Cotton is both a wild plant and a plant that has been hybridized for commercial-grade purpose . While there are several species of tempestuous cotton , the most coarse species used commercially is Gossypium hirsutum , according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture . This is the species that has been bred to be disease - resistant and is responsible for almost 90 percent of the creation ’s cotton product . G. hirsutum is also called " American highland cotton . "

Classification

The cotton plant plant is a tender perennial . This means that the flora will only originate year after year in areas that are warm and tropical in nature , such as the far southern part of Florida . For this reason , the plant are treated as an yearbook in many areas and in cultivation . Commercially grown cotton fiber plants are destroyed after the cotton plant is harvested , according to the University of Oklahoma , and new plants are seeded .

Types

genus Gossypium hirsutum is the most mutual cotton works in the United States . Another species , G. barbadense grows in the island of South America and in Egypt . In Asia , G. herbaceum is the main producer of cotton wool , along with G. arboreum , grant to Fact Monster .

Identification

cotton fiber works are medium - sized , slackly - branching shrubs . They can get to a maximum acme of 5 feet , according to the University of Oklahoma , and have 6 - inch astray , lobate leaf . The industrial plant blooms in the bound with simple white bloom and ejaculate pod in the fall . The seedpod are lined with expectant sum of cotton fiber .

Culture

cotton plant plants involve full sun exposure to thrive . This plant does not digest shade and will not get well at all if planted under a tree , according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Cotton plants relish systematically wet , but well - draining , soil and acquire well in areas that receive regular amounts of rain . Once the peak fade , however , irrigation is reduced while the cotton is reap .

Harvest

It takes a long time from plant a cotton seedling to the harvesting of the cotton fiber . flora blossom on average around 95 days after plant . Then it ’s another 70 or 80 days until the boll ( pod ) opens to uncover the cotton fiber , accord to Purdue University . In most cases , the cotton is harvest by hand,\ because this results in more cotton fiber and in higher - caliber harvest time . The cotton fiber is simply soak from the flora , then sent to a machine , a gin , which removes the seeds .

References

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