CA1321710C - Plant tube for use in flower pots - Google Patents
Plant tube for use in flower potsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1321710C CA1321710C CA000581781A CA581781A CA1321710C CA 1321710 C CA1321710 C CA 1321710C CA 000581781 A CA000581781 A CA 000581781A CA 581781 A CA581781 A CA 581781A CA 1321710 C CA1321710 C CA 1321710C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- plant
- pot
- tube
- upstanding
- substrate
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
- A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
- A01G9/00—Cultivation in receptacles, forcing-frames or greenhouses; Edging for beds, lawn or the like
- A01G9/12—Supports for plants; Trellis for strawberries or the like
- A01G9/122—Stakes
Landscapes
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Environmental Sciences (AREA)
- Cultivation Receptacles Or Flower-Pots, Or Pots For Seedlings (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
A plant tube for mounting in an upright position in a plant pot and having an at least partly open lower end portion shaped so as to have a rigid outer end for abutting the bottom of the plant pot and one or more root penetration openings located axially spaced from said outer end, characterized in that the tube has a generally non-narrowing shape adjacent its lower end and is provided with one or more downwardly projecting protrusions of a thin-walled planar or part-cylindrical shape.
A plant tube for mounting in an upright position in a plant pot and having an at least partly open lower end portion shaped so as to have a rigid outer end for abutting the bottom of the plant pot and one or more root penetration openings located axially spaced from said outer end, characterized in that the tube has a generally non-narrowing shape adjacent its lower end and is provided with one or more downwardly projecting protrusions of a thin-walled planar or part-cylindrical shape.
Description
13~710 The present invention relates to a plant tube for use in flower pots. som~ species of plants, e.g. ivy and Scirpus, grow in a more or less loose hanging manner, and for presenting these plants in an improved manner it is already customary to let them grow up from a relatively narrow ~ube, which is stuck down into a central area of the earth or growing medium in an ordinary plant pot. As the plant grows it may then rise over the upper edge of the narrow tube and thus become "hanging" from an increased height.
In practice the tube is mounted and filled partially with a growth medium, and the plant is supplied to this medium as a sprout or a seed. The roots, of course, grow downwardly and may graduall~ project through the lower end of the tube and into the surrounding growth medium of the pot.
Thus, the lower end portion of the tube should be provided with holes located somewhat spaced above the bottom of the pot. It is customary that this is achieved by sha~ing the tube such that its lower end portion, in which side holes are provided, is narrowing conically downwardly to form a pointed end portion, whereby the tube is esay to stick down into the earth filled pot.
Such tubes are used in large numbers and should of course be produced in a cheap manner, preferably by die casting of a cheap plastic material. The provision of the said holes in the conical end portion may cause some ~roubles with respect to the formation of thin material fins pxojecting inwardly from the hole edges towards the centre of the respective holes, and seen in the a~ial direction of the tube such fin portions will gxeatly reduce the available penetration area of the roots.
Already the holes themselves do not provide for any large penetration area, since the area of the remaining wall of the conical tube end portion is o~ about the same ~21 7~ 0 size as the total area of the holes.
The invention provides a plant tube which has an advantageous shape and is easy to produce.
According to the invention the tube has a generally non-narrowing shape adjacent its lower end and is provided with one or more downwardly projecting protrusions of a-thin-walled planar or part-cylindrical shape. In this context the term "thin-walled" will re~er to a wall thickness of the same magnitude as the wall thickness of the tube itself. In this manner the tube may show a wide aperture at the lower end thereo~, such that the roots may seek downwardly practically without any obstruction.
In one aspect, the invention provides a method of preparing plant pots, which are to be delivered for sale from a gardening enterprise as sales pots filled with a growth substrate with an upstanding plant tube in which a plant is growing being inserted into the substrate from above, the plant roots having access to ~he pot substrate through one or more holès at the lower end of the plant tube, the method be`ing characterized ,by the use of a plant tube having an inwardly tapering lower end portion, the holes for providing~
root acceæs to the substrate being spaced above the lowermost .
