AU2004200031A1 - Horticultural planter - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE APPLICATION STANDARD PATENT HORTICULTURAL

PLANTER

(ELGORDOI)

The invention is described in the following statement.

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This invention relates to the growth of plants in horticultural planters.

Planters such as pots and troughs are receptacles used fbr the growth and propagation of plants both commercially and domestically. Planters can provide a way of growing plants at sites which would not support such growth normally. Soil conditions and environmental conditions can be chosen and rigourously controlled within the confines of the planter.The mobility of planters allows them to be placed or moved to optimize environmental conditions and aesthetic appeal.

An essential requirement of planters is the need to provide proper drainage of the soil within the planter. Otherwise the soil can become waterlogged or saturated leading to suppression of plant growth or even rotting of the root system. The usual solution to this is to place one or more holes in the base of the planter as vents to permit excess water to drain away from the planter. Such base-vented configurations are considered standard for planters in use currently.

There are, however, significant disadvantages inherent in the standard base-vented planter. Because the vent is in the base it is not usually visible and both over- and underwatering are difficult to monitor. Because the vent is at the lowest point of the planter gravity and capillarity combine to cause constant, even excessive, drainage of water from the planter. Thus constant watering in excess of that normally associated with plants in garden beds is necessary for the drainage associated with base-vented planters.

An attendent consequence of this excessive drainage and watering associated with basevented planters is that nutrients in the is constantly leached away and lost. Thus regular fertilizing to replace the leached nutrients is necessary with base-vented planters.

Thus, from both the economic and conservation perspectives base-vented planters have their limitations. The added inconvenience of regular watering only adds to these.

A solution to these limitations of base-vented planters has been to place the planter in an external reservoir such as a tray or a saucer. However such reservoirs are open to the elements and subject to evaporation and/or contamination. In addition there is the extra cost of using another receptacle for each planter.

The present invention addresses the afore-mentioned problems by changing the position of the vent from the base of the planter to the side wall. The base is solid with no vent or orifice from which drainage can occur.The effect of this innovation is that the domain of the planter below the vent in the side wall acts as an internal reservoir for both water and nutrients. As the water in the upper part of the planter evaporates water and nutrients from the reservoir domain are drawn up and maintain the humidity of the soil and replenish nutrients. Most significantly the constant draining of water and nutrients which occurs with base-vented planters is avoided.

Watering of the side-vented planter is readily monitored because drainage from the vent is visible. Thus both over- watering and under-watering can be minimised. The conservation benefits of this are apparent.

The relative size of the reservoir domain in the planter can be altered by placing the vent "at the required level on the side of the planter. Furthermore the size of the reservoir in individual planters can be varied by placing a series of vents at different heights on the side of the planter and plugging all but the required one.

Alft&natively the reservoir capacity can be varied by using a single vent at the base and 4ti )ing a J-shaped tube to the vent, which acts like one arm of a manometer. By Saltering the height of the tube the reservoir volume can be determined. A transparent Jtube will permit visual monitoring of the water level in the planter. Such an arrangement is easily adapted for automatic watering.

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Claims (3)

1. A horticultural planter with one or more vents in the side wall of the planter.

2. A horticultural planter with vents in the side wall and in the base.

3. A horticultural planter with a vent in the side wall with an attached J- tube of variable height.