Elaine Duncan

Cotton plants

Last winter when I was in Mexico, I noticed a cotton plant growing by the side of the road leading to the beach in Lo de Marcos, Nayarit.  I picked a few bolls of cotton and discovered the seeds inside as well as a very nice natural white coloured fibre.  I planted the seeds and within a few days all four seeds had sprouted.  I transplanted the plants, one per pot and when we left in March they were growing nicely.  Upon our arrival this November, the plants had grown alot…way over my head and they had lots of flowers on them.  The flowers were a creamy white, pale yellow and pink.

The flower on the cotton plant

We started to water the plants often (every other day) and noticed the leaves were coming back and flowers were prolific.  We moved the plants from an outside wall to a wall on the casita as the iguanas had found the leaves were very tasty.  Just the other day, I noticed that bolls were forming where the flowers had dropped off.

I will keep updating this post as the cotton bolls grow.  I have brought some supported spindles with me to practice spinning some cotton fibre I purchased from Gemini Fibres in Ontario while the cotton bolls are forming.  A very good friend gave me the spindles to use and another friend spent an afternoon showing me how to use them!