13217~1 0 end of said plant tube, and in the substrate and the lower end of the plant tube being received in a plant pot having at its bottom portion an upstanding guiding portion, in which there is provided a tapered depression corresponding to the tapered end of the plant tube, this depression being used for guidingly receiving the lower end of the plant tube, the plant tube when mounted in position in said depression having the or each root access hole located at least partially above the uppermost edge of said upstanding guiding portion.
In preferred embodiments of this aspect, the invention provides:
The above method whereby the guiding portion is provided as a separate unit shaped as an inner pot member operable to hold the growth substrate inside said plant pot; and whereby the inner pot member is used for the initlal growing of the plant, and is placed in said plant pot which acts as an outer sales pot prior to delivery from the gardening enterprise.
A plant pot system for use in the above method, comprising a plant pot provided with said upstanding guiding portion at its bottom portion and a plant tube with an inwardly tapered lower end and one or more holes allowing access for the plant roots to the~substrate provided at its lower end.
- 2a -:
~32:~71~
The above plant pot system, in which tha upstanding guiding portion is a shell body comprising a frustro-conical portion upstanding from a bottom shell portion and continuing at its top in a shell portion forming said depression.
The above plant pot systems, in which the upstanding bottom portion is formed integrally with the bottom of the plant pot.
The above plant pot systems, in which the upstanding bottom portion is provided as a separate insert member shaped as a plant pot and dimensioned for mounting in an exterior conventional sales plant pot.
In the following the invention is described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a plant pot fitted with a tube according to the invention, ~`'`.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the tube ltself, Fig. 3 is an end view of the tube, seen from the top thereof, - 2b -~ ~ .~ {
~ .
` ` ` , ' ' ' .
~32:1~1 0 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tube, Fig. 5 is a perspactive view, partly in section, of a special production pot for use with the plant tube, Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the production pot and the plant tube in joined condition, and Fig. 7 is a lateral, partly sectional view of a pot and tube assembly with a plant ready for sale.
- 2C~
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3 132 ~
The plant pot of Fig. 2 is provided with a growth medium 4, and in the middle thereof is planted a tube member 6 having an upper tube portion 8 and a lower pointed portion 10 projecting downwardly from the lower edge 12 of the tube portion 8. The tube member 6 as prefilled with a growth medium is stuck into the medium 4 until the lower end of the pointed por~ion hits the bottom of the pot, whereby the tube member is known to assume a correct height position, when it is otherwise adapted to the size of the pot.
The growth medium inside the tube 8 holds a sprout or a seed of the relevant type, and after a while the pot with the developed plant 14 is ready for delivery from the green-house or truck garden. The roots of the plant have grown down through the lower tube end 12 and into the medium 4.
The tube member 6 as shown in Figs. 2-4 has a top portion 16 of enlarged diameter, whereby it is able to be suspended between two opposed carrier rods or edges, shown at 18 in dotted lines in Fig. 2, for the purpose of being filled with its growth medium prior to its mounting in the plant pot. The pointed portion 10 is constituted by a cross plate structure comprising four radial wing plates 20, which are each secured to the lower edge 12 of the tube portion 8, at respective areas 22.
The wing plates 20 will contribute to stabilize the tube ~5 member 6 in the plant pot, and with their pointed shape they will facilitate the sticking down of the tube member into the pot.
It will be appreciated that the lower end of the tube por-tion 8, as most clearly shown by Fig. 3, will show a wide total light, the presence of the wing plates 20 giving rise to but a small area reduction, whereb~ the roots are free 4 :13~L7~ ~
to grow straight downwardly out of the tube.
The illustrated tube member is easy to produce by die casting from some cheap thermoplastic material.
T}le wing plates 20 should not necessarily be downwardly pointed, and there may be more or less than jus-t four of the radial plates. The "open" lower portion 10 should not even necessarily be constituted by "radial plates", as these plates may be substituted e.g. by downwardly projecting, mutually spaced axial legs or other prolongations of the wall material of the tube portion 8, whereby the bottom hole of the tube will be left entirely open, though with some restriction in the growing path of the roots outwardly from the area underneath the tube portion 8. For simplicity such legs may be axial prolongations of the tube 8, i.e.
having a part-cylindrical cross section.
