Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05F—ORGANIC FERTILISERS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C05B, C05C, e.g. FERTILISERS FROM WASTE OR REFUSE
  • C05F11/00—Other organic fertilisers
• • 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
  • A01G24/00—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor
  • A01G24/60—Apparatus for preparing growth substrates or culture media
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05F—ORGANIC FERTILISERS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C05B, C05C, e.g. FERTILISERS FROM WASTE OR REFUSE
  • C05F17/00—Preparation of fertilisers characterised by biological or biochemical treatment steps, e.g. composting or fermentation
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05F—ORGANIC FERTILISERS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C05B, C05C, e.g. FERTILISERS FROM WASTE OR REFUSE
  • C05F3/00—Fertilisers from human or animal excrements, e.g. manure
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C05—FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF
  • C05G—MIXTURES OF FERTILISERS COVERED INDIVIDUALLY BY DIFFERENT SUBCLASSES OF CLASS C05; MIXTURES OF ONE OR MORE FERTILISERS WITH MATERIALS NOT HAVING A SPECIFIC FERTILISING ACTIVITY, e.g. PESTICIDES, SOIL-CONDITIONERS, WETTING AGENTS; FERTILISERS CHARACTERISED BY THEIR FORM
  • C05G3/00—Mixtures of one or more fertilisers with additives not having a specially fertilising activity
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
  • C12P5/00—Preparation of hydrocarbons or halogenated hydrocarbons
  • C12P5/02—Preparation of hydrocarbons or halogenated hydrocarbons acyclic
  • C12P5/023—Methane
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
  • C12P7/00—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds
  • C12P7/40—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a carboxyl group including Peroxycarboxylic acids
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02A40/00—Adaptation technologies in agriculture, forestry, livestock or agroalimentary production
  • Y02A40/10—Adaptation technologies in agriculture, forestry, livestock or agroalimentary production in agriculture
  • Y02A40/20—Fertilizers of biological origin, e.g. guano or fertilizers made from animal corpses
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E50/00—Technologies for the production of fuel of non-fossil origin
  • Y02E50/30—Fuel from waste, e.g. synthetic alcohol or diesel
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
  • Y02P20/00—Technologies relating to chemical industry
  • Y02P20/141—Feedstock
  • Y02P20/145—Feedstock the feedstock being materials of biological origin
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
  • Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
  • Y02W30/40—Bio-organic fraction processing; Production of fertilisers from the organic fraction of waste or refuse

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a system and method to create biologically active nutrient dense horticultural media with predetermined nutrient compositions and nutrient and water supply characteristics. More particularly it explains how to combine various substances and also process them to create the desired soil or horticulture media characteristics
• a key aspect of growing plants and achieving desired growing characteristics and features of the plant is the characteristics of the soil it is grown in and the nutrients, water and biological environment that the growing plant experiences.
• Many plants are grown in artificial soils and horticultural practices involve cultivation in soilless media.
• Such media are referred to with terms such as “horticultural media", “potting soil”, compost, soil or soilless media.
• Media may be derived from organic materials such as peat, coconut coir, wood products, compost, manures and inorganic materials such as sand, perlite, and vermiculite [0004]
• the invention provides methods, devices and systems to create biologically active, nutrient dense horticultural media with pre-determined nutrient release of water supply characteristics and microbial populations.
• One aspect of the invention involves using containers with air permeable surfaces to facilitate the flow of oxygen into the soil media during biological activation of horticultural medium.
• the oxygen supply can be actively augmented by using a system to actively inject oxygen into the horticultural medium or to mix the materials to expose surfaces and biological populations to oxygen.
• the containers may be processed either as batches or as a continuous flow system.
• Another aspect of the invention involves the use of diverse microbial populations stabilized as a living culture to activate the horticultural or soil media.
• Another aspect involves the addition of materials to the horticulture or soil media that influence viability of microbial populations during periods of water stress.
• Another aspect of the invention includes blending organic and inorganic nutrient sources in specific ratios into the horticultural or soil media to achieve desired nutrient supply characteristics.
