grow into a tree or shrub, most of the time it is grown as an annual. The culture of this plant requires a suitable climate. It should be warm. The average temperature should not fall below 15 ° C. Therefore, cotton is mainly grown in the tropics and subtropics.
also read
- Growing cotton - it's worth a try
- Overview: types of cotton
- Profile: Interesting facts about the banana
Illuminated from bottom to top
The cotton is between 25 cm and 2 m in size - depending on the species, the prevailing climate and culture. The growth is erect and branched.
The leaves are large, lobed, divided into three parts and have hairs up to 5 cm long. The five-fold, hermaphrodite and radial symmetry flowers appear in summer. They are mostly yellow and less often white or red in color. They are very similar to the flowers of the hibiscus.
The capsule fruits develop from the flowers. They have 3 to 5 compartments. This is where the dark brown seeds lie. When ripe, the capsule pops open. Then white cotton wool (the seeds with their adhering hairs) oozes out from inside. Each seed has between 2,000 and 7,000 seed hairs. The seeds are poisonous.
Tips
In this country, cotton is not suitable for large-scale cultivation. If you want to grow a plant for the extraction of raw materials for the manufacture of textiles, you are better advised to use fiber flax.
