CA1046769A - Planting - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

Molded strips of temporary planting pods are stacked together with growth barrier film between adjacent strips to provide compact package for seed germination or seedling growth. The film confines root growth to the strip in which the growth starts, and narrow interconnections between the pods of a strip limit the growth of roots from one pod toward the next pod. After seeding and initial watering, the stacked assembly can have additional water supplied from its bottom to encourage root growth toward that bottom. When planting, the individual parts can be readily broken or cut off and separately planted.

Abstract of the Disclosure

Description

The present invention relates to plantingJ and more particularly to temporary growing devlcss and techniques ~or planting trees or the like.
~ mong the ob~ects of the present invention is the provi~ion of novel planting devices which are highly suited ~or inexpen~lve and ef~ective planting, especially large 9 cale planting.
Additional object3 o~ the present inv~ntion include the provision o~ improved planting techniques that use the ~oregoing devices.
The foregoing as well a9 still further objeats of the present invention will be more fully appreciated from the ~ollowing description o~ several o~ its exemplificatlons~
re~erenoe being made to the accompanying drawlngs in which:
Fig. 1 i9 an isometric view o~ a strlp o~ planting pods pur~uant to the present invention;
Fi~. 2 is a top pl~n vlew Or a package of the ~trlps o~ Flg. 1J further exempli~ylng the pre3snt invention; and Figs. 3 and 4 are views 9 imilar to that o~ Fig. 1, showing modi~ied strip oonstructions typical of the present invontion.
According to the present invention there i9 provlded a paokage of planting pod~ containing a plurality of pod strips stacked together to provide a block~shaped a~embly ha~$ng generally flat top and bottom surface~ as well as two oppo~ed side surface~ that are al90 generally flat~ a wrapper encircling the sldes o~ the blo¢k to hold the stacked strips tog~thor, the strips being separated ~rom each other by a growth barrier fi1m, each str~p be~ng a horizontall~ extending row of general}y vertically extending pods whlch pods are _2~

-3~ 46769 connected to adJacent pod~ by readily tearable connector portion6 having a thickness only a fraction of the pod thicknes s, The pods in a strip can be conne¢ted tog~ther and shaped 90 that the spacing between ad~aoant pods in a strip re¢eives a pod of another strip, and the strips can be nested together in the stack. One strip can contain from about 5 to about 20 ridges~
A feature of the present invention i9 that the bottom and top curface~ of the blo¢k can be left uncovered, Entlre block assemblie~ aan thus be manufactured and ~hipped to a reforestation location where seeds can be directly inserted in the lndividual pods of the assembled strips, either by hand or with automatio equipment. When th0 block tops are uncovered, 1~ there i8 no need to prepare those top9 for receivlng the seeds.
If the top9 are covered for any reason, the covers can be transparent and readily pieroed so that seed in~ertion can be effect~ without removing such cover, A wrapped layer o~ very thin, abou~ 1 mil thiokness~ plasticized stret¢hy polyvinyl chloride i9 suitable for this purpose, although polyethylene fllm can also be used ~s can other more readily bio-degradable film9 or sheets.
Best seed germination and growth in the lndlvidual pods is generally initiated when the pods or the entire block are thoroughly saturated with water. This is readlly effected as by d~recting a hosed spray of-water on the block for about a minute or by im~er~ing the block ln a Qufficiently deep body of water. Cold water takes longer than warm water to ; thoroughly penetrate. Incomplete penetration can slow the 4 ~046~69 ger~ination a~ well as the growth.
Thorough wetting makes the pods relatively soft to finger pressure and the like so that in~ertion o~ the seeds can then be performed very easily e~en if no oponing has been provided in the pod for receiving the seed. However the block of pods should be oarefully handled while in ~uch soft condi-tion inasmuch as it is easily damaged when æo~t. The retention of at leaqt one wrapper around the block during such seeding iq accordingly a very important help in avoiding damage.
The seeding can be accomplished before, during or after the thorough wetting, and the wetting need not be thorough, but durlng germination and growth the seeded and wet block should be kept moist, as by standing it in a very shallow body of water, about 1/2 to about 1 in¢h deep for example~ This promotes good germination and growth Or roots downwardly in each pod toward the water layer. A9 a result~
very ~ew roots tend to gro~ laterally toward the adjoining pods, The growth barrier film between adjacent strips effectively confine the roots to one strlp, ~hen the growth has reached the stage that calls for planting~ the strip assemblies can be disassembled and the strlps planted. ~o this end the indlvidual pods are readily broken away from their strip~ by hand, and inserted in holes punohed in the ground~ The breaking off of a pod ~s seldom ~ound to be accompanied by the tearing of roots that have grown into the pod-connection zones! Where such root damage does tak~ place lt ls usuall~ because the root growth ~or that particular seedling has been highly proli~erated, and in ~uch circum~tances the damage ls to an inconsequential proportlon of the entire root structure 5 'l046769 Turning now to the particular ¢onstruction illustrated in the drawings~ Fig. 1 show3 a strip 10 o~ pods 20, 21 etc. that are ridges of generally triangular cross-section. In one desirable exemplification these triangular ridges project about 1 1/4 inches from the opposing flat face 30 of the strip, their triangular cross-section iq generally equilateral~ the thickness of the strip sheet between ridges 3/16 inch, the ridges 5 incheg long~.and each strip had ten ridges giving it an o~erall size of 5 by 12 1/2 inches~ Those 9trips were molded from a fibrous mixture of, by weight:

15 parts wood pulp 75 parts peat 10 parts Vermiculite ,25 partq fertilizer, such as dried ~5 manure, and .025 parts wetting agent dispersed in forty times its weight of water, Other compositions can also be used~ such as those described in U~ S~ Patent 3,524,279 and the patent it refers to, a3 well a~ in U. S~ Patents 3,534,497, 2,785,969, 1,988,307 and 1,446,113, and Canadian Patent 760,162. These compositions are readily molded to the de~ired ¢on~iguration from an aqueous slurry using automatic molding equipment quch as that described in U. S. Patent 3~567,575. During the molding operation they can be pierced to provide seed wells 40 which need only be about 1/2 inch deep and about 1/4 inch wide~
although these are not es~ential. When the seed~ are to be introduced by automatic equipment, such equipment can punch the seed into the seed pod even when there is no pre~iously prepared seed well7 On the other hand when the pod strips o~ the present invention are to be used for recelving seedling~, it is desirable to have receiving wells~ and to have them generally deeper and wider than indicated above.
It is also helpful to sterilize the strips during 5 their molding, as for example by drying them at temperatures of 200F or higher. Thorough drying, iOe. to 5% of less moisture based on the total weight after 4 to 8 hours at 190 to 250F, is another de~irable aspect~ particularly if the strips are not to be put to immediate use, inasmuch as it reduce~ the development of undesired growths such as mold and weeds.
Promptly after molding~ the strips can be stacked into packages such as lllustrated in Fig. 2, In the interest of improved compactness the rldges are shaped so that tho e 1~ on one strip internest with those of another and pairs of strips arc readily fitted together in ridge-to-ridge engage-ment.
Fig. 2 shows a package in the form of a block o~
10 stacked strips 51 through 60. Between adjacent strips there are inserted growth barrier films 71 through 79 which can be inexpensive polyethyleneJ polyvinyl chloride or polystyrene or ~heets of the more bio degradable compositions including lightly waxed paper~ Those ~ilms or sheets inserted between internested ridges can be precorrugated to simplify the stacking operation. The even number of strips in the block leaves the long sides 81, 82 of the block with flat sur~aces. The block is then wrapped in a retaining sheet wrapper 88 which only encircle~ sides 81, 82 and the remaining 3idss 33~ 84. ~ wrapper 88 whose outer end can be heat~sealed in placeJ or whlch can be slipped on and shrunk -7~ 46769 in place, i~ pQrticularl~ desirable inasmuch as it dispGn~es with the need for an adhe~ive securing tape or encircling twine. The retaining wrapper n~ed not be very sturdy inasmuch as the strips are not heavy and ten of them can welght a total of less than two pounds. A 1 mil thiok sheet of stretchy plasticized pol~inyl chloride such a~ used ~or wrapping me~ts is quite suitable. It iæ prererred to wrap the strip~ together tightly 90 that they are not ~ree to rub against ad~acent ~trips and abrade their generally ~riable sur~aces.
The sides ~3~ 84 of the wrapped block are ~haped by the proiecting ends o~ alternate strips and it is undesir-able to pile up the blocks so that those ~ides face down unless the wrapper 88 i8 suf~iciently strong to pre~ent damage to the strip ends that would then support the piled blooks.
However~ there is no problem piling them up in any other orientation, all other sur~aces being genarally flat.
No covering is needed for the top9 or bottom9 of the ~trips ln a blook, and no ~rapping iB needed around the tops or bottoms o~ the blocks where wrapper 88 is adequate to securely hold the block together, An additional wrapper can be used to cover the top and bottom o~ a block, but in such event it is best to have such additional wrapper independent Or wrapper 88 so that the additional or outer wrapper can be removed without undoing wrapper 88. The seed introduction and germination can then be conducted after the outer wrapper i5 remo~ed, although soed insertion canJ i~ desiredJ be accomplished through a wrapping film that is readily punched through.
Where the ~inal plantings are to have the individual plants relatively closely spaced ln a row, an 1CJ46i769 entire ~trip can be inserted into a groove in the ground without breaking its individual pods apart. For this type of planting, the strips can be manu~actured with their individual pods spaced the distance desired between the final plantings.
A particularly desirable aspect of the present invention is that it sharply reduces the amount of handling as well as the space requirements for the use of temporary growing devices. A block of 100 pods can be seeded in one automated sweep of a 100-head seed planting machine such as th9 ad~ustable 96-head seeder shown on page 36 of catalog 10 by Al Saf~er & Co., Inc., New York, N~Y. 10001. After seeding the blook is easily stored in very little space where it can be readily subjected to automatic watering. At planting time the strips can be manually unbundled by simply removlng wrapper 88, and, if desired~ can have thelr pod~ automatically planted by ~eeding them endwise into a planting machine that severs the individual pods, digs holes in the ground for them, and $nserts each pod into a hole, Figs. 3 and 4 show alternative shapes for the pod strips of the present lnvention. Strip 110 has its pod ridges, 120, 121 etc. shaped with rounded contours 80 that in cross-sectlon the row of ridge outlines form a sinuous curve. No seed wells are shown in this embodiment, and there are twelve pods per strip. The general dimension of strip 110 can be s$milar to those of strip 10, with the ridges standing about 1 to about 3 inches high measured from the flat face of the strip, the ridge peaks about the same distance apart, and the strip thickness between ridges about l/4 to about 1/10 the total ridge height.
Strip 210 o~ Fig. 4 has ridges 220, 221 etc. that _8-have generally rlat tops and are spaced rro~ each other by mating channels 237. This arrangement keeps ad~acsnt ridgeq somewha~ further apart and i9 particularly suited for plant~
ings that are to be that ~ar apart and are planted by inserting 5 an entire strip in the ground, ~he construction of Fig 4 i8 also more suited for starting seedllngs, to which end its ridges can ha~e relatively large wells 240.
Additionally a block of stacked strip3 210 has its edge 230 shaped to better resist damage when stood on that edge, ~s for example after stacking in bloGks, The embodiments of Figs. l and 3 are highly desirable for germinating tree seeds in a mechanized reforesta-tion program. For this purpose the pods can be relatively small in overall bulk, the seeds generally don~t occupy much space and their growth is predominantly in the vertical direction. ~hus a 5 inch depth ~or a pod works out very nicely. The pod depth can, however, be shortened to 4 inches or even less~ except where deep root penetration take~ plaoe on sprouting and it i~ desired to avoid the growth of the roots laterally into ad~oining pods.
It is not absolutely nece~sary to have one surface of the strip~ absolutely flat like surface 30 o~ Fig. 1. That surface can, if desired~ be provided with protuberances opposite the ridges~ and indeed such protuberances can be 25 shaped much like the ridges themselves. It is preferred, however, that such protuberances have flat peaks as at 235 qo they provide a generally flat engagement face even though there are interruptions in the flatness. Both the protuberan¢es and the ridges can then have ~lat peaks and strips of this kind can be stacked without internesting.

