This weekend, I drove to Memphis to visit family and eat awesome barbecue. And on both my drive down and drive back home to St. Louis, I got distracted by the cotton fields along the highway…. and yes, I had to stop! I mean really. Stopping in random cotton fields to see what’s happening that I may be able to share with others…. it’s a #cottongeek’s dream. and I even shot some video which is perfect since YouTube is hosting geek week! And it’s great to have a new post in my cotton 101 series!

So, in this video, I show you how cotton breeders make the cross-pollination that ultimately lead to new cotton varieties. Now let me put a disclaimer here… this is just a glimpse at some of the tactics. The real know-how is deciding what parents to use, what traits to screen for, how to test to determine the varieties viability, etc… but this is something that helps you understand how cotton flowers work.

This is what we call a candlestick on a cotton plant. The bud that will produce a beautiful white bloom the following day.

If someone like me doesn’t mess with the bud, the next day it will open up and be a beautiful cream color. The flower has both male and female parts so it can pollinate itself. On this flower, you can see it actually has begun to get a little pink. That means it has been pollinated!

By the next day, the cotton bloom will turn a beautifully rich pink!

BUT cotton breeders find candlesticks the morning before they open and emasculate them. That means they pull off all the male parts — lots of little pollen sacks that will burst open in the afternoon (you can see some on my fingernails LOL). By pulling those off, they leave the female parts which will be ready to be pollinated in the afternoon. That’s when they come back with an open bloom from the other parent plant and put the pollen on!

Hope you liked the video & photos! What do you think about cotton blooms? I think they are gorgeous! They do make me happy!

The post Cotton 101 Video: How to Cross Pollinate Two Cotton Plants appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

Recently, when I wrote a blog post about the fact farmers are the ones paying for the ads that support the fabric of our lives campaign, a cotton farmer from the Texas High Plains left a comment on my Facebook page. I’ve been thinking about it since. He said:

“Few people have any idea how much cotton means to our lives. Last week I helped with the funeral of a man whose ground we have farmed for the past 23 years. I had a boll of cotton in my pocket through the service. In our home we have cotton in a vase like most folks would have flowers… Thank you for all you do to spread the word of the fabric of our lives!!!”

Since I started my blog in 2009 I have written a bunch of blog posts over the last year or two trying to help tell the story of cotton. I even tried to put the basics of the crop in a cotton 101 series of posts. I have been able to talk about all sorts of things but I keep thinking something is missing and I realized, its the stories of other people…. people like Steve who have spent most of their lives growing the fiber and people like a friend who told me that one of the things that reminds her of her dad who died too young is a paisley handkerchief or a bride-to-be who had her daddy grow the perfect crop to surround her nuptials. These people all feel the fabric of our lives in a way that their voices should be heard. I want to share them here on the blog too in a series of guest posts!

Why Write a Guest Post

Whether the cotton connection you have is a fashion show or helping it grow, I’d love to have a glimpse of it here on my blog! I want to celebrate the incredible people who are involved in our favorite fiber’s path to market as well as the ones who enjoy making cotton products a part of their lives. Something so simple connects us all.

I’m thinking about friends who had cotton in their wedding arrangements, people who take photos of their kids out in the crop every year, connecting back to family stories from generations ago. There’s the cotton farmer in California who gave his wife Pima flowers on their first date, cotton ginners who spent months getting the crop ginned, designers who made a classic clothing item new again, textile workers who take pride in making thick cotton towels. If you remember your daughter’s first fashion show and the great cotton jumper she wore, or that blanket that was needed for you to sleep…. the concert shirt you feel 18 again in or that pair of Wranglers George Strait wore when you saw him in concert. I’d like you to share your story about how you connect with cotton. (As you can see here, I regularly share stories of cotton from my cotton 101 series to how much I love hoodies!)

Surely you have some really happy memories that would be fun to share, or something near and dear to your heart that will touch the hearts of the people who read what gets posted here. I know a lot of you don’t share your stories on a blog or YouTube everyday. This would be a great way to just dip your toe in.  I’d love to have a bunch of people share their stories through my blog. And I’ll link them up with this logo I made up.

If you are willing to help me celebrate cotton in a series of posts here on my personal blog, shout either here, on the blog’s Facebook page or send me an email to guestpost at janiceperson dot com (written this way to try & reduce spam). Feel free to tell any friends you think would be interested to join us too! I’d love to have a few posts each week for a couple of months but have to say, this could really be a great series of posts for far longer than a month since there are so many incredible people who have close relationships with cotton! I’ve already written as much here as you’d be committing to!

How to Write a Guest Post

If you haven’t written a blog post before, don’t worry. Its a snap! Here are a few things to get you going:

• Think about the story you want to share & start writing it down! If you are nervous about what to write or how much to write, don’t be. There is no real rule (yes, this is part of the reason I love blogging!) A guideline to consider for length is 500 words, but really you want to tell a complete story so shorter or longer is fine. Remember the people who read this blog have a wide range of backgrounds, it may be good to reread the post & think about whether you are using any words you may want to explain. If you don’t write a lot, maybe you want to ask someone to give it a look. I am willing to help you be sure your best foot is put forward if you like.
• Find a few photos that help tell the story. With the wonders of digital, its amazing what you can do for photos. If you are talking about an event, we’d love to see it. If you refer to that poodle skirt your mom wore in high school, we’d love to see it too! Snapping a quick photo with your mobile phone is an option, you don’t have to have a really expensive camera though with a few folks I’m sure I’ll have great photos, there is a full spectrum for a reason.
• Prepare a short bio with links to your social media sites as applicable. And a photo.
• Send it on in! You can get in the cue by sending to jplovescotton at janiceperson dot com.
  

Any Questions?

Guest Posts Written for the Series (so Far)

Why would a farmer plant GMO cotton?

Cotton is the Fabric of the Classroom for @HouseAgBuilt

Wanted: Job that Pays Well for Napping / Cocooning in Comfort

It been a couple of years since a college kid seemed to stumble into my social media world. Okay, other college kids stumble in, but this one — Kelly Rivard took up residency! I got to know Kelly through Twitter (@kmrivard) and before long she was appearing all around me! Facebook, Skype, the now nearly […] Continue Reading

The post What is it that you love about cotton? Please join a series of cottony goodness! appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.