• Other aspects of the invention involve the introduction of activated charcoal or biochar to influence the availability of nutrients.
• Another aspect of the invention involves the introduction of activated charcoal or biochar to influence microbial activity and populations.
• Another aspect of the invention involves manipulating the composition of the horticultural medium so as to affect the porosity of the medium and the water availability.
• a method for creating biologically active nutrient dense plant growth media consisting of the steps of: a) forming a mixable base media with a specified porosity; b) mixing into the base media nutrients; c) activating the base media and nutrients by introducing biological inoculants to form an active media; d) aging the active media in an oxygen rich environment to thereby maintain biological aerobic activity; and e) blending in additional ingredients after the aging process is completed to thereby create a plant growth media tailored to desired nutrient and water supply characteristics.
• the mixable base media comprises hydrating coir of at least one particle size to create a loose mixable base.
• step of forming the base further comprises varying a particle size of the mixable base media from less than 0.05 mm to more than 12.5 mm.
• step of forming the mixable base media includes selecting and mixing one or more materials from a group consisting of coconut coir, sphagnum moss, pine bark, rice hulls, wood chips, sawdust, molasses, corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, spent brewers grains, perilite, and, sand.
• the step of mixing into the base media nutrients comprises introducing nitrogen,
• the step of mixing in nutrients includes mixing in one or more of substances taken from a group consisting of animal and plant derive protein meals, mineral trace elements, azomite, greensand, soluble humic and fulvic acids, poultry litter , diatomaceous earth, epsom salt (Mg S04), gypsum (CaS0 4 ), humates, peanut meal, phosphate rock, soft rock phosphate, sodium nitrate, sulphate of potash, alfalfa meal, peanut meal, cottonseed meal, rye grass, neem meal, corn forage, green manures, clover, buckwheat, vetch, mustard, oil seed rape, kelp meal, feather meal, fish hydrolysate, blood meal, bone meal, bat and seabird guanos, langbenite, calcitic lime, dolomitic lime, ferrous sulfate
• the step of aging the active media in an oxygen rich environment using a passive method of aeration comprises a step of aging the active media in air permeable containers.
• the step of aging the active media in air permeable containers involves use of air permeable containers made of air permeable fabric that is open at the top.
• the step of aging the active media in an oxygen rich environment involves the step of relying on passive aerationwhen the temperature during the aging step remains in a range of between 70 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of 3 or more days before returning to ambient temperature.
• the step of aging in an oxygen rich environment involves the step of actively aerating the active media.
• the step of aging the active media in an oxygen rich environment involves the step of actively aerating when the temperature of the active media is 130 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of 3 days or more .
• the step of actively aerating uses a step selected from the group including the following: inserting air conduits into the base and blowing air into the active media, turning of the active media using an auger within a vessel, turning the active media in windrows using a commercial windrow machine, turning of the active media in piles using equipment such as a front end loader, and turning the active media using a rotary composter.
• the step of introducing an inoculant is selected from a group including one or more of the following to activate the system: Introducing worm castings, introducing a predetermined amount of base previously made with this method, or introducing a predetermined amount of soil or introducing a consortia of biology including, bacteria, fungal populations and beneficial organisms.
• the invention includes a step of monitoring the oxygen content of the aging active media and injecting additional oxygen if the level monitored falls below a threshold necessary to maintain an aerobic aging process.
• the step of forming a base media with a specified porosity includes forming a base media with a combination of water porosity and air porosity.
• the step of forming a base media with combination of water porosity and air porosity can include selecting it from a group consisting of a) 16% air porosity and 68% water porosity for a total of 84% porosity, b) 16% air porosity and 63% water porosity for a total of 79% porosity, and c) 31% air porosity and 58% water porosity for a total of 89% porosity.
• water porosity can vary from 10% to 50% and air porosity can vary from 10% to 50% and total porosity can vary from 10% to 90% depending on the combination of air and water porosity.
