What is cotton: everything about cotton fiber. Cotton plant - beneficial properties, applications and photos

Sometimes you are simply amazed at what people grow on summer cottage! For example, our reader Gago Yeremyan planted cotton in his garden and at the time of preparing the material he was preparing to harvest the first harvest from a heat-loving plant.

How does cotton grow?

Cotton is a plant fiber obtained from cotton bolls. Cotton plant is heat-loving plant, it prefers to grow at a temperature of 25 - 30°C; if the thermometer exceeds 40°C, then the pollen becomes sterile and the ovaries fall off.

Gago Yeremyan is growing cotton for the first time; he planted cotton this year. The “fruits” of the plant begin to ripen after September 20. Until this time, the flowers on the cotton plant bloom, begin to fade and turn into a boll, and only after it opens can you see a snow-white fluffy lump - cotton. And inside it are cotton seeds, in each opened box there are at least ten of them. It was from such a seed, which was given to him by his friend Vyacheslav Tamrozyan, that Gago Yeremyan grew a plant called cotton.

Where does cotton grow?

The place of germination of this culture is Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia. In Siberia, even with good shelter It will not survive the winter - it will freeze.

If the leaves start to turn black, it means the plant is already getting cold, says Gago.

Cotton is sown in late spring, preferably in May, when the weather is warm. The material itself is collected in late September - early October. After this, when the temperature has already dropped to about +5 degrees, the plant is carefully dug up and transplanted into a pot. In winter it will be at home. And even, perhaps, it will continue to delight with flowering and cotton production. After all, new flowers appear quite often.

Once you have collected the cotton bolls, place them in the sun to dry. When dry, the fibers are easily separated from the seeds.

Seeds can be stored until spring and planted in May. Or immediately sow them in a pot and leave them to grow until spring, and then transplant them to the plot, says Gago Yeremyan.

You can even keep a flower at home all year round. The plant itself, if not shortened, can eventually reach 5 - 6 meters in height. As the owner of the heat-loving crop says, cotton is unpretentious to the soil and does not require any fertilizing, and has not noticed any pests. And when the plant begins to bloom, there is no need to water it, otherwise the flowers will begin to fall off. The fact is that cotton has a well-developed root system in the form of a rod. Usually the root length reaches 30 cm, but in some varieties it can go 3 m deep into the soil. So the plant can easily provide for itself required quantity moisture.

Gago Yeremyan grows cotton for the soul, for beauty. After all, on our small land plots don't grow a large number of cotton, and from several plants it will not be possible to take enough hairs to make a normal-sized thing.

Prepared by Svetlana Nazarova.

Cotton - annual plant, it is grown on an industrial scale on all continents of the planet, in warm and hot regions. The fruit of a cotton plant is an amazing and useful “box”, when ripe, the shell opens, releasing delicate fluffy fibers. Each fiber represents one plant cell and has the shape of a tube. This tube is extremely durable and bend-resistant. This led to the use of cotton in textile production. Cotton fabric is the main use of cotton fiber.

Depending on the region of growth and processing conditions, cotton has different color shades: from white, soft cream, yellow and blue. By crossing cotton varieties, breeders achieve unusual colors: purple, brown and green.

Cotton fabric

To obtain cotton thread from soft and delicate fibers, cotton goes through successive stages: it is cleaned from the seed pod and sorted according to the length of the fibers. By using special processing cleaned of wax, which protects these fibers. The fibers are then twisted and pressed. In this form it ends up in factories. The next stage is the production of threads and yarn.

Various cotton fabrics are made from cotton threads. Dense and durable: denim - trousers and jeans are made from it, outerwear. Light and pleasant fabrics: satin, poplin and chintz, translucent - voile and cambric. Velvety - corduroy and velor - these fabrics are also beautiful and loved by everyone. Lace and knitted items made from cotton yarn are popular and fashionable. You can buy cotton fabric in specialized online stores that sell both fabrics and cotton lace. It's convenient and reliable. In addition, in such stores there is a larger range of goods than in the bazaar.

The so-called organic cotton, which is grown without the use of harmful chemical fertilizers, is highly valued. Natural dyes are used in the production and dyeing of organic cotton fabrics. The price for such cotton is slightly higher than usual.