On the other hand, the illustrated preferred shaping prin-ciple with four - or three or five - radial wings 20 meeting along a centrally disposed axial line area is very advan-tageous both for a good stability of the structure 10 and ~0 for an easy integrated production of the structures 8 and 10, without the lower end of the tube 8 being widely closed by the structure 10 or by casting fins.
The plant tube 6, as shown in Fig. 1, will be usable merely by insertion in the substrate of an ordinary plant pot 2, ~5 but in a preferred embodiment of the invention the plant tube is used in a system camprising a special pot, as illu-strated in Figs. 5-7.
According to customary practice the plant tubes are filled entirely or partially with a substrate, in which the plant is sowed or planted, and the tubes are thcn mounted in sub-: :: :
.
~3~ ~ 7lL~
strate filled pots, in which they are laterally supportedby the substrate. The pots thereafter constitute production units, the plants of which are grown in the truck graden into a condition ready for sale, whereafter the said pro-duction units are used directly as sales units.
There are two problems connected herewith, viz. partly that the sales unit will almost inevitably be smudged by rests of li~uid manure from the prehistory of the sales unit as a production unit, and partly that for the truck garden personnel it may be difficult to mount the plant tubes in the pots in reasonably well centered positions therein, as the units are produced or prepared in large numbers and require a rapid handling with respect to the mounting of the plant tubes. It would of course be possible to make use of centering templates or other guiding means for achieving a well centered mounting of the plant tubes in ordinary pots, but such auxiliaries would enevitably involve additional costs without solving problems other than the problem of a well centered mounting of the plant tubes.
In connection with the invention, however, it has been rea-lized that the centering problem may be solved in an eco-no~ically acceptable manner, viz. by a concurrent solving of the other of the said two problems, the smudged sales unit.
~ccording to this aspect of the invention it is prescribed that ~or the growing of the plant in the truck garden a special production pot be used, which is made from a cheap plastic material and is shaped with a bottom portion com-prising an upstanding shell portion having a centrally disposed depression operable to receive the lower, pointed end of the plant tube so as to facilitate a centered posi-tioning thereof; hereby a correct and rapid mounting of the 6 132~7~ ~
plant tubes will be greatly facilitated, but it is also achieved that the said smudging problem can be overcome in that the very cheap production pot, when ready for sale, is placed in a new conventional sales pot, whereby the sales unit will appear as a clean pot without the production pot having to be cleaned at all.
Thus, the use of the particular, cheap production pot will solve two relevant problems, whereby it is advantageously applicable.
It would of course be possible to make use of but a single pot, i.e. a combined production and sales pot provided with the said bottom arrangement for a centering reception of the plant tube, but even though the relevant plant pots are sold in millions such special sales pots would still amount to a relatively minor product, which cannot possibly be produced in any profitable manner by each and all pot manufacturers.
However, the said special production pot may be manufactured in large numbers and in but a few different sizes by one or a few specialized entities such that these few types or sizes of production pots may fit into several, more e~pen-sive sales pots originating from different sales pot manu-facturers. The special production pots may thus still be produced as very cheap units, made e.g. from reuse plastic by means of simple die casting tools that are not worked for producing any attractive surface of the pot members.
The sales pots, in their turn, may remain unchanged, as standard products showing an attractive outer surface.
The said special production pot as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and designated 2~ is of a normal pot shape except that its bottom portion is shaped with an upstanding shell portion 26 provided with a conical central depression 28, the lower pointed end of which may be cut away as shown at 30. The pot ~ 3 ~
is die cast from a cheap reuse plastic by means of cheap shaping tools, which by way of example, may provide the pot with an outside appearance that would be quite unaccept-able for a sales pot. As mentioned, however, the pot 24 is S intended for use as a production pot onl~.
