How to Plant Cotton

Planting cotton successfully is easy if you pay attention to your soil's nutrient needs and temperature prior to planting. Cotton is not a demanding plant. It generally requires nitrogen-rich, moist soil with a temperature of about 60 degrees at planting. Furrowing the soil keeps the seedlings protected and stable. Plants should appear within 15 days of planting. Irrigation and fertilization should be all you need to produce healthy cotton plants with dense, fluffy fibers.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Test your soil approximately six months before you plant. If your soil needs lime or other nutrients added, mix them into the soil. This gives the nutrients enough time to bond chemically with the soil.

2. Till your soil at least 2 inches deep. This allows air and water to reach the cotton seeds and plant roots when they start to form.

3. Irrigate the soil so that it is moist and easy to work with. What you want is moist soil that is saturated to the point that water is held deep down in the soil bed.

4. Insert a thermometer 6 inches into the soil once all threat of frost has passed. Check the soil's temperature at 8 a.m. every day until the thermometer reads between 58 and 60 degrees three days in a row.

5. Drag a garden hoe through your planting area. Make rows and furrows in the soil.

6. Plant the cotton seeds in groups of three. Dig down 1 inch into the soil with a trowel or with your finger. Place the seeds into the hole. Space the plants 4 inches apart.

7. Irrigate the cotton plants four to five weeks after their first growth is visible.

Tips & Warnings

• Fertilizing cotton plants is often complicated. In general, add half of the nitrogen-based fertilizer before planting and the other half at first bloom. The rest of the nutrients necessary to grow healthy cotton plants are added according to soil texture and soil testing results.