Application of cotton

Cotton fabric ranks first among natural materials in terms of polarity and cheapness. When sewing special and home clothes, healthy and environmentally friendly bed and table linen. When making fabrics, cotton is mixed with synthetic components. As a result of this combined use, the fabric acquires properties that are unusual for 100% fabrics. They wrinkle less, hold their shape well, and do not fade in the sun or during washing.

The use of cotton is not limited to this. Products made from cotton fiber are used in medicine as a dressing material. And in different industries. Valuable cottonseed oil is extracted from its seeds and used for food. Glycerin, soap, lubricants for various types machines and devices. The waste is used to produce feed for livestock.

Cotton is a plant fiber obtained from cotton bolls - plants of the genus Gossypium, which in Latin means “tree that produces cotton.”

Description of the cotton plant

The cotton plant originated approximately one hundred million years ago in the mallow family. Now on the planet there are thirty-two wild and five cultivated species of cotton, grouped into six sections and two subgenera according to their habitat, life characteristics and appearance. Cultivated species are further divided into nineteen subspecies, each of which contains hundreds (!) of annual and perennial, tree, shrub and herbaceous varieties.
Cotton is one or perennial herbs(less commonly trees reaching a height of up to 7 meters) with large leaves, white, yellow or pink flowers. Cotton fruits upon ripening open into 2-5 segments and reveal seeds wrapped in the finest fibers from 15 to 55 mm long, usually white. The longer and thinner the fibers, the more valuable they are.

Between the tenth and twelfth week after sowing the seeds, the first white or yellow flowers appear. Upon maturity, the flowers will change their color to pink and purple (the beauty of cotton flowers was appreciated by the ancient Chinese - in the 8th century they grew cotton as ornamental plant). Almost immediately after this, the plant begins to drop capsules, which swell to the size of a chicken egg. Cotton ripening occurs 5-7 weeks after flowering.

The root system of cotton is taprooted and penetrates to a depth of 2 m, but the largest mass of roots is located in the 0.5-meter layer of soil. In conditions of excess moisture, the roots are less developed, and their tap type is not so clearly defined.
The main stem is vertical, 80 cm or more high. After the development of 3-7 leaves on the main stem, branches with generative organs are formed from the axils of subsequent ones. The sooner the first branch grows, the faster the variety will ripen.

Cotton is a self-pollinator, but it has also been noted cross pollination. More than 30 generative organs can form on a bush, however, due to the fall of flowers and ovaries caused by genetic characteristics and violations of agricultural technology, up to 20-50% of the formed bolls are preserved and mature.

Distribution and history

The cotton plant produces the world's most abundant textile fiber. It is grown in many regions with temperate climate. The main producing countries are China, USA, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt.
The geographical origin of cotton is South Asia. On bushes 6 or even more than 12 meters high, skinny seed pods ripened by autumn. Cotton has changed a lot, going, as they say, “from rags to riches.” In every way. He became shorter, but somehow more dignified. The number of capsules on each plant increased, and, most importantly, they seemed to become stuffed with white fiber. Yes, in this sense, people are clearly lucky with cotton. He is, as they say, predisposed to variability. This property is striking: in the same field you will not find two completely similar plants. Or rather, you can easily notice that both the color of the flowers and the shape of the leaves are different. This means: purposeful selection proceeds more easily from generation to generation. On the territory of our Central Asian republics, cotton has been grown since the sixth century BC.

Cotton is amazing because the peoples of the Old and New Worlds began to grow it independently of each other. Columbus and his companions saw the inhabitants of the continent they discovered wearing cotton aprons and scarves that protected their heads from the sun. Later, the Aztec ruler donated 30 bales of cotton cloaks to the Spanish conqueror Cortes. Cotton has been known in India since the 6th century BC. Herodotus wrote that they grow there “ strange plants, on which wool grows instead of fruit.” In hot climates, people preferred light clothes made of cotton, rather than thick and heavy ones made of linen. The best Indian fabrics were so thin that they could be threaded through wedding ring. Through the Arab market, cotton came to Palestine, Egypt, Andalusia, and Sicily. Until the end of the eighth century, it was imported into Europe only in the form finished products. The production of cotton fabrics was first opened in 1772 in England.