It will be appreciated that the depression 28 makes it easy for the operator to place the plant tube 6 in a correctly centered position in the pot, as shown in Fig. 6. The depres-sion accommodates the lower end portion of the structure lO
such that the bottom edge 12 of the plant tube will still be raised well above the top of the upstanding pot portion 26 in order to provide for clearance for the plant roots to grow out into the substrate of the pot. The plant can be grown in this pot in the truck garden, and it is unimportant that the production pot is hereby smudged by the watering and handling of the pot.
When the plant has grown to be ready for sale the entire unit shown in Fig. 6 is placed in a sales pot 32 as shown in Fig. 7. The sales pot ma~ be an existing standard product that is used also for many other types of plants without the use of a plant tube 6, whereby, due to very large pro-duction figures, also these pots may be produced reasonably cheap, with an appearance which is acceptable for sales purposes, e.g. with a smooth and dull sur~ace. The combined ~S unit may thus be delivered in a sales pot 32, which is not smudged during the growing of the plant, i.e. the unit can be delivered without any attempt at cleaning it.
The production pot 24 is preferably shaped with an upper, outstanding collar 25, and it may be shaped such that it will fit reasonably or sufficiently accurately in several different makes of sales pots 32. Normally these pots have an upper collar or shoulder 34, on which the production pot 8 1321~
collar 25 may hang, whereby it is unimportant whether or not the production pot will reach down to the bottom of the sales pot. Also, the inner collar 25 may center the production pot 24 in the sales pot 32 reasonably accurately, also when the pot 24 is rested primarily by standing on the bottom of the pot 32; it should not, however, ex-tend beyond the top of the outer pot 32. In practice, therefore, but a few different sizes of the production pots 2 may be used with a wide variety of commercial sales pots 32.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawing, already because the lower end of the plant tubes 6 may be shaped otherwise, e.g. for cooperation with an upwardly pointed structure 26 at the bottom of the pro-duction pot. Also, the plant tube 6 may be made as an inte-gral part of the production pot; the plant tube should havea nice looking appearance, but even if it is made from reuse plastic it may be provided with an attractive surface, e.g.
by cork dust or small cork pieces secured by glueing.
~lso, it will be within the scope of the invention to pro-~0 duce the special production pot in a quality rendering it usable directly as a sales pot, although it may then have to be cleaned before delivery.
In practice the tube is mounted and filled partially with a growth medium, and the plant is supplied to this medium as a sprout or a seed. The roots, of course, grow downwardly and may graduall~ project through the lower end of the tube and into the surrounding growth medium of the pot.
Thus, the lower end portion of the tube should be provided with holes located somewhat spaced above the bottom of the pot. It is customary that this is achieved by sha~ing the tube such that its lower end portion, in which side holes are provided, is narrowing conically downwardly to form a pointed end portion, whereby the tube is esay to stick down into the earth filled pot.
Such tubes are used in large numbers and should of course be produced in a cheap manner, preferably by die casting of a cheap plastic material. The provision of the said holes in the conical end portion may cause some ~roubles with respect to the formation of thin material fins pxojecting inwardly from the hole edges towards the centre of the respective holes, and seen in the a~ial direction of the tube such fin portions will gxeatly reduce the available penetration area of the roots.
Already the holes themselves do not provide for any large penetration area, since the area of the remaining wall of the conical tube end portion is o~ about the same ~21 7~ 0 size as the total area of the holes.
The invention provides a plant tube which has an advantageous shape and is easy to produce.
According to the invention the tube has a generally non-narrowing shape adjacent its lower end and is provided with one or more downwardly projecting protrusions of a-thin-walled planar or part-cylindrical shape. In this context the term "thin-walled" will re~er to a wall thickness of the same magnitude as the wall thickness of the tube itself. In this manner the tube may show a wide aperture at the lower end thereo~, such that the roots may seek downwardly practically without any obstruction.
In one aspect, the invention provides a method of preparing plant pots, which are to be delivered for sale from a gardening enterprise as sales pots filled with a growth substrate with an upstanding plant tube in which a plant is growing being inserted into the substrate from above, the plant roots having access to ~he pot substrate through one or more holès at the lower end of the plant tube, the method be`ing characterized ,by the use of a plant tube having an inwardly tapering lower end portion, the holes for providing~
root acceæs to the substrate being spaced above the lowermost .
