GB2108813A

GB2108813A - Rooting aid

Info

Publication number: GB2108813A
Application number: GB08228129A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Terence Cust; Allan Ball
Original assignee: TANCO ENGINEERING Ltd
Current assignee: TANCO ENGINEERING Ltd
Priority date: 1981-10-03
Filing date: 1982-10-01
Publication date: 1983-05-25

Abstract

Apparatus for use in air layering plants comprises first and second cup- like members 1 suitable for holding rooting medium and being adapted for rim-to-rim engagement with one another so as to be able to retain a ball of rooting medium within them about a stem, the members being provided with notches 3 where they engage to accommodate the stem, and means for retaining the members in engagement. A method of rooting plants by air- layering is also claimed, and it is stated that the apparatus may be used to render cables more visible. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Rooting aid The invention relates to a method for assisting in the rooting of trees, shrubs and the like by the technique of "air layering", and apparatus for carrying out the method and for other useful purposes.

Whilst the primary purpose of the apparatus is to facilitate the rooting of trees, it may also be used for improving the visualisation of power and telephone cables.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a device for holding a quantity of rooting medium about the stem of a tree, shrub or the like comprising a cup-like member for holding rooting medium, a further member for releasable engagement with the cup-like member about substantially the whole of the rim thereof so as to be able to retain the rooting medium within said cup-like member, the device being provided with notches where the members engage to accommodate the stem, and means for retaining the members in engagement.

Preferably the further member is also cup-like.

The notches are preferably diametrically opposed to one another and may be formed in the rim of one or each member. The device may be provided with a funnel-like protrusion radially outwardly from each of the notches. The retaining means may be formed integrally with the members.

The cups may be at least substantially identical and one may be stacked inside the other when not in use.

The rim of at least the first named cup-like member may be provided with a flange or lug whereby it may be secured in engagement with the further member, for example by bolt means.

Alternatively, the members may be provided with means whereby they may be hinged together at one side and clipped together at the diametrically opposite side.

The or each cup may be shaped internally to aid the retention of rooting compound therein.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of air layering a tree, shrub or the like plant having a stem, comprising the steps of filling a cup-like member with rooting medium, placing the member against the stem so that the stem is in contact with the medium, introducing a further member against the other side of the stem so that it is in releasable engagement with the cup-like member about substantially the whole of the rim thereof and retains the rooting medium within said cup-like member, one or both members being provided with notches where they engage to accommodate the stem, and retaining the members in engagement.

Preferably the further member is also cup-like and is filled with rooting medium and introduced against the stem so that the other side of the stem is also in contact with the medium.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 shows a perspective two flanged cups for bolting together to form a rooting aid; Fig. 2 shows in plan a substantially identical pair of cups hingedly connected; Fig. 3 shows in perspective a single cup-like member for hinging and clipping engagement with an identical member.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a further embