The cotton plant is one of the most intriguing and interesting agricultural staples out there for a number of reasons. Not only is the cotton plant flower beautiful to observe for nearly its entire maturation cycle, it’s also interesting in how it develops from bloom to the final open boll. But when does cotton bloom, and what does the cotton plant life cycle look like? Let’s take a look at each stage of the cotton plant’s development, starting with the initial bloom.
Cotton Plant Growth Stages: From Bloom to Harvest
- It all starts with a white flowering bloom that signals the first of many steps to come. The flower is usually small and simple: pure white with a few segments of petals that open. White flowers will usually only stick around for about 24 hours or so, so if you’re interested in catching this short-lived stage, it’s important to pay close attention to your field on a daily basis! And while this stage may come and go quickly, at this point, we’re a long way from cotton harvesting!
- Once the white flower blooms, it self pollinates. In just the matter of a day, that white flower will become a pink color and will continue to open fully. The end result of this stage is a flower that’s generally a vibrant fuchsia color or even a near-purple hue. This stage can last another couple of days, but typically it’ll only be something you’ll see for another 24-36 hours.
- At this next stage, the once beautiful cotton flower is going to quickly wither and die. It’ll shrivel up, turn brown and start to flake or fall off. Don’t worry, your cotton plant isn’t dying! Instead, it’s going through a major transformation as the boll begins to take shape. If you have an especially windy day or grow in a drier climate, you’re liable to find your field absolutely littered with dead blooms as the bulk of your field matures in sync.
- As the developing boll grows larger and larger, it’ll eventually turn from green to purple to brown. When it reaches the pinnacle of its size, the bracts dry and the boll itself cracks open. Over time, the bracts will continue to pull apart until the cotton becomes exposed.
- Finally, we have the open boll! A fully opened boll will look like a different kind of bloom—instead of petals opening up, however, you’re going to have cotton fiber spilling out. It’s at this point that harvest is usually immanent.
And so you have it: the life cycle of a cotton plant, from bloom to harvest! Anyone who has cropped cotton in the past is likely very familiar with each stage above, but it’s nice to see them laid out simply and thoroughly.
Final Thoughts on the Stages of Cotton Growth
As a final note, make sure you’re using the lifespan of your cotton plants to your advantage. During the early stages of maturation, be sure to check over your cotton harvester parts, make any tune-ups to your harvester and be sure to run through startup services. By adhering to the cycle of the cotton plant, you’ll ensure you’re ready to harvest when the bulk of your field crop has reached its final stage and the open bolls are ready to be picked.
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Across cotton fields, bales of freshly picked cotton are a common sight—it’s simply a natural step in the harvest. What might take some farmers by surprise, however, is seeing groupings of rounded cotton bales in place of the traditional square bales that have dominated the landscape for years and years.
Where are these round bails coming from and why are farmers straying from the traditional square bale staple? Moreover, is there any benefit to rounded bales versus their squared counterparts? To get to the bottom of things, we need to look past the bales themselves: to the cotton pickers creating them and the machinery that’s powering these pickers.
The Cotton Baling Process
Square versus rounded cotton bales comes down to a question of equipment. Consider this: to create traditional square bales, a picker needs to harvest the cotton and a hay baler needs to form the bales themselves. This is a two machine job, but is often not problematic, since farmers ideally have both machines on their property anyway.
Round bales are the product of a shift in farming towards more economical approaches to harvesting, wherein less is more. Case in point, less machinery is needed to make rounded bales: combination harvesters are now available that will do this inclusively, without the need for a hay baler! This allows farmers to not only cut down on the time and equipment needed to produce bales, it also expedites total harvest time!
The drawbacks
Now, while the benefits of rounded bales stem from the inclusive equipment that’s used to create them, this is also where the largest inherent drawback is. That drawback is the cost of investment. Farm equipment isn’t cheap and a combination picker and baler isn’t going to be cheap at all! And, while you might already have a baler on hand, making the investment might not always be a savvy decision.
For new farmers and those just starting out with cotton, however, a lasting investment can be made in combination equipment and thus, rounded bales become an appealing prospect. Remember, it’s all about return on investment, so expedited picking schedules and efficiency in baling are going to contribute more to a return on investment in the long run.
Compartmentalization
There are a few more trump cards that play to the strengths of both round and square bales, making them both viable options for harvesters. For example, spoilage tends to favor square bales—they’re easier to stack and store, meaning more of a chance to preserve the harvest. On the flip side, round bales have the time advantage going for them, which means quicker harvest-to-storage or shipment.
At the end of the day, the square versus round bale debate falls on the preference of the farmer. Farmers with the right equipment or the right processes on their farm may favor one versus the other, while some might simply choose the option that is easiest for them to comprehend. Either way, when it comes right down to it, baled cotton is baled cotton.