13217~1 0 end of said plant tube, and in the substrate and the lower end of the plant tube being received in a plant pot having at its bottom portion an upstanding guiding portion, in which there is provided a tapered depression corresponding to the tapered end of the plant tube, this depression being used for guidingly receiving the lower end of the plant tube, the plant tube when mounted in position in said depression having the or each root access hole located at least partially above the uppermost edge of said upstanding guiding portion.
In preferred embodiments of this aspect, the invention provides:
The above method whereby the guiding portion is provided as a separate unit shaped as an inner pot member operable to hold the growth substrate inside said plant pot; and whereby the inner pot member is used for the initlal growing of the plant, and is placed in said plant pot which acts as an outer sales pot prior to delivery from the gardening enterprise.
A plant pot system for use in the above method, comprising a plant pot provided with said upstanding guiding portion at its bottom portion and a plant tube with an inwardly tapered lower end and one or more holes allowing access for the plant roots to the~substrate provided at its lower end.
- 2a -:
~32:~71~
The above plant pot system, in which tha upstanding guiding portion is a shell body comprising a frustro-conical portion upstanding from a bottom shell portion and continuing at its top in a shell portion forming said depression.
The above plant pot systems, in which the upstanding bottom portion is formed integrally with the bottom of the plant pot.
The above plant pot systems, in which the upstanding bottom portion is provided as a separate insert member shaped as a plant pot and dimensioned for mounting in an exterior conventional sales plant pot.
In the following the invention is described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a plant pot fitted with a tube according to the invention, ~`'`.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the tube ltself, Fig. 3 is an end view of the tube, seen from the top thereof, - 2b -~ ~ .~ {
~ .
` ` ` , ' ' ' .
~32:1~1 0 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tube, Fig. 5 is a perspactive view, partly in section, of a special production pot for use with the plant tube, Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the production pot and the plant tube in joined condition, and Fig. 7 is a lateral, partly sectional view of a pot and tube assembly with a plant ready for sale.
- 2C~
"` .', ~.
3 132 ~
The plant pot of Fig. 2 is provided with a growth medium 4, and in the middle thereof is planted a tube member 6 having an upper tube portion 8 and a lower pointed portion 10 projecting downwardly from the lower edge 12 of the tube portion 8. The tube member 6 as prefilled with a growth medium is stuck into the medium 4 until the lower end of the pointed por~ion hits the bottom of the pot, whereby the tube member is known to assume a correct height position, when it is otherwise adapted to the size of the pot.
The growth medium inside the tube 8 holds a sprout or a seed of the relevant type, and after a while the pot with the developed plant 14 is ready for delivery from the green-house or truck garden. The roots of the plant have grown down through the lower tube end 12 and into the medium 4.
The tube member 6 as shown in Figs. 2-4 has a top portion 16 of enlarged diameter, whereby it is able to be suspended between two opposed carrier rods or edges, shown at 18 in dotted lines in Fig. 2, for the purpose of being filled with its growth medium prior to its mounting in the plant pot. The pointed portion 10 is constituted by a cross plate structure comprising four radial wing plates 20, which are each secured to the lower edge 12 of the tube portion 8, at respective areas 22.
The wing plates 20 will contribute to stabilize the tube ~5 member 6 in the plant pot, and with their pointed shape they will facilitate the sticking down of the tube member into the pot.
It will be appreciated that the lower end of the tube por-tion 8, as most clearly shown by Fig. 3, will show a wide total light, the presence of the wing plates 20 giving rise to but a small area reduction, whereb~ the roots are free 4 :13~L7~ ~
to grow straight downwardly out of the tube.
The illustrated tube member is easy to produce by die casting from some cheap thermoplastic material.