Kinds

There are 39 known species of cotton. They all come from warm temperate or tropical zones. However, only four species, or rather many varieties, are regularly bred. Several other species are sometimes grown as ornamentals in gardens.

Genetically, cotton species are divided into two groups, differing in the number of chromosomes in the cell: diploid and tetraploid. A single set of chromosomes is designated by the letter "n". In cotton, n is 13. Most cotton species are diploid, i.e. their non-reproductive cells have two sets of chromosomes (2n = 26). Two cultivated species are also diploid - Indochinese cotton, or tree-like (G. arboreum), and grass cotton, or goose (G. herbaceum). Two more species of much greater economic importance are Peruvian or Barbadian cotton (G. barbadense) and Mexican cotton, common, or upland (G. hirsutum), - tetraploids, i.e. they have four sets of chromosomes (4n = 52).
Diploid cultural species originate either from Africa or from Asia, but are called uniquely Asian based on the place of introduction into the culture. The homeland of cultivated tetraploids is the New World, however, it has been established that one diploid set is “local” and the second is Asian. How they came together is unclear.

Since ploidy affects the characteristics of cotton fiber, experiments have been conducted to change the chromosome number of cotton. For example, by crossing different lines and treating them with colchicine (this substance suppresses chromosome segregation during cell division), triploid (3n) and hexaploid (6n) plants were obtained.

The common cotton plant probably originates from southern Mexico and Central America, but its countless cultivated forms, producing approximately 90% of the world's cotton fiber production, originate in both the New and Old Worlds. The height of these plants is 0.6-1.5 m, their oval seeds are covered with a thick lint of grayish, red or green color and long white fibers - thin or medium thickness, usually 5-13 mm long.

Barbados cotton probably originates from the west South America. Its island types, so named because they were formerly grown on islands off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, are now bred primarily in the West Indies and the southeastern United States. The long fibers of these plants (38-44 mm) are creamy and silky. Egyptian types, which produce long, strong fiber, are descended from island types introduced into Egypt. They are now grown in Egypt, the southwestern United States, Western Asia, Sudan and Peru. The fibers of these plants are brownish, 35-44 mm long.

The homeland of tree cotton, which reaches more than 3 m in height, and herbaceous cotton, is possibly India. These ancient Asian crops, which do not play a significant role in modern cotton growing, have long fibers that are hard and short - 9-19 mm.

Cotton plant. Photo

Cotton. Photo: David Stanley

Cotton plant. Photo: Brian Dunnette

Usage

Cotton is the main source of woven fiber worldwide. Today, global production of raw cotton is 25.5 million tons from 34.8 million hectares of crops. The main producers of cotton in the world are China, the USA and India, whose share accounts for almost 60% of world production. About 53% of the world's cotton production comes from subsidies. Countries such as the USA, China, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt and India are fully funding own production cotton

Cotton is grown in more than 100 countries, accounting for about 40% of the global woven fiber market. Cotton is cultivated in different climatic zones, in particular tropical, subtropical and temperate.

In the production of plant fibers, cotton accounts for up to 75%. Up to 75 types of products can be obtained from cotton. One ton of raw cotton (seeds with fiber) produces up to 320 kg of fiber, 650 kg of seeds, 10 kg of short fiber linters 4-5 mm long.
Cotton fiber is used to produce household fabrics (satin, chintz, cambric, parachute, etc.), film, and explosives. Lint is used to make artificial silk, paper, and insulating fabrics. The seeds are used to obtain edible and technical oils, and the waste is used as animal feed. The stems are suitable for the production of paper, varnishes, and alcohol.

And other products. But not everyone knows what cotton looks like, what cotton is made of, how it is grown, where cotton grows, how it is harvested, how cotton is used and what is made from cotton. Let's try to answer all these questions.

Cotton is the fiber that covers the seeds of the cotton plant. Cotton fibers consist of 95% cellulose, as well as 5% fats and minerals. More than 50 varieties of cotton are known to the world, but only 4 of them are grown and cultivated:

• Gossypium hirsutum - annual herbaceous cotton, the northernmost, produces short and coarse fiber;
• Gossypium arboreum - Indochinese tree cotton, the tallest up to 4-6 m;
• Gossypium barbadense - elite long-staple cotton from the islands, Barbadian or Peruvian;
• Gossypium herbaceum - common cotton plant, the most common.

