How to Grow Cotton Indoors
If you live in an area that does not have a warm climate year-round, or you happen to lack the property that can accommodate an outside garden, you can hone your planting skills indoors, and still reap the benefits of your green thumb. There are even some non traditional plants that you can grow that will add a unique sense of beauty to your home. Cotton plants can be grown indoors, and do not require much more than a watering once they begin to mature.
Fill several 4-inch round pots with fertilized soil. Regular potting soil mixed with a small amount of plant fertilizer will work fine.
Plant four to five cotton seeds in each pot. Even though you will be growing a single cotton plant in each pot, every seed planted doesn't always take. So, to be on the safe side, plant more than one seed per pot. Water the seeds regularly, and place the pots in a sunny area of your home.
Choose the heartiest seedlings to grow your cotton. Once the seedlings have begun to grow, leave the healthiest looking seedling to grow in each pot and pluck out the rest. You can either discard the remaining seedlings or replant each in its own 4-inch pot and see if they will take.
Continue to care for your seedlings in their original pots until they begin to outgrow them. Plants that are beginning to grow sets of full sized leaves are usually ready to be transferred and fed. A 12-inch pot should be suitable.
Feed your cotton pants with a typical tomato feed that can be found in most plant nurseries and online stores. Tomato feed which is often used for growing fruits and vegetables is high in nutrients and will benefit the cotton plant.
Water the cotton plants regularly and alternate the pots between the indoors and outdoors on warm sunny days--bringing them back in when the weather becomes cooler.
Tip
Consider saving some of the seeds from the mature cotton plants for future planting. They can be saved in a plastic baggy and stored in a dry, cool location.
Warning
When the flowers of the cotton plant begin to die off, they are transformed into 'bolls' which are the capsules that contain the seeds in all cotton plants. Cotton plants that are grown outdoors usually drop their bolls naturally after they rot, and return them to the earth. In cases of indoor growing, the bolls should be picked and discarded to avoid the rotting process.
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Writer Bio
Jonae Fredericks started writing in 2007. She also has a background as a licensed cosmetologist and certified skin-care specialist. Jonae Fredericks is a certified paraeducator, presently working in the public education system.