T}le wing plates 20 should not necessarily be downwardly pointed, and there may be more or less than jus-t four of the radial plates. The "open" lower portion 10 should not even necessarily be constituted by "radial plates", as these plates may be substituted e.g. by downwardly projecting, mutually spaced axial legs or other prolongations of the wall material of the tube portion 8, whereby the bottom hole of the tube will be left entirely open, though with some restriction in the growing path of the roots outwardly from the area underneath the tube portion 8. For simplicity such legs may be axial prolongations of the tube 8, i.e.
having a part-cylindrical cross section.
On the other hand, the illustrated preferred shaping prin-ciple with four - or three or five - radial wings 20 meeting along a centrally disposed axial line area is very advan-tageous both for a good stability of the structure 10 and ~0 for an easy integrated production of the structures 8 and 10, without the lower end of the tube 8 being widely closed by the structure 10 or by casting fins.
The plant tube 6, as shown in Fig. 1, will be usable merely by insertion in the substrate of an ordinary plant pot 2, ~5 but in a preferred embodiment of the invention the plant tube is used in a system camprising a special pot, as illu-strated in Figs. 5-7.
According to customary practice the plant tubes are filled entirely or partially with a substrate, in which the plant is sowed or planted, and the tubes are thcn mounted in sub-: :: :
.
~3~ ~ 7lL~
strate filled pots, in which they are laterally supportedby the substrate. The pots thereafter constitute production units, the plants of which are grown in the truck graden into a condition ready for sale, whereafter the said pro-duction units are used directly as sales units.
There are two problems connected herewith, viz. partly that the sales unit will almost inevitably be smudged by rests of li~uid manure from the prehistory of the sales unit as a production unit, and partly that for the truck garden personnel it may be difficult to mount the plant tubes in the pots in reasonably well centered positions therein, as the units are produced or prepared in large numbers and require a rapid handling with respect to the mounting of the plant tubes. It would of course be possible to make use of centering templates or other guiding means for achieving a well centered mounting of the plant tubes in ordinary pots, but such auxiliaries would enevitably involve additional costs without solving problems other than the problem of a well centered mounting of the plant tubes.
In connection with the invention, however, it has been rea-lized that the centering problem may be solved in an eco-no~ically acceptable manner, viz. by a concurrent solving of the other of the said two problems, the smudged sales unit.
~ccording to this aspect of the invention it is prescribed that ~or the growing of the plant in the truck garden a special production pot be used, which is made from a cheap plastic material and is shaped with a bottom portion com-prising an upstanding shell portion having a centrally disposed depression operable to receive the lower, pointed end of the plant tube so as to facilitate a centered posi-tioning thereof; hereby a correct and rapid mounting of the 6 132~7~ ~
plant tubes will be greatly facilitated, but it is also achieved that the said smudging problem can be overcome in that the very cheap production pot, when ready for sale, is placed in a new conventional sales pot, whereby the sales unit will appear as a clean pot without the production pot having to be cleaned at all.
Thus, the use of the particular, cheap production pot will solve two relevant problems, whereby it is advantageously applicable.
It would of course be possible to make use of but a single pot, i.e. a combined production and sales pot provided with the said bottom arrangement for a centering reception of the plant tube, but even though the relevant plant pots are sold in millions such special sales pots would still amount to a relatively minor product, which cannot possibly be produced in any profitable manner by each and all pot manufacturers.
However, the said special production pot may be manufactured in large numbers and in but a few different sizes by one or a few specialized entities such that these few types or sizes of production pots may fit into several, more e~pen-sive sales pots originating from different sales pot manu-facturers. The special production pots may thus still be produced as very cheap units, made e.g. from reuse plastic by means of simple die casting tools that are not worked for producing any attractive surface of the pot members.
The sales pots, in their turn, may remain unchanged, as standard products showing an attractive outer surface.
The said special production pot as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and designated 2~ is of a normal pot shape except that its bottom portion is shaped with an upstanding shell portion 26 provided with a conical central depression 28, the lower pointed end of which may be cut away as shown at 30. The pot ~ 3 ~
is die cast from a cheap reuse plastic by means of cheap shaping tools, which by way of example, may provide the pot with an outside appearance that would be quite unaccept-able for a sales pot. As mentioned, however, the pot 24 is S intended for use as a production pot onl~.
