CA1274689A - Set of growing cells for plants - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure Set of growing cells for plants, wherein, in the partition wall (5) between the pots, there is a non-decaying middle layer, on whose both sides there is a surface layer decomposing during growing and wherein, on inside walls of the pots, in particular at the joint between the partition walls, there is a non-decomposing wing (4) for the purpose of preventing circulation of the roots.

Description

~274~i89 Set ~f growing cells for plants The present invention is concerned with a set of growing cells for plants, which comprises several parallel lines of pots and in which the partition walls between the lines of pots can be detached from each other after the growing.
When plants are grown in cell sets made of plastics, the roots often tend to circulate around the wall of the pot. Such a deformation of the roots is detrimental in particular in the case of plants that require a long growing time, e.g., of plants of forest trees.
In decomposing growing pots, the problem is not equally serious, because the decomposing paper con-sumes the nitrogen, which is necessary for growth, off the walls of the pot, whereby the roots do not seek their way to the walls of the pot. However, when decaying, a thick layer of paper consw~es such an abundance of nutrients that the plant readily starts suffering from lack of nitrogen, and this must be amended by means of abundant nitrogen fertilizing, whereby both the decomposition of the paper is accele-rated and the growth of the roots becomes faster, and the risk of circulation of the roots increases.
Growth of the roots along the walls can also be prevented by using a substance inhibiting the growth. However, there are no substances with long-term effect, because they are/ however, gradually dissolved along with the watering.
In deep-drawn ccll sets of plastics, vertical wings placed at the walls of the cell set perpendicularly have also been used in order to pre-vent circulation of the roots. These involve the drawback that, owing to the production technique, a rounding is formed at the angle between the wings and the wall of the cell set, whereby the root does not --~ iV

~Z~46~9 meet the wing perpendicularly and may readily grow and by-pass the wing.
In injection-moulded cell sets of plastics, it is possible to produce vertical wings with sharp edges, which guide the growth of the roots downwards.
Now, a set of growing cells has been inven-ted in which the partition wall between the rows of pots includes a non-decaying middle layer of plastics and, at both sides of the said middle layer, a decaying layer of paper, and in which, at the joints between subsequent partition walls, there is an adhesive joint connecting the partition walls to each other, and in which said wall of the pot there is a non-decaying projection that prevents circulation of the roots.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will be illustrated in more detail with the aid of the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a whole set of cells, and Figure 2 shows the joint between two ad-joining pots as viewed from above.
The set of cells 1 consists of hexagonal pots 2. The set of cells 1 is manufactured in a way in itself known by glueing together laminated sheets of desired type at appropriate points 3. On being opened, the sheets become detached from each other at the portions not glued, and form a set of cells.
Wings 4 extending into the pot have been attached to the joints 3 in the set of cells 1.
The partition walls 5 in the set of cells 1 are made of a laminate of three layers. The middle layer 6 in the laminate is a non-decaying material, e.g. an appropriate plastic, such as polyethylene or polypropene. At each side of the middle layer 6, there is a surface layer 7 decaying during the growing, which said surface layer is preferably of paper. The thickncss of the middle layer 6 is 10 to 50 g/m2, "` l2~6as preferably 20 to 30 g/m2, and the thickness of the surface layer 7 is 15 to 70 g/m2, preferably 20 to 25 g/m2.
At the joint 3 of the partition walls 5, between the partition walls, there is a wing 4 parallel to the said partition walls and extending from one pot 2 into the other. The wing 4 is made of a non-decaying or substantially non-decaying material, such as an appropriate plastic or impregnated paper. The wing 4 must be sufficiently rigid so that it retains its shape when the pots 2 are filled with the growing substrate.
The joint 3 has been formed by glueing,by means of a non-~ecaying adhesive that does not dissolve in water, vertical seams 9 and 9' at the edges of the joints placed next to the pots. The glueing has been performed so that the seams extend from one middle layer 6 to the other, but so that the adhesive does not adhere to the middle layer itself.
The surface layers decompose during growing, whereinafter the plant balls can be detached from each other by removing the middle layers 6 and wings 4 remaining between the plants.
The middle layer 6 and the adhesive seams 9 and 9' prevent growth of the roots from one ball into the other during growing, and the wing 4 prevents con-stant circulation of the roots along the wall of the pot 2.
If necessary, the growth of the roots can be controlled by means of growth inhibitors applied to the surface layers 7 of the partition walls or to their joints 3. In the joints 3, in or between the adhesive seams 9 and 9', even an abundant dosage may be used without disadvantage.
In the embodiment shown in the figures, smooth unidirectional paper webs can be glued, and a spreading of the glue causes only little dimensional scattering in the size of the pot.

127~68g The wing may also be accomplished by glueing a thin folded paper web (or any other material, such as a plastic thread) onto any wall of the pot whatso-ever.

Claims (9)

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

1. A set of growing cells for plants, consisting of parallel lines of pots, wherein the subsequent lines have a common partition wall and wherein subsequent partition walls have been joined together so as to form the pots adjoining each line of pots, characterized in that the partition wall consists of a non-decaying middle layer, on whose both sides there is a surface layer decaying during the growing, and that at the joints between the partition walls there is a vertical oblong projection that points into the pot and that does not decompose during growing.

2. A set of cells as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the projection is a paper wing placed at the joints between the partition walls.

3. A set of cells as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the wing is connected with the partition walls placed at each side by means of a non-decaying glue seam extending through the non-decaying layer.

4. A set of cells as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the joint is the face parallel to the line of pots and that the joint has a glue seam at both ends of the face.

5. A set of cells as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the joint is provided with a substance inhibiting the growth of the roots.

6. A set of cells as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the glue seam includes a substance inhibiting the growth of the roots.

7. A set of cells as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that there is a substance inhibiting the growth of the roots between the glue seams.

8. A set of cells as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the surface layer of the pot is provided with a substance inhibiting the growth of the roots.

9. A set of cells as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the joint portion is provided with a wing which extends from one adjoining pot into the other.