The main suppliers of cotton for many years have been the USA, China, India, Pakistan, and Brazil, although it is grown in 80 countries.

How is cotton grown anyway?

1. The formation of a bud from which a flower will eventually grow.
2. Flower and its pollination. After pollination, the flower yellow color turns into purple-pink, which falls off after a few days, leaving the fruit in its place ( seed pod). The flower is self-pollinating, which does not tie the cotton production process to the presence of pollinating insects.
3. The growth of the seed pod and the formation of cotton fibers from it. The fibers begin to grow only after pollination. The boll grows and bursts, releasing cotton fibers.

• the number of seed boxes is monitored;
• after the bolls are opened by 80%, the cotton is processed to accelerate ripening;
• collection begins after the boxes are 95% opened.

Initially, cotton was collected and processed by hand, which made products made from it quite expensive, since one person can collect up to 80 kg of cotton per day, and separate it from seeds 6-8 kg. With industrialization and mechanization of processes, cotton has become the main natural fiber, allowing the production of inexpensive but high-quality products.

It is worth noting that in some countries (Africa, Uzbekistan) cotton is still collected by hand. But in modern production Raw cotton is collected using special cotton harvesting machines. There are several types of them, but they all have the same operating principle:

• cotton bushes are captured by special spindles;
• in special compartments the raw cotton and the stem are separated, the stem calmly comes out;
• open boxes are captured and sent to the cotton bunker, and closed and half-opened ones are sent to the chicken heap bunker.

Types of cotton

According to the degree of stretching and contamination, cotton fibers are divided into 7 groups, where 0 is selected cotton. By fiber length:

• short-fiber (up to 27 mm);
• medium-fiber (30-35 mm);
• long-fiber (35-50 mm).

What's good about cotton?

Cotton has the following properties:

• good hygroscopicity and breathability;
• good tensile strength;
• rack to high temperatures(up to 150 C);
• resistant to organic solvents (alcohol, acetic acid, formic acid);
• softness;
• good paintability;
• relative cheapness.

What is cotton made from?

• planting new cotton;
• oil production;
• production of livestock feed.

• as a basis for the production of synthetic thread;
• paper (cotton is 95% cellulose);
• plastics;
• explosives.

• elite, thin fabrics - only long-staple cotton is used for them;
• for cheaper fabrics such as calico, chintz, etc. - use medium-fiber cotton;
• knitwear - short-staple cotton can also be used in production (this sometimes explains its lower durability), synthetic components are added for strength;
• medical cotton wool;
• batting;
• cotton filling for pillows, blankets and mattresses - modern methods Careful processing of cotton fiber allows us to obtain a material that perfectly holds its shape, does not caking and is environmentally friendly.

The cotton flower is a corolla of three to five wide and fused petals and a toothed calyx. The calyx is surrounded by a three-lobed involucre, and the stamens in large numbers grow together into a tube. Cotton flowers are usually white, yellow, or cream in color.

The cotton plant is one year old or two year old herbaceous plant , reaching a height of seventy centimeters to two meters. The large number of branches on the stem make it look like a bush.

The height of the plant determined its predominantly outdoor cultivation

Cotton pleases the eye with its flowers from July until September, and later flower cotton is replaced by a box filled a large number seeds Each seed can develop from five to fifteen thousand fibers ranging from three to five millimeters in length.

It is these fibers that make cotton so valuable plant, although other parts of it also find use in various industries, although not as wide.

Is the cotton flower edible or not?

Cotton - non-food crop and its flowers themselves are not used as food. Accordingly, it is not edible by itself. However, parts of the plant such as long fibers, seeds, roots and root bark are often used medicinally.

So, cotton decoction is used for stomach cancer or during the rehabilitation process after surgery, and the bark of the plant has hemostatic properties.

Vitamin E deficiency, viral diseases, atherosclerosis, herpes, increased blood pressure, infertility, disorders menstrual cycle – in the fight against these diseases cotton also plays an important role.

Oil prepared from cotton seeds is suitable not only for external use (plasters and ointments), but is also widely used in the food industry along with sunflower, flax or sesame seed oils. Cottonseed oil is edible and is also often used in the production of margarine and mayonnaise.