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It’s everything a farmer can do to keep their harvest free and clear of contaminants and detractors that might lower its overall quality or make portions of it unsuitable for sale. For hay, moisture and UV bleaching can be major detractors; for corn it comes down to pestilence and drought; and for cotton it’s all about keeping debris out of the harvest itself.
Keeping debris out of your cotton crop means keeping it away from your cotton harvester, which ultimately means having a clean field. And while this is nearly impossible as the acreage of your land climbs, there are some things you can do to help keep the quality of your harvest high and, in turn, the quality of your crop yield near its maximum potential. Take a look at five of them:
- First and foremost, clean and thoroughly wash all of your cotton picking equipment and all machinery that’ll be used in the harvest. Debris from years past or simply contaminants that have piled up during the offseason will be the biggest detractors of your harvest—make sure they’re dealt with right from the get-go. Proper cleaning and maintenance of your harvester is also good for the machinery’s longevity.
- Create a watch list for known harvest contaminants that you may have previously spotted in your fields and be sure to have all eyes on alert to remove these things during the harvest. This can include things like plastic bags, organic debris and other items that have no business in your harvest.
- Inspect equipment between runs to make sure any hydraulic fluid or other lubrication isn’t leaking. Fluid leaks can quickly come into contact with cotton seed, leading to deterioration on a large scale! Worse yet, fluid leaks can create mechanical failures that lead to breakdowns, creating setbacks that complicate the harvest even further.
- When baling or building modules, do it in an area where they can quickly be covered or stored. Baling and transporting is a great way to expose large sums of your harvest to more contaminants! Baling smartly will not only keep formed modules safe, it’ll expedite the process.
- Harvest in optimal conditions whenever possible. Avoid high winds or blistering sunny days, where the elements could negatively impact your crop yields. Instead, try to do the bulk of your harvest on calm days with good cloud cover and no sign of inclement weather.
When it comes right down to it, the moment you fire up your cotton picker and head into the field, you’re making a run at your future profit—preserving as much of your crop as possible and ensuring its condition means putting money in your pocket! And, while you can’t save every cotton seed, you can follow the above tips and use best practices to minimize the overall loss of yield from external variables.
As a company that sells cotton picker parts around the world, the team here at Certi-Pik, USA is well versed in the importance of the cotton industry, as are the farmers we proudly sell our products to. But in today’s fast-paced, tech-obsessed world, the humble cotton industry does not always get the respect and recognition it deserves. If you do not know much about cotton farmers and the global cotton market, we hope you will take the opportunity to read over the following interesting cotton industry facts and figures and cotton picker parts:
Interesting Fact About Cotton
- When accounting for everything from the cotton farms to the textile mill, the cotton industry in the U.S. alone is a $25 billion annual market, and supports about 400,000 American jobs.
- American cotton farmers receive a subsidy of $230 per acre of cotton crop. To put that into perspective, that is about five times as much as farmers receive per acre of cereal crop. Americans value their cotton very highly.
- In 2003, the top states for cotton production were Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, California, Arkansas, North Carolina and Louisiana. These seven states produced 80 percent of the nation’s total cotton crop for that year.
- In 2006, cotton farmers in the U.S. produced the third largest crop in history, despite the fact that there was a severe drought that year. The record crop is attributed to advances in genetic modification, as well as improvements in cotton pickers and cotton picker parts.
- The U.S. produces 20 percent of the world’s cotton. We are second only to China, which produces about 24 percent.
- People have been wearing clothes made of cotton for over 7,000 years, thanks to its lightweight yet durable consistency. To this day, it is the most popular non-synthetic clothing material.
- Sixty percent of all women’s clothing contains some amount of cotton, and 40 percent is made entirely of cotton. For men, 75 percent of all clothing contains some cotton. Of that portion, 85 percent is made with 100 percent cotton.
- Cotton is typically measured in 500-pound bales. One bale of cotton can produce about 800 men’s button down shirts, 850 women’s blouses, 325 pairs of jeans, 350 dresses, 3,000 diapers or 1,000 pillowcases.
- S. currency is not actually made from paper. In fact, it is about 75 percent cotton, and 25 percent linen. That means that a typical bale of cotton can produce over 313,000 $100 bills.
- All of the cotton the U.S. produces is grown on 3,500 different farms, most of which are located in 14 key cotton-growing states.
At first glance, the cotton industry might not seem that exciting. But in truth, cotton has a strong cultural presence, rich history and important economic impact on the U.S. and the entire world. If there is a cotton farmer in your life, take the time to show your respect and appreciation for them sometime soon. And if you are a cotton farmer, remember that you can always count on Certi-Pik, USA for quality cotton picker parts at affordable prices.
