Cotton
The cotton plant is an annual plant. It is sown in the spring and harvested in the fall, starting from August. It grows up to 1-1.5 m in height, blooms in pink and yellow colors about 2 months after planting. When the flowers dry and fall, they turn into a dark green walnut-shaped cocoon.
When the bolls reach maturity, long and thin fibers exist on the seeds. There are 16-60 seeds in the bolls and there are 10,000-20,000 fibers on one seed. As the fibers mature in a compacted state in the closed boll, they begin to gain their folds. With the elongation of the fibers in the boll, the volume of the cocoon becomes insufficient, the boll cracks and opens. The fibers lose water with the effect of hot air, and the fibers stuck together swell, allowing the boll to open.
The growing stages of cotton are as follows:
Machine or hand-harvested cotton is sent to the ginning process to separate the fibers from the seed. Ginning is the process of plucking the fibers from the seeds. The seed separated from its fibers is called cottonseed. The fibers are sent to the spinning mills to be made into yarn. Seeds are also sent to oil factories to extract their oil. The seeds from which the oil is taken are also used as animal feed.
The main benefits of cotton which has an attentive and difficult growing process, are as follows:
– Air-permeable
– Ability to absorb moisture
– Hygienic feature
– Less conduction of static electricity
– Washing resistance