• the present invention also includes method for recharging used growth media for plant propagation includes the steps of: a) assessing the composition of used growth media for preselected physical, chemical and biological characteristics; b) composting the used growth media to obtain a temperature of at least 140° or more for a period of days to sterilize the growth media; c) adding base media as needed or desired; e) blending preselected nutrients into the growth media; f) activating the growth media by introducing at least one biological inoculant; g) aging the activated growth media in an oxygen rich environment to assure a purely aerobic aging process; and h) blending into the growth media additional nutrients and ingredients to thereby create a plant growth media tailored with desired nutrient and water supply characteristics.
• the growth media being recharged is selected from a group consisting of horticulture media and soil media.
• Fig. 1 is a flow chart that provides an overview of the steps of one method of the present invention used to create the desired soil or horticulture media;
• FIG. 2 is perspective view of a bin based aging system that uses a porous bag held by a frame to age the horticulture media;
• FIG. 3 is a side view of the aging bin depicted in Fig. 2 with an aeration conduit inserted into the horticulture media;
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another system used to age the horticulture media that uses an auger designed to move about a bin and thus agitate and thereby aerate the soil or horticulture media during the aging process;
• FIG. 5 depicts the auger/bin based system of Fig. 4 with the bin filled with horticulture media
• Fig. 6 is a flow chart of a second process for recharging used soil or horticulture media for reuse as a growth medium
• FIG. 7 a rotary composter that might be used with the present invention.
• Fig. 8 a windrow system with a commercial windrow machine that would turn the active media to aerate it.
• the flow chart in Fig. 1 provides an overview of one process of the present invention.
• coconut coir of specified particle size or sizes is hydrated and/or processed to create a base media for the horticulture media.
• coconut coir is the preferred base material other similar materials can be used to from the base media.
• the next step 23 involves mixing into the base various nutrients, such as fertilizer and other nutrients that will promote biological activity.
• activation of the base with nutrients to create the active media begins with introduction of biological inoculants, such as worm castings or microbial cultures, the inoculant starts to react with the nutrients in the media and the oxygen rich environment provided through either passive or active means.
• the aging process starts and an oxygen rich environment is maintained through either passive or active means to promote the aerobic aging or curing of the base.
• additional ingredients are added to the base to produce a final horticulture growth media that has the desired water retention, nutrient and nutrient release characteristics.
• the order of the steps of this invention can be varied as needed or desired. The order in Fig. 1 is thus not necessary to practice the invention and is only presented in the order shown for the purpose of clearness and ease of discussing the method of the invention.
• soil media and horticulture media have slightly different meaning they have been used interchangeably herein since the methods as described herein can be used to create both as a final product. At times they will be referred to collectively as growth media or plant growth media herein.
• the preferred horticulture base material is coconut coir.
• alternative materials could include any material or combination of materials with an appropriate carbon content and air space.
• Such other alternative horticulture base media include sphagnum moss, peat moss, pine bark, rice hulls, wood chips, corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, spent brewers grains, perlite, and sand. The last two perlite and sand would need a carbon source.
• the coconut coir or other alternatives would naturally be shredded, ground or pulverized to create a flowable dry media of a specific particle size or sizes.
• the porosity of the particular base media used is significant for at least one of the systems used during the aging process.
• Coir is a natural fiber obtained from the husks of coconuts, the fibrous material located between the hard internal shell and the outer surface of the coconut.
• coconut coir has a neural pH, has excellent water holding capacity, air space and is disease resistant.
• the present invention uses coir which has been milled to varying sizes depending on the application.
• Commercially available coir comes in compressed blocks in a powdered from where the coconut fibers have been ground down to a specific particle size.
• one of the innovative features of the process described herein is that it maintains the biological aging or curing step as a wholly aerobic process. Assuring a sufficient oxygen supply to the media during the aging process is of paramount importance.
