The journey from field to fabric begins after land is cleared and precision planters place cottonseed in the soil at a uniform depth and interval. The journey ends with textile manufacturers constructing cotton fabrics used to create fashionable cotton clothing and home furnishings. Cotton planting begins as early as February in South Texas and as late as June in northern areas of the Cotton Belt. Seedlings emerge from the soil within one to two weeks after planting. Cotton minimizes ground water contamination, adapts to poor soils and is an efficient user of fertilizer.
Cotton generates more dollars per gallon of water than any other field crop.
Most U.S. cotton is grown on rain moisture, but supplemental irrigation systems using equipment such as the center pivot have helped increase acreage and stabilize yields. Squares or flower buds form on the cotton plants four to six weeks after the seedlings have emerged. Creamy to dark yellow blossoms that appear on the cotton plant three weeks after the buds form eventually turn pink and then dark red before falling off. After the bloom falls off, a tiny ovary left on the cotton plant ripens and enlarges into a pod called a cotton boll. Cotton bolls open 50 to 70 days after bloom, letting air in to dry the white, clean fiber and fluff it for harvest.