Life style of cotton plant

Cultivation of cotton

Cotton is cultivated in black clayey soil. It needs warm climate. The sowing of cotton crop is done in early spring. Cotton plants are bushy and about 1-2 meters tall. The plants start flowering in about 60 days and give whitish - yellow flowers. The flowers turn reddish in a few days. Flowers slowly grow into spherical walnut-like structures. These are called cotton ball. Fibres of cotton grow on these seeds. After some time green cotton balls turn brown. At maturity, the cotton bolls burst open and the white cotton fibre can be seen.

Ginning: The cotton picked up from the plants has seeds in it. The process of removing cotton seeds from pods is called ginning. Ginning was traditionally done by hand. Now-a-days, machines are used in ginning.

Spinning: The process of making yarn from fibre is called spinning. The raw cotton is supplied to industry in the form of bales.

Weaving: The process of arranging two sets of yarn together to make a fabric is called weaving. The big reels of yarn are called bobbins. These bobbins are used for weaving the cloth. Cloth is woven on looms. After that they bleached and dyed to give a finish.

Knitting: Knitting can be done by hand and machine. Just two yarns are used in knitting, while more than two yarns are used in weaving. Sweater, socks, scarf and caps are knitted from the wool.