It will be appreciated that the depression 28 makes it easy for the operator to place the plant tube 6 in a correctly centered position in the pot, as shown in Fig. 6. The depres-sion accommodates the lower end portion of the structure lO
such that the bottom edge 12 of the plant tube will still be raised well above the top of the upstanding pot portion 26 in order to provide for clearance for the plant roots to grow out into the substrate of the pot. The plant can be grown in this pot in the truck garden, and it is unimportant that the production pot is hereby smudged by the watering and handling of the pot.
When the plant has grown to be ready for sale the entire unit shown in Fig. 6 is placed in a sales pot 32 as shown in Fig. 7. The sales pot ma~ be an existing standard product that is used also for many other types of plants without the use of a plant tube 6, whereby, due to very large pro-duction figures, also these pots may be produced reasonably cheap, with an appearance which is acceptable for sales purposes, e.g. with a smooth and dull sur~ace. The combined ~S unit may thus be delivered in a sales pot 32, which is not smudged during the growing of the plant, i.e. the unit can be delivered without any attempt at cleaning it.
The production pot 24 is preferably shaped with an upper, outstanding collar 25, and it may be shaped such that it will fit reasonably or sufficiently accurately in several different makes of sales pots 32. Normally these pots have an upper collar or shoulder 34, on which the production pot 8 1321~
collar 25 may hang, whereby it is unimportant whether or not the production pot will reach down to the bottom of the sales pot. Also, the inner collar 25 may center the production pot 24 in the sales pot 32 reasonably accurately, also when the pot 24 is rested primarily by standing on the bottom of the pot 32; it should not, however, ex-tend beyond the top of the outer pot 32. In practice, therefore, but a few different sizes of the production pots 2 may be used with a wide variety of commercial sales pots 32.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawing, already because the lower end of the plant tubes 6 may be shaped otherwise, e.g. for cooperation with an upwardly pointed structure 26 at the bottom of the pro-duction pot. Also, the plant tube 6 may be made as an inte-gral part of the production pot; the plant tube should havea nice looking appearance, but even if it is made from reuse plastic it may be provided with an attractive surface, e.g.
by cork dust or small cork pieces secured by glueing.
~lso, it will be within the scope of the invention to pro-~0 duce the special production pot in a quality rendering it usable directly as a sales pot, although it may then have to be cleaned before delivery.
Claims (7)
1. A method of preparing plant pots, which are to be delivered for sale from a gardening enterprise as sales pots filled with a growth substrate with an upstanding plant tube in which a plant is growing being inserted into the substrate from above, the plant roots having access to the pot substrate through one or more holes at the lower end of the plant tube, the method being characterized by the use of a plant tube having an inwardly tapering lower end portion, the holes for providing root access to the substrate being spaced above the lowermost end of said plant tube, and in the substrate and the lower end of the plant tube being received in a plant pot having at its bottom portion an upstanding guiding portion, in which there is provided a tapered depression corresponding to the tapered end of the plant tube, this depression being used for guidingly receiving the lower end of the plant tube, the plant tube when mounted in position in said depression having the or each root access hole located at least partially above the uppermost edge of said upstanding guiding portion.
2. A method according to claim 1, whereby the guiding portion is provided as a separate unit shaped as an inner pot member operable to hold the growth substrate inside said plant pot.
3. A method according to claim 2 whereby the inner pot member is used for the initial growing of the plant, and is placed in said plant pot which acts as an outer sales pot prior to delivery from the gardening enterprise.
4. A plant pot system for use in the method according to claim 1, comprising a plant pot provided with said upstanding guiding portion at its bottom portion and a plant tube with an inwardly tapered lower end and one or more holes allowing access for the plant roots to the substrate provided at its lower end.
5. A plant pot system according to claim 4, in which the upstanding guiding portion is a shell body comprising a frustro-conical portion upstanding from a bottom shell portion and continuing at its top in a shell portion forming said depression.
6. A plant pot system according to claim 4 or 5, in which the upstanding bottom portion is formed integrally with the bottom of the plant pot.
