Grow and harvest your very own raw natural plant fibers in your own backyard, and use it for creating all natural and sustainable textiles. Practice ancient fiber preparation techniques to comb, spin, dye, weave or knit the fibers as you wish! Traditionally, flax fibers are used to create fine linen fabric, cotton is one of the most common plant fibers used in textiles, and nettle plants can be used to create strong fibrous strands like jute to use for other applications.
This seed set comes with seeds for all three of these fiber producing plants. There are many online tutorials and videos which can teach you how to properly harvest and prepare the fibers from the plants when they are ready.
Plant Fiber Seed Pack Includes:
Egyptian Cotton · Gossypium barbadense
Heirloom Flax · Linum usitatissimum
Stinging Nettle · Urtica dioica
NON GMO · OPEN POLLINATED · HEIRLOOM · NON HYBRID
Each packet of seeds has 10+ heirloom, non-gmo seeds inside. For this set of 3 packets, you are receiving a total of 30 + seeds!
Store seeds in a cool, dry place for long lasting quality.
Planting Info:
♦ Egyptian Cotton · Gossypium barbadense
Gossypium barbadense is a fast growing and shrub which forms yellow flowers followed by cotton boll pods. They are originally native to the Andes mountains in South America, however is now widely cultivated now as an extra-long staple (ELS) cotton, also sometimes referred to as Egyptian cotton. The seed fibers of Gossypium barbadense are exceptionally long and fine and can be used to produce the highest quality fabric.
-Enjoys warm temperatures, full sun, and deep fertile soil.
-Sow seeds indoors in Spring, or outside when temperatures are consistently over 50 degrees.
-Matures approx. 135-160 days and can grow to approx 4-5 ft tall and 2-3 ft wide.
♦ Heirloom Flax · Linum usitatissimum
Flax has traditionally served as an easily available food and fiber crop which bear lovely blue flowers. Flax fiber can be harvested from the stem of the plant and are two to three times as strong as cotton fibers. Additionally, flax fibers are naturally smooth and straight.
Flax can also be grown for linseed oil, which is used in many applications, and the edible seeds contain many medicinal and nutritional benefits.
Historically, Europe and North America depended on flax for plant made cloth until the nineteenth century, when cotton overtook flax as the most common plant used for making linen paper. It is originally native to eastern Mediterranean regions, and was also extensively cultivated in ancient China and ancient Egypt, with spun, dyed, and knotted wild flax fibers discovered in a prehistoric cave dating back to 30,000 BC .
-Seeds should be planted 1/4- to 1/2-inch deep into the soil.
-The average full growth height is 2.5 to 3 ft tall.
- It can take 90 to 125 days for plants to reach full maturity.
♦ Stinging Nettle · Urtica dioica
Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica, is a widely distributed plant that grows easily in most climates. It can be used for many medicinal and nutritional purposes, as well as a plant dye.
For fiber, the plant is related to flax and hemp and can be used to produce a fine linen cloth by harvesting the fibers from inside the stem of the plant.
Historically, the first known nettle textile find dates back to the late Bronze Age in Denmark, as well additional evidence of nettle cloth production from Scandinavia, Poland, Germany and Russia. Nettle thread was traditionally used in Poland up until the 17th century before being replaced by silk. Interestingly, the shortage of cotton during the first World War resulted in the Germans cultivating nettles to make clothing.
Nettle fibers are white, silky, up to 50mm (2”) long, and can produce a finer and silkier fabric than flax.
- To germinate, surface sow and keep moist, tamp the soil. Keep moist until germination.
- Space plants 15 -18 inches apart when planting.
- Nettles are ready to harvest for fiber when the plants are tall, seeds are forming, and new growth begins to come up from the root zone. You can also tell when the leaves are beginning to wilt and yellow but there is still a lot of water in the stem.
SEED DISCLAIMER
PLANT RESPONSIBLY!
It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser to ascertain and obey all local laws which apply to the possession and use of any items listed on our site. Please consult local, provincial and federal laws (including pertinent laws applied to your country) before placing an order.
By placing an order, the purchaser represents that products ordered will only be used in a lawful manner. We advise you to make inquiries about local applicable laws and regulations to which you are subject.
The purchaser further agrees to hold FIBERCULTURE harmless for claims, actions, legal and/or court fees brought against him/her in connection with any use of products ordered from this website.
FIBERCULTURE does not assume any responsibility if seeds are confiscated by customs or similar agencies. The risk of shipping falls on the customer therefore we will not be held liable as these products are intended only for export to locations and countries where their use is not restricted.