• One of the factors that can effect providing sufficient oxygen supply is the porosity of the media. Porosity of the horticulture growth media is also of concern with respect to the use it will be put to by the end use customer. Thus, at the beginning the porosity selected for the media will be driven by the needs of the aging or curing process, but upon completion will be adjusted for the needs of the customer that will be using the horticulture growth media.
• the coir used is ground down into a specific particle size and then compressed into a dry block.
• Blocks of coir come dry compressed blocks with particle sizes that range from greater than 12.5mm to less than .5mm.
• the processing step commences with the selection of coir of one or more particle sizes.
• the coir can be processed either in a dry or wet state. Processing the dry compressed coir blocks in a dry state involves breaking apart the compressed blocks by mechanical means.
• An alternative is to hydrate the coir blocks as part of the processing. This may be done either by a static or dynamic means, an example of a static method is laying the blocks on a flat surface and then spraying water on them to hydrate them. As the blocks absorb water they break down.
• An alternative dynamic method of processing involves breaking the blocks up in a large mixer such as a horizontal forage mixer or cement mixer and adding water to achieve the desired level of hydration to create a dry bulk flowable mixture that is easy to work with and facilitates the mixing in of additional ingredients as desired and needed.
• porosity of the horticulture media is also of concern with respect to the process of the invention described herein as well as the needs of the end consumer of the product.
• the porosity of the base media has two aspects water porosity and air porosity.
• the following table sets forth examples of porosity used in batches of base media made for the process of this invention:
• the next step 23, Fig 1 involves blending into the base media formed in step 21 various nutrients.
• the nutrients can vary significantly given the desired use of the horticulture or soil media being created. Typically, it would start with a base of fertilizer consisting of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK).
• NPK nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium
• the formula for the combination for these three ingredients is given as ratio such as 4-2-3, 0-1 1-7, 2-4-4, etc.
• the numbers as is common knowledge in the industry indicate the proportionate amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer.
• the possible sources of nutrients in organic or inorganic forms and combinations of amounts of each of the ingredients in the NPK can vary greatly depending on the intended use of the horticulture media. The possible variations are too numerous to recite, but the uses of the possible different variations would be understandable to those skilled in the art.
• Secondary micronutrients that might be added include: calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulphur (S).
• Additional micronutrients that could be added include: copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), boron (B), and of possible use here are silicon (Si), cobalt (Co), and vanadium (V) plus rare mineral catalysts.
• diatomaceous earth diatomaceous earth
• feather meal gypsum
• humate poultry litter
• peanut meal peanut meal
• phosphate rock sulfate of potash.
• additional nutrients can also include: Azomite, bone meal, Soluble Humic and Fulvic acids, Poultry litter , Diatomaceous earth, epsom salt (Mg S04), gypsum (CaS0 4 ), humates, peanut meal, phosphate rock, soluble Sulphate of Potash, alfalfa meal, peanut meal, cottonseed meal, kelp meal, feather meal and dolomitic lime.
• Carbon sources may also be added in addition to that already in the base media.
• Such carbon sources can include but are not limited to the following: rice hulls, wood chips (various species of trees, brush and shrubs can provide the source), sawdust, coconut coir, molasses, corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, spent brewers grains, glycerol.
• Biochar differs from most of the ingredients listed above.
• Biochar is a solid generally of at least 60% carbon material created by heating organic matter in the absence, or reduced supply of oxygen.
• the biomass sources for making biochar include such organic materials as animal manure, animal remains or bones, crop residue, root mass, natural vegetation and bio-solids, which are then subjected to a pyrolysis or gasification process.
• While the carbon in biochar is stable and can endure in soil for thousands of years it can enhance soil fertility, improve soil water use, retain organic and inorganic nutrients and increase soil water retention and resistance of a growing plant to water stress.. Since biochar achieves the above but retains its structure it remains in the soil or horticulture media after use. d. Activating the Base Media with Nutrients
• the base is biologically activated by the addition of a biological inoculant or innoculants.
• a biological inoculant or innoculants is earth worm castings. Earth worm castings add beneficial fungi, bacteria and other microbes to the base media. The nature of the castings may also be influenced by the organic and inorganic materials fed to the worms that produce the castings and through inoculation with microbial innoculants.
