Farmall Cub

I'd like a few cotton seeds for Gray Cub to plant and watch grow this summer if anyone can find any.
Thanks, Yogie

I'm new to this...can't you cut the ends of cotton swabs and plant 'em?
[thought Gray Cub might appreciate the humor]

Winfield Dave wrote:I'm new to this...can't you cut the ends of cotton swabs and plant 'em?
[thought Gray Cub might appreciate the humor]

I'll share that with him....
I was driving through Mississippi about 15 years ago and stopped by the roadside to brake off a couple plant/ branches to bring back home. I gave one to my older neighbor and all kind of folk stopped by to look, they nor I had never seen them before.

check with Russ Leggitt, or Cub-Bud.

Joann is from north Arkansas and used to chop cotton and pick cotton. she said she never wanted to see another cotton plant. A few years ago I planted a couple rows in the garden. She was still teaching, and helping care for my mother so she did not get down to the garden much that summer, and cotton when small looks a lot like okra, and she just assumed that was what it was. The first time she came to the garden after it started making pods I though I was going to have to move out. Our summers are not hot enough or long enough for cotton though and the pods never did mature.

One word of warning, cotton plants are very tough, and I really had a challenge mowing them down with the flail mower at the end of the season.

A few years ago, I could have drove in any direction for a couple of minutes and arrived at a cotton field. There would have been enough seed spilled during planting season, I could have gotten a sack full. Now, it's all corn. (Thanks to ethanol). Very minimal amount of acreage in cotton. It's good that you want to grow some with Gray cub. When he gets older, it may all be grown in India.

PM sent.

Cotton was grown here alot years ago. Went away for a while and now is making a comeback. All the mills (Cannon Mills Co.) are gone so I don't know where it's going. Probably India.

One word of caution, cotton seed is treated with pesticides, be sure to wash good after handling it.

Yep...treated with insecticide...and most seed now is what we call "Round-Up Ready", meaning Round-Up can be sprayed directlly on the plant for a specified amount of time with no damage to the plant. I might suggest to anyone wanting to plant cotton for ornamental purposes, in mild climates with short growth seasons, to start the plants indoors and grow to 8-10 inches, then transplant outdoors when the temp is right. Just might be what is needed to see the plants mature to open bolls of cotton.

#5 years ago or so while on Vacation in the SOUTH we stopped on the side of the road and picked a couple of mature cotton boles. The kids took them to school for show and tell ( here on Staten Island) The next spring we planted half a dozen seeds and the cotton grew and matured. Another show and tell for the younger ones with plants as well as boles. At the time wsome one told me it was against the law for we didn't have a cotton allotment. Did the same thing with peanuts and got the same story. Who knows

I think cotton allotments only apply to commercial producers {farmers}...it's called messing with economics.

after the trouble I got in the last time I planted cotton, I am sure not going to go that far.

Cub-Bud wrote:PM sent.

Thanks for taking care of Gray Cub, we'll really enjoy this little project.

I did manage to find a couple packs. of cotton seed here and its just called "ornamental cotton" on the pack,---planted one packet year before last and It looked like the real thing, but I think in some areas/states even the few plants are a no-no from what I hear, so I would check local rules before planting if you have doubts! thanks; sonny

We are in Callahan County and we are thinking about cotton seed as a protein source this year. We have fenced food plots and thought we would pile it in the food plots and throw corn on top of it to get them started.