Cotton Plant
Gossypium herbaceum
📖 About this plant
Cotton (Gossypium herbaceum — the Old World/Asiatic cotton native to India; also G. hirsutum — Upland American cotton, the most widely grown today; G. barbadense — Egyptian/Sea Island cotton; G. arboreum — tree cotton) is a shrub in the Malvaceae (mallow/hibiscus) family, prized for the soft white fibers that grow around its seeds inside the cotton bolls — the most widely used natural fiber in the world, and one of Indias most historically significant crops. Cotton has been cultivated in India for over 7,000 years — the Indus Valley Civilization (Mohenjo-daro, Harappa) was spinning and weaving cotton cloth by 5000 BC, and ancient Greek and Roman writers called India “the land of cotton.” India was the worlds leading cotton textile producer for over 3,000 years, until the British Industrial Revolution and colonization devastated the Indian handloom industry. Today, India is again one of the worlds top cotton producers (alongside China, USA, and Pakistan), with major cultivation in Gujarat (the cotton bowl of India — especially Surendranagar, Rajkot, Amreli), Maharashtra (Vidarbha region), Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. The cotton plant is a shrub, 1-2 m tall, with attractive lobed maple-like leaves (often with reddish veins), small cream-yellow hibiscus-like flowers that turn pinkish-red as they age, and the famous cotton bolls — green capsules that split open to reveal the fluffy white cotton fiber surrounding the seeds inside. The fiber (the “lint”) is spun into yarn and woven into cloth — used for everything from fine muslin (the legendary fabric of ancient India, so fine a 10-meter piece could pass through a ring) to denim, terrycloth (towels), and cottonseed oil (pressed from the seeds, used in cooking and industry). India is famous for its long-staple and extra-long-staple cottons — Suvin, DCH-32, and the legendary Egyptian-derived Sea Island cotton — used to make premium textiles. Cotton is also the source of cottonseed oil (used in cooking and soap-making), cottonseed meal (livestock feed), and cottonseed hulls (fertilizer/fuel).
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Full sun
Regular; reduce as bolls open
Low to moderate (40-60%)
20-32°C
Well-draining sandy loam; pH 5.5-7.5
Balanced NPK; high potassium for boll set
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- India and Africa
- 📏 Max height
- 1-2 m
- 📐 Spread
- 60-90 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Summer; small cream-yellow hibiscus-like flowers
- 🎨 Bloom color
- Cream to pale yellow (turning pink-red with age)
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Dark green lobed maple-like leaves (often with red veins)
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Annual in most regions; perennial in tropics
- 📈 Growth rate
- Fast — bolls open in 130-180 days
- ☠️ Toxicity
- Non-toxic; cottonseed contains gossypol (mildly toxic if eaten in large amounts)
- 🌱 Propagation
- Seeds (direct sow)
🛡️ Health & Safety
Non-toxic; cottonseed contains gossypol (mildly toxic if eaten in large amounts)
Common issues
- Bollworm complex (American, pink, spotted — the most serious pest complex)
- cotton leaf curl virus
- bacterial blight
- verticillium wilt
- fusarium wilt
- anthracnose
- aphids
- whiteflies
- jassids
- thrips
- mealybugs
- spider mites
- nematodes
- excessive vegetative growth from too much nitrogen/water
💡 Care tips
- Direct sow seeds after soil has warmed to 25°C (no earlier than 2 weeks after last frost — cotton needs warm soil to germinate).
- In India, sow with the monsoon (June-July).
- Soak seeds overnight before sowing.
- Sow 3-5 cm deep, 30-45 cm apart in rows 75-100 cm apart.
- Thin to one plant per hole after germination.
- Plant in full sun in well-draining sandy loam enriched with compost.
- Cotton tolerates a wide pH range (5.5-7.5) but dislikes waterlogging.
- Water regularly during germination, vegetative growth, and early boll set
- reduce water as bolls mature and stop entirely when bolls start to open (excess moisture at this stage stains the fiber and promotes boll rot).
- Cotton is a moderate-to-heavy feeder — apply balanced NPK at planting, then side-dress with nitrogen 30 and 60 days after sowing
- potassium is critical for boll development.
- The plant flowers 60-70 days after sowing, bolls form 25-30 days after flowering, and bolls open 50-60 days after formation — total crop cycle is 130-180 days.
- Harvest by hand when bolls are fully open and the fiber inside is dry and fluffy — pick every 5-7 days during the 4-6 week harvest window (bolls do not all open at once).
- For seed-saving, save seeds from the best plants — but note that many commercial cottons are Bt transgenic hybrids whose seed will not come true.
- Cotton is a great bee plant — the flowers produce abundant nectar and attract bees and other pollinators.
- Rotate with legumes or cereals to break pest cycles.
- The cotton plant is attractive enough to grow as an ornamental — the hibiscus-like flowers and unusual bolls are conversation starters in any garden.