• biologically activated horticultural media containing a diverse microbial population may be used as an inoculant to introduce biological active agents such as fungi, bacteria and other organisms.
• One source of such a horticulture media is media produced by the invention process described herein. Alternatively a soil or combination of soil types could be selected for use.
• the biological activity of the bacteria, fungi and other microbes produce heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium (NH 4 ) among other products as they grow. Available ammonium may be further converted into nitrates (N0 3 ) through the process of nitrification. Additionally, various fungi and other so called microbes grow in the media producing organic acids and metabolites that influence the physical, biological and chemical characteristics of media and also combine with the surfaces of biochar. These organic materials and their interactions contribute to and determine nutrient supply.
• Composting focuses on managing the air/water balance to maintaining high temperatures (135°-160° Fahrenheit / 50° - 70° Celsius) over a sufficient time anywhere from 3 days to 15 days, primarily to ensure pathogens, weed seeds and other undesirable items are destroyed or neutralized are killed due to the high temperatures.
• the high temperatures indicate a high degree of biological activity.
• Control of pathogens and weed seeds is not the primary focus of the activation process. In the present invention all of the ingredients used are controlled and do not have pathogens, weed seeds or other undesirable items. Additionally, the objective of the activation and aging stages is to ensure that an adequate microbial population and the desired diversity in this population is established and stabilized in the horticultural media or soil media and to ensure the desired nutrient supply characteristics and performance.
• the objective then entails creating a stable living soil or horticulture media wherein the nutrients will be broken down and made available over a period of time to vegetation planted in the media.
• the microbes, bacteria and fungi start to grow and multiply on the available carbon in the raw materials. As they begin multiply rapidly they use nutrients that are available to them. These nutrients may be immediately available in mineral form or released from the breakdown of organic materials. Given the abundance of this biological activity the temperature of the media rapidly rises indicating the tremendous biological activity taking place. The rising temperature indicates that the available oxygen is being used up.
• Sufficient supply of oxygen to maintain an aerobic process may be achieved in various ways. Passive supply of a sufficient air flow generally can be used when the volume of the aging container is sufficiently small volume. The rate of diffusion can be influenced by manipulation of the total, air and water filled porosity of the materials. Alternatives to passive aeration involve the injection of air or mechanical turning or mixing of the material.
• the next step 27, Fig. 1, is the aging or curing process. As detailed above of particular importance in the aging process of the present invention is that it provide sufficient oxygen to the media as it ages.
• the aging process typically lasts for two or three weeks, but may take as little as 4 days. Additional curing may last for up to several months. During the aging process a key requirement as noted is that it proceeds as an aerobic process.
• the aging step must be maintained as an aerobic process.
• the intent is to create a living sustainable culture of aerobic bacteria, fungi and microbes.
• the process By maintaining the process as an aerobic one after the initial feeding frenzy the raw nutrients are used up and the temperature drops as the bacteria, fungi and microbes start feeding off of each other. After stabilization it reaches a steady state where bacteria, fungi and other microbes that are produced feed off of dead bacteria, fungi and other microbes as well as the added substrates in a cyclical process.
• the aging or curing process can be conducted in several different ways to achieve the desired outcome of the present invention.
• the soil media is placed in air permeable hoppers or bins which are approximately 1 meter square to provide a static aging process 49 Fig. 2.
• the bins are fabric bags that are air permeable with an open top to allow the free flow of air. This generally provides sufficient air flow to keep the soil media sufficiently oxygenated to maintain an aerobic process, when the temperatures remain the 90° to 120° range this is the case. If the temperatures increase to the 140° to 150° range active processes to inject an air flow can be used.