_9_ Odd or even numbors o~ s~ch strip~ can be qtacked to fo~m an assembly and there is no need to stack them in nested pairs nor is there any need to have the growth-blocking ~ilms corrugated for such an arrangement.
Obviously many modi~icatlons and variations of the present invention are possible ln the light o~ the above teachin~s. It is, therefore~ to be under~tood that within the scope o~ the appended claim~ the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically de~cribed.

Claims (7)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A package of planting pods constituting temporary growing devices for planting seeds to start the growth of tree seedlings and the like, said package comprising a plurality of pod strips, each strip being a horizontally extending row of generally vertically extending pods having a generally equilateral triangle cross-section, which pods are connected to adjacent pods by readily tearable connector portions having a thickness only a fraction of the pod thickness, the strips being shaped so that the spacing between adjacent pods in a strip is capable of receiving a pod of another strip, and the strips are nested together in the stack, to provide a block-shaped assembly having generally flat top and bottom surfaces as well as two opposed side surfaces that are also generally flat, a plastic wrapper sheet encircling essentially only the four sides of the block to hold the stacked strips together, and the strips being separated from each other by a growth barrier film.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1, in which the plastic wrapper sheet is a thin stretchy plasticized polyvinyl chloride.

3. A package as claimed in claim 1 in which that each strip is a one-piece molding that has a generally flat surface extending the length of one of its long faces and about 30 cm long, and the pods are a series of about ten ridges defining the opposing long face.

4. A package as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the pods are ridges between about 2.5 cm and about 7.5 cm high, and between adjacent pods the strip is no thicker than about one-fourth the ridge height.

5. A package as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the strip is about 7.5 cm to about 15 cm wide in the direction of the ridge axes, and has about 5 to about 20 ridges.

6. A process of growing seedlings which comprises providing a package as claimed in claim 1, inserting seeds in one end of each planting pod and watering the pods all without removing the wrapper from the sides of the package, standing the package on its bottom in a body of water then after the seeds have germinated and the pods are ready for planting, removing said wrapper and separating and planting the resulting wet pods.

7. A process as claimed in claim 6, in which the strips are separated from each other and broken into individual pods, prior to planting the wet pods.