Mexican White Cotton Seeds (Gossypium Hirsutum) | 30+ seeds

Please find for sale 30+ fresh seeds of the Mexican White Cotton plant (Gossypium Hirsutum) - one of the most useful plants in human history and you are almost certainly wearing something made from it right now!

Cotton is sown as an annual and to get a harvest of really cool cotton buds (see 2nd picture) it needs temperatures of 16c or more and most importantly lots of sunshine. In the UK it is mostly grown in greenhouses, but if you start off indoors then plant out late in a suntrap in a sheltered spot you have a good chance of getting a crop.

PLEASE NOTE: All orders received before 8pm (Mon-Fri) will be dispatched same day

SAVE PACKAGING MATERIALS  - SEE OTHER INTERESTING & UNUSUAL SEEDS & PLANTS IN MY SHOP

INSTRUCTIONS - TO SAVE PAPER I NO LONGER SEND OUT WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS TO CUSTOMERS. INSTRUCTIONS ARE BELOW SO PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS PAGE. FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE ME WITH ANY GROWING QUESTIONS.

Germination Guide 

• Sow indoors in late winter/early spring
• Remove the seeds from their fluffy cotton balls
• Soak in room temperature water for 24 hours
• Plant seeds 1.5-2cm deep in a well draining potting mix (I use 50% compost and 50% vermiculite)
• Cover with plastic dome or similar with some air holes
• Germination takes between 1 - 2 weeks at 25c but can take a little longer. 
• Keep compost slightly damp but not wet
• Take care not to allow temperature to fall below 16c eg at night as this can induce secondary dormancy - use a heat may if you have one
• Once the seedlings have their second set of true leaves they can be re-potted.
• Grow on indoors in as bright a spot as possible and do not move to greenhouse or outside until summer

Olly's General Guide to Seed Sowing!

I love sowing seeds and it runs in the family - dad, granddad and finally my great-granddad for whom the hobby helped him get over his experiences in the Great War. I still get a big kick when I see the first seedling poking through from a new plant that I have never sown before or been successful at. However, even the most experienced gardeners draw "blanks" from time to time. Whilst I sow all the seeds that I sell so I know that they are viable, some are trickier than others and problems can arise so here are some tips to make "blanks" few and far between:

1) Don't Rush! Tempting though it is when that packet arrives in the post to simply bung the seeds in some compost!

2) Google and YouTube are your friends! Take some time so see the methods other people use to germinate the seed. 

3) Think Nature! What conditions do seeds face? For example a seed from a tropical plant will fall to the warm, wet and dark jungle floor. A seed from the mountains of Europe will fall to the floor in Autumn, then have to endure months of freezing temperatures before germinating in the spring. So as growers, what we are trying to do is to simulate the conditions that the seeds will naturally experience and there are plenty of tricks that can be done to short cut the processes somewhat.

4) Good compost pays dividends . The best investment you can make is to purchase three bags - one of potting compost, one of vermiculite and one of horticultural sand. With these three bags I can make up whatever soil type a particular seed likes (although for most seeds I find a 50/50 mix of compost and vermiculite works just fine) 

6) Rot is your enemy. The single biggest danger to seed germination is rot - either before germination or after "damping off" when the seeds germinate. To reduce the risk, ensure you have good free draining soil mix and that it is moist but not wet. The best investment you will make is a bottle of (very cheap) 4% hydrogen peroxide (mixed with water 1:4) - this disinfects and also encourages germination. Unless the seed variety absolutely requires it I prefer NOT to cover my seeds trays with plastic bags, Whilst germination is often faster this way, it greatly increases the risk of rot. I prefer to place my seed trans inside a watertight plastic tray and water from the bottom - airflow over the surface reduces the risk. The surface is kept moist as required by spraying with my water/peroxide mix (see above)

Problem? Don't rush to Feedback - get in touch and I will sort it out!