• FIG. 2 is a perspective view of such a bin where bag 51 is open at its top 53. Bag 51 is held up and in place by frame 55. Frame 55 is metal tubing with an upper support portion 57 consisting of two metal tubes welded together along their center portion and struts or legs 59 welded to the end of the upper portion tubes 57. Bag 51 attaches by straps 61 to the upper frame formed by the tubing of upper support section 57. The aging horticulture media 63 in bag 51 fills it almost to its top. Bag 51 is made of a porous woven plastic strand or nylon type material that allows air to freely pass through the side 65 of bag 51 but retains the media. A thermometer or temperature probe 67 can be inserted into media 63 to monitor temperature.
• FIG. 3 a side view of the aging bin of the present invention shows the end of an aeration conduit 69 inserted into media 63.
• Conduit 69 might have apertures 71 in that portion of it buried in media 63 to facilitate the injection of air into the soil or horticulture media 63.
• air can be injected into media 63 to assure the bacteria, fungi and microbes have an adequate oxygen supply to keep the process an aerobic one.
• Air can be injected into conduit 69 with a standard air blower unit or in any other number of standard ways.
• the soil media may be mixed within a vessel designed for either batch or continuous mixing using an auger or augers to mix the horticultural media to ensure that the materials are exposed to an adequate amount of oxygen and that moisture content is controlled.
• Fig. 4 depicts such an auger based system 81.
• the auger based system 81 consists of an aging vessel 83 which has sides 85A and 85B and ends 86A and 86B, a bottom 87 and an open top 89.
• Auger 91 attaches to bar 93 with motor 95 connects to the top of the auger.
• Bar 93 at each end 97A and 97B rests on rails 99A and 99B respectively.
• Bar 93 can move in direction 101A and 101B between ends 86A and 86B along rails 99A and 99B.
• auger 91 can move along bar 93 in direction 103A and 103B between ends 97A and 97B of bar 93. Referring to Fig.
• vessel 83 is now filled with soil or horticulture media 105 into which nutrients and biological inoculants 108 have been added.
• the system 81 which is controlled by an appropriately programmed computer or controller, not shown, moves auger 91 around the entire area of vessel 83 as auger 91 churns up media 105. Churning auger 91 moves at a pace such that soil or horticulture media 105 is adequately aerated to maintain the aging process as an aerobic one.
• rotary composting or processing equipment 107 may be used to ensure that the growth media is exposed to adequate oxygen and that moisture content is controlled.
• rotary composter 107 is driven by a motor which turns drum 1 1 1 , which is a hollow cylinder.
• the growth media to be processed is loaded through chute 109.
• the rotary processing equipment includes a temperature sensor; air is introduced through the opening into the rotating drum 111. The rate of rotation of the drum and amount of air vented into the drum during operation would be a factor of the aeration of the growth media and temperature necessary to achieve the purely aerobic process and results discussed above to create the growth media of the present invention.
• materials could be processed as windrows 1 15 Fig. 8 and turned by windrow turning equipment 1 17 or other equipment such as a standard front end loader not shown.
• windrow turning equipment 1 17 As can be seen in Fig. 8 as windrow turner 1 17 moves down windrow 1 15, agitates and mixes the growth media in the portion of the row 1 15A and redeposits it in reformed the windrow 1 15B after having thoroughly mixed the growth media. The number of times this is done and the speed with which this is done is a factor of the aeration and temperature of the growth media necessary to achieve the purely aerobic process and results discussed above to create the growth media of the present invention. .
• any number of techniques can be used to measure oxygen levels in the aging media and assuring that sufficient oxygen is supplied to the aging media to assure it is an aerobic process. Monitoring temperature with probe 67 Fig. 2 is one possibility as discussed above. You can also measure the oxygen levels by directly measuring the oxygen contact with an appropriate sensor. You can measure methane concentrations with an appropriate sensor. The production of methane being an indicator that the process is going anaerobic. A less sensitive but possible measure would be ratios of ammoniacal and nitrate forms of nitrogen. Ammonium is a precursor of nitrate.
• Ammonium can be produced under anaerobic conditions, but nitrate cannot. This last measure can also be used as an index of the maturity of the aging process. f. Fine Tuning the Media
• This step appears at 29 Fig. 1 for convenience of illustration, but it can be done at any desired point during the process described above.
