have you grown cotton?

[ms.shell]

i am very interested in doing this (to spin myself, by hand), and it seems now is the time to plant it.
dp spoke to a farmer friend of his and he asked if i was crazy and told us to stick to growing peppers, etc.
cotton is a big crop around here; i know it grows well.
i was thinking of giving over some garden space for a few plants, but then i read about how cotton has specific watering requirements, especially that you dont water it at all for so many weeks and then again near harvest. so i am thinking it might not work well to put it in my garden, as i need to water the rest of it. i have read some references about folks having grown it in pots, but couldnt find anything specific about this. also, i personally prefer growing in the ground as for me there is a HUMONGOUS difference in yield between container and garden grown plants.
i am really just looking for btdt about growing cotton (organically)....whether it was worth the trouble, where you sited your plants, and especially results and procedure re growing cotton in containers (how big a pot, specifically).
any thoughts would be appreciated!

[SundayCrepes]

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/cotton.htm

[jocelyndale]

A friend and I debated it, but cotton is regulated in our state due to the Boll Weevil Eradication Program. We just wanted to grow a few plants for the kids, but didn't feel like dealing with the headache of figuring out (a) if we even *can* grow it without the risk of the state burning our plots and (b) we didn't want to deal with paperwork.

So, I'm interested to know what the bureaucratic rigamarole is for growing it.

[Erinz]

I'm curious to grow a few plants of cotton myself, just to see the plant if nothing else. I snagged a boll with a few seeds in it last year when I saw a huge display of them a retail store

Thanks for that link, sounds really interesting! We have hot, dry summers here where I am in California so I may very well be able to pull off a couple healthy plants, that sounds awesome!

[Farmer Laura]

It is grown around here extensively and on a few occasions we've managed very easily to grow it as a side project in our garden. Just a few plants. I'd be curious how much you'd have to grow to spin.

[ms.shell]

Thanks for the replies.
Laura, so a few plants won't yield enough to make any yarn?