This spring has been a bit nuts. Not only have we had weird cold snaps and some pretty significant storms, but I have been traveling a lot and all of those things come together to delay my seeing those precious cotton plants getting their start this spring. But today, as I drove back to St. Louis from Memphis, I got giddy about the time I reached Clarkedale, Arkansas as I could clearly see cotton had emerged!
I did what anyone this passionate about cotton would do…. I pulled over at the next exit and grabbed my camera! I had to capture these little cotton plants who have been putting up with pretty damp, cold weather the last week — which means the plants are a bit challenged for their growth. (Yes, I know, I am SO LIKE COTTON in that I prefer warm weather and look at cold weather as something I have to survive! 🙂 ).
Cotton in Arkansas
Here are some of the first pictures I snapped. You can see the soils in Clarkedale are pretty damp. The soil was pretty light but there was definitely some clay content there and those plants are pretty happy that the temps this week will be in the 80s. (I am too!)
Cotton farmers in Arkansas are like a lot farmers this year, trying hard to catch up on planting! I saw some running pretty hard two weeks ago when I drove through the area. They were burning the midnight oil planting. They have finally gotten ahead of average.
Missouri Bootheel Cotton
You’d think that would be enough but it wasn’t… further up the road I decided to hop off the highway near Steele, Missouri. The Bootheel has a great history in cotton and some really good loamy soils that were lighter than the field I stopped in earlier. You can see the field has been draining too. For the past week or so, Missouri cotton farmers have been busy too! They have gotten back up to their average too!
2014 Cotton Planting Progress in the US
Since I was posting about the fact cotton is beginning to pop through the soil surface in some parts of the Mid-South, I thought I’d include the latest USDA planting progress figures. They came out today so they are definitely timely and you can see that in the past week, cotton planters have been running full blast is quite a few states!
Wanna Know More?
If you are checking this out and thinking you’d like to know more about my favorite fiber, check out the series of Cotton 101 posts and these other posts that are popular. And ask any questions you have and I’ll find answers if I’m not familiar with the topic!
This is information to have in my file for cotton activities in a classroom. Plus, it’s pretty interesting.
Thanks Belva!
How interesting! I never would have guessed those plants were cotton – but then again, it’s not something you find in Michigan!
LOL! I have asked questions about all kinds of plants when I travel so I know what you mean!
This is pretty cool. I like to supplement my son’s learning and this is an awesome addition to the world of science. “Ever knew how your shirt started out..?”
That sounds like a great convo to have!
Greetings from Tupelo, Janice! I can’t tell you how excited I was to see your post today with the photos of your seedlings! You see, I’m determined to bring back some of my heritage by planting a few cotton seeds along my fence, and also in a few flower beds. I started a few in peat pots back in March because this Mississippi weather loves to play tricks on us! Mine are about the same size as those in your photos, which reassured me I’m on the right track, so far! The only thing that concerns me is my soil! It was mostly clay until we added sand and some rich topsoil. When I asked the guy at Lowes for help selecting a loamy amendment, he didn’t know what I was talking about! So I opted to getting a few bags of compost and plan to just work some into the soil before I set my babies out. If you have any suggestions for anything else I need to do, they would be greatly appreciated. I’ve watched all your videos, and they were very informative and so interesting!
Come fall, I’m praying for my very own Southern ‘snow’! Blessings to you, my friend!
Freida
That’s great Frieda! Maybe you could send me photos now and then about the progress and I could post them here with a few ideas! We could kick it off with a post about what drove you to try this at home! I outline how I enjoy guest info on the site here https://janiceperson.com/cotton/love-cotton-write-guestpost/ 🙂
Hello, I live in the UK and have had a go at planting cotton seeds in my plastic grren house. I have 8 plants in small containers and they are about 8 inches high. I leave the door open unless the temperature goes below 5 c. On reading your blogs I am surprised they have actually grown . I am going away for a few days and hopeing they wil be ok when I return.
I was given a small branch with the cotton wool on and pulled one apart and gound the seed.
Claire
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awesome! I’d love to see photos. Email me one to jplovescotton at janiceperson dot com
Will do, but am away for a couple of weeks, so will do this on my return, hope my plants wil be ok.
Hello Janice, just got a moment in between packing so thought I would send you my cotton plants at the stage they are in just now.
Claire
cant find out how to send picture from here so will email you from my email box.