7. A plant pot system according to claim 4 or 5, in which the upstanding bottom portion is provided as a separate insert member shaped as a plant pot and dimensioned for mounting in an exterior conventional sales plant pot.
Priority Applications (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8721077A GB2194722B (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1987-09-08 | A plant tube |
| DE3730666A DE3730666C2 (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1987-09-09 | Plant tube |
| NL8702158A NL193130C (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1987-09-10 | Plant tube. |
| CA000581781A CA1321710C (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1988-10-31 | Plant tube for use in flower pots |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DK431186A DK156603C (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1986-09-10 | PLANTS FOR SUPPORTING ENTRY OF PLANTS IN PLANTS |
| CA000581781A CA1321710C (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1988-10-31 | Plant tube for use in flower pots |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1321710C true CA1321710C (en) | 1993-08-31 |
Family
ID=25672212
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000581781A Expired - Fee Related CA1321710C (en) | 1986-09-10 | 1988-10-31 | Plant tube for use in flower pots |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1321710C (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3730666C2 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2194722B (en) |
| NL (1) | NL193130C (en) |
Families Citing this family (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DK165352C (en) * | 1988-07-15 | 1994-04-18 | Timmermann Fixup As | PROCEDURE AND POTS FOR PROVIDING PREPARABLE POTS PLANTS GROWING FROM A PLANTS REQUIRED FROM THE POTS |
| US5031356A (en) * | 1988-09-29 | 1991-07-16 | Poul Timmermann | Plant tube for use in flower pots |
| GB2228658A (en) * | 1989-03-03 | 1990-09-05 | Yoshihide Ito | Method and apparatus for planting seedlings |
| US5180239A (en) * | 1991-02-07 | 1993-01-19 | Carl Bistrack | Adaptable pressure writing instrument holder |
| DE4215401C1 (en) * | 1992-02-21 | 1993-07-22 | Paul 8000 Muenchen De Kirchner | |
| DE29617312U1 (en) * | 1996-10-04 | 1997-05-15 | Blome, Bernhard, 27239 Twistringen | Planting system |
| NL1016413C2 (en) * | 2000-10-16 | 2002-04-18 | Wilhelmus Arnoldus Mar Janssen | Plant guide column, as well as an assembly comprising a number of such columns, and a canopy. |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR1338991A (en) * | 1962-08-20 | 1963-10-04 | Advanced plastic stakes for horticulturalists | |
| US3188771A (en) * | 1963-09-09 | 1965-06-15 | Ruth J Ballai | Plant support |
| FR2378441A1 (en) * | 1976-12-22 | 1978-08-25 | Coquerel Michel | Tree protection sleeve assembly - has split resilient body with lugs and locating socket at opposite ends |
| DE2744143C2 (en) * | 1977-09-30 | 1983-06-09 | Bruno 8039 Puchheim Gruber | Use of a container for growing and cultivating plants |
| US4347686A (en) * | 1978-06-28 | 1982-09-07 | Canadian Patents & Development Limited | Fin-stabilized container of foldable sheet material |
| SE434903B (en) * | 1980-10-30 | 1984-08-27 | I H A B International Horto Co | FOR PLANTING INTENDED DEVICE |
| US4336669A (en) * | 1980-12-23 | 1982-06-29 | Gordon George N | Planting container |
-
1987
- 1987-09-08 GB GB8721077A patent/GB2194722B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1987-09-09 DE DE3730666A patent/DE3730666C2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1987-09-10 NL NL8702158A patent/NL193130C/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
1988
- 1988-10-31 CA CA000581781A patent/CA1321710C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| NL8702158A (en) | 1988-04-05 |
| NL193130C (en) | 1998-12-04 |
| GB8721077D0 (en) | 1987-10-14 |
| GB2194722B (en) | 1990-08-01 |
| DE3730666C2 (en) | 1998-04-16 |
| NL193130B (en) | 1998-08-03 |
| GB2194722A (en) | 1988-03-16 |
| DE3730666A1 (en) | 1988-03-17 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKLA | Lapsed |