• lime might be added to the soil media to change its pH.
• Biochar may also be added as needed or desired.
• any of the nutrients listed or discussed above in section I. c. can be added to the soil or horticulture media to tailor the final soil or horticulture media to the intended use.
• mites are added to the soil media during or after the aging process to remove deleterious matter and keep the soil media in balance.
• Oribatid mite is a type of soil mite that is commonly found in wooded areas where it often assists in the breakdown of organic matter.
• the Hypoaspis mite is a small
• biological control can be used to control pests that may enter.
• fungus gnats are small flies known to infest horticultural media. Their larvae primarily feed on fungi and organic matter, but also chew roots and can be a problem in greenhouses, nurseries, potted plants and interior plantscapes.
• Biological control measures are effective to control fungus gnat populations.
• Nematodes such as Steinernema nematodes and Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti) used as a soil drench can all be used as natural predators of fungus gnat pupae.
• Trichoderma species such as T. harzianum, T. viride and T. hamatum can be added to the soil. Trichoderma are used to control fungal root diseases and their presence can be established in horticultural media.
• used soil or horticulture media is recharged and reformulated for use again.
• Used soil or horticulture media can provide a base for the creation of reusable soil or horticulture media using a modified version of the present invention.
• Fig. 6 provides a flow chart of the overall process used in the present invention for recharging used soil or horticulture media.
• the first step 31 is to assess the composition of the used soil or horticulture media, in another step 33.
• step 33 the soil or horticulture media is composted with the objective of obtaining a temperature during the composting process of at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit to kill unwanted plant life, weed seeds and pests and pathogens.
• the first step 31 is the determination of the composition of the subject used soil or horticulture media.
• the process of recharging the used soil and its recharging is also dependent on what the desired use for the used soil is.
• the physical, biological and chemical characteristics of the used soil or horticultural media can be determined. There are many ways to assess the physical, biological and chemical characteristics of soil or horticulture media. Too many to itemize here.
• Physical characteristics measured can include the bulk density of the soil or horticulture media (mass per unit volume). This can be measured using widely established procedures and compared to defined thresholds. An important physical criterion is total porosity of the horticultural media and the portion that will drain under gravity after the soil is saturated.
• Chemical characteristics are also measured by these include the soil pH and the nutrient supplying characteristic of the media.
• the challenge is to predict the potential of the horticultural or soil media to supply nutrients over time. This represents a challenge because standard measures such as the widely adapted saturated media extract procedure provides a point in time measurement of nutrients in soil solution.
• standard measures such as the widely adapted saturated media extract procedure provides a point in time measurement of nutrients in soil solution.
• a measure of the potential to release nutrients due to the mineralization (breakdown) of organic materials is required.
• samples of the media may be leached with pure water (prepared by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or similar process) or a dilute salt solution such as potassium chloride (KC1) or potassium sulphate (K 2 SO 4 ) to create a baseline, the material can then be incubated over a period of time (days to weeks) at a standard temperature and moisture content and the nutrients mineralized can be determined by measuring nutrients released in a subsequent leaching.
• nutrients released may be recovered using anion or cation exchange resins.
• the used soil is composted 33 to sterilize and purge it of pests, pathogens or disease in the soil.
• the composting is typically raises the temperature to at least 140° F or more. Any number of different composting methods can be used.
• the important aspect of this step is that the temperature is equal to or exceeds that needed to kill pathogens, weed seeds and other undesirable items in the used soil or horticulture media. Use of the media to grow plants or for other purposes can easily have introduced undesirable items.
• this composting step the fact that it turns anaerobic is not of concern. Purging the used growth media of unwanted items such as pathogens, weed seeds and other undesirable items is important. Figs.
• an inoculant is added, as discussed above at 1.
• d. such as worm casting or horticulture or soil media prepared by the process outlined in Fig. 1. The intent being to initiate the aging or curing process.

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