Besides, in Food Industry Cotton is used to make delicious and healthy honey and flour.

How it grows: cultivated or wild

Let's consider Is this a cultivated plant or not?. Cotton appeared about one hundred million years ago in tropical forests. Here it grew as spreading cotton trees, and in semi-desert zones it evolved into dry-season resistant shrubs.

Later, the plant significantly expanded its habitat, “adjusting” to the climate of the area. In fact, it is both cultivated and wild. Grows in the following places:

Cultivated cotton is grown throughout the world, but is extremely capricious plant. It requires a large amount of heat and moisture, and the seeds do not germinate at temperatures below fifteen degrees.

The best conditions for cotton growth are considered to be thirty-degree heat and abundant watering, especially during flowering.

Also Be sure to fertilize the soil before planting, and to increase the yield in summer it is necessary to cut off the tops of the central stem and side branches. After the box bursts, the cleaning begins.

Since ripening does not occur simultaneously, the entire harvesting process takes place in several stages.

You can also grow annual cotton at home. The main conditions for good growth flowers are abundance sunlight, warmth and reliable protection from drafts. Also for him timely watering is important and feeding.

Today there are thirty-two wild and five cultivated varieties of cotton on the planet.

Cotton - denim flower

Popularly, cotton is often called the denim plant, since it is from it that everyone’s favorite denim fabric is made.

The advantages of such fabric are considered strength, wear resistance, comfort and the ability to “breathe.” The quality of denim directly depends on the cotton from which it is made.

Thus, Mexican cotton with fibers twenty-four millimeters long allows us to produce high-quality denim that has virtually no scars. Fabrics made from Barbados cotton are very soft and durable.

However, it is quite difficult to process and assemble it, so the number of jeans made from such fabric is about modern market small - about seven percent.

Zimbabwean cotton fabrics differ high quality at an inexpensive cost. The most popular in use is fabric made from Asian and Indian cotton with short staple fiber.

Such jeans occupy up to half of the modern clothing market.

Thus, denim fabrics are quite diverse both in composition and in the method of production and appearance. It is this variety of choice that has made denim clothing so popular over the years.

It is unlikely that in the world you can find things more comfortable and practical than denim.

Cotton and handmade

Hand-made cotton flowers are widely popular in such types of handicrafts as scrapbooking and cardmaking. They fit perfectly into flower arrangements, decorative wreaths.

Also works in country, eco, etc. styles. Such flowers can be made quite simply and economically.

Required materials and tools

For production you will need following materials:

• cardboard egg tray;
• brown paint;
• brown threads;
• sewing needle;
• brush;
• scissors;
• cotton wool or padding polyester;
• hot melt adhesive.

In general, one flower takes no more than ten minutes, not counting the time required for the paint to dry.

How to make cotton flowers with your own hands

Making a cotton flower with your own hands couldn’t be easier: a cardboard tray will become an excellent sepal for a flower, and padding polyester or cotton wool will become a realistic bud. Manufacture flower follows in several stages:

1. The tray is divided into cells, then four-petal sepal blanks are cut out of each.
2. These blanks must be painted with brown paint. To get more natural color It is better to mix paint of several shades.
3. During coloring, the cardboard will soften a little and become more pliable, which will make it easier to wrap the petals towards the center.
4. After the paint has dried for greater realism, you can cut thinner, short strips along the edges of the petals.
5. From a small piece of padding polyester or cotton wool you need to roll a ball, which is stitched with thread in 4-5 places to divide the flower into sections.
6. Next, the ball is attached to the cup with glue, after which you need to form the petals for a naturalistic look.

Such a flower by appearance practically no different from the real thing, so you don’t have to waste time searching for cotton - it’s much easier and faster to make it yourself.

So, the cotton flower is one of the most common plants in the world. It owes its popularity to the variety of applications.

In addition to the above industries, it is also involved in the production of pulp, paper, gunpowder, soap, varnishes, etc.

Total in the world produced approximately twelve hundred cotton products, due to which only about four percent of raw materials remain unused. The aroma of the flower used in perfumery is compared to purity and tenderness, and the plant itself is called “child of the sun.”