To determine the effects of cultivation patterns on dry matter accumulation, light transmittance and yield formation characteristics in cotton, field experiments were conducted with Xiangzamian 8 and JX0010 as the materials. The cultivation patterns are short–growth–duration direct seeding cultivation (SGDDS) with 60 000 plants/hm2, and current main cultivation mode at Yangtze valley which is thin transplantation with mass water and fertilization input for great individual (GIMWF) with 20 000 plants/hm2. The results showed that Xiangzamina 8 had the highest single plant dry matter accumulation under GIMWF, while JX0010 had the highest group dry matter accumulation under SGDDS at the same time. There are no significant difference on RGR between different treatments at every stage. JX0010 under SGDDS had the highest LAI and the lowest light transmittance. The number of fruit branches, fruit nodes, bolls per plant of two varieties under SGDDS were significantly lower than that under GIMWF. There were no significant difference on single boll weight, lint index, seed index and lint percentage between two cultivation patterns. Seed cotton yield and lint yield under SGDDS were slightly higher than that under GIMWF, but with no significant level.