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Post by blackox on Oct 9, 2013 17:23:35 GMT -5
I'm interested in experimenting with growing cotton. Does anybody know of a short season variety that would perform well in colder climates, or have experience growing it this far up north? I live in Ohio (zone 5-6ish) and have little trouble growing okra and cowpeas. Any information would be appreciated.
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Post by wisjim on Oct 18, 2013 20:55:36 GMT -5
I'm in western Wisconsin, zone 4, and we have grown some Hopi cotton the past 2 summers. Summer of 2012 was warm to hot, and dry, and we got about 25 to 30 or so cotton bolls from 2 plants outside and a few from one in a pot in the sunroom. This summer they went out in the garden later (we had a big snowstorm on May 2nd or so) and they blossomed but haven't done much else yet, and we have had frost a few days ago. A couple of plants are in pots in the sunroom, and a couple were planted in straw bales in a simple hoophouse, and they are all still growing. Since you are probably warmer and have a longer season than I do, you might be able to grow a usable amount. We started the seed in side around the same time as tomatoes, if I recall right, or maybe a bit earlier, and transplanted them out about the same time as peppers. The Hopi cotton is lightly colored, tan, pale green, etc.
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Post by ferdzy on Oct 24, 2013 19:17:15 GMT -5
I was just visiting someone in Canadian zone 6 - is that American zone 5? - and she was growing something called red foliated cotton. This has been a cool rainy summer and it looked like it was just going to sneak in under the wire so far as producing mature pods. No idea where she got it, though.
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Post by blackox on Oct 26, 2013 7:51:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies!
ferdzy, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Thanks, Galina!) sells red foliated cotton, but it's unavailable. I guess they had a big fire and it toasted a good portion of their seeds. The red foliated cotton seems to be the earliest variety they offer. I have no idea whether or not Canada's zone 6 is America's zone five. I think I have a map somewhere that has the American zones for North America as a whole.
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Post by bunkie on Oct 27, 2013 10:47:18 GMT -5
We've grown cotton in pots up here with good production. Planning on transplanting seedlings into the garden for a test hop next spring. The variety was one we got from Alan. It looks like Reimer Seeds has the red foliated variety... www.reimerseeds.com/red-foliated-white-cotton.aspx |
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Post by blackox on Oct 29, 2013 17:01:48 GMT -5
Thanks Bunkie! Another one for my expanding list of bookmarks!
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Post by Marches on Feb 12, 2017 15:06:30 GMT -5
I've wondered before why the cotton grass that grows in cold boggy areas around the northern hemisphere hasn't been used for cotton. It grows here in the UK just fine on the Moors. Maybe it can't be processed into cotton (although it looks the part)? Or maybe just not cultivatable? If it were suitable for actually making cotton with I'd be looking at breeding this as it is actually adapted to the north and grows as far as the Arctic.
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Post by ferdzy on Feb 12, 2017 20:06:48 GMT -5
Marches, you got me curious so I googled it. The first thing I discovered is that cotton grass absorbs oil but not water! Apparently the Inuit used it as a wick for lamps. People are looking at using it for mopping up oil spills. But that quality would make it pretty useless as a domestic fibre.
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Post by darrenabbey on Feb 16, 2017 2:33:27 GMT -5
I grew a small amount of white cotton successfully in [southern] Minnesota [seeded directly in ground]. At the end of the growing season, I pulled the plants and let the bolls dry in my garage. It would take only a very little reduction in the growing season for them to have not required this sort of heroic measure.
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Post by walt on Feb 16, 2017 12:57:54 GMT -5
Commercial cotton production moved into southern Kansas about 20 years ago. That is zone 6. Up here there is no cotton weavil, nor some of the diseases that cotton is prone to.
Long way between zone 6 and your area, but you wouldn't needf commercial amounts.
I've grown several kinds of cotton in central Kansas, nearly zone 5, because my daughter spins and weaves. Dyes too. The cotton I grew for were mostly colored cotton, which are mostly longer season cottons. But they produced here with little extra effort. Some of the shortest season cottons should do for you.
Have you tried GRIN?
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Post by templeton on Feb 19, 2017 15:51:13 GMT -5
I've no interest in growing cotton, but this sounds like it needs a Lofthousian mass cross project to select out some cold adapted lines.
T
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Post by philagardener on Feb 19, 2017 18:17:25 GMT -5
+1, particularly since current lines tend to be self-pollinating. Promiscuously pollinated cotton! That's a thread we can follow!  |
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Post by caledonian on Feb 20, 2017 21:48:43 GMT -5
Marches, you got me curious so I googled it. The first thing I discovered is that cotton grass absorbs oil but not water! Apparently the Inuit used it as a wick for lamps. People are looking at using it for mopping up oil spills. But that quality would make it pretty useless as a domestic fibre. With respect, I think whether it would be useful would depend on the particular use. It might make a fantastic material for rain-repellent outer gear. |
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Post by ferdzy on Feb 21, 2017 9:52:18 GMT -5
caledonian; yes, true. I guess what I was thinking, more precisely, is that it would be a bugger to wash and that would definitely be a limiting factor.
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Post by darrenabbey on Feb 22, 2017 2:24:40 GMT -5
+1, particularly since current lines tend to be self-pollinating. Promiscuously pollinated cotton! That's a thread we can follow! It makes sense for the mainline industrial types. Does this description carry over to the various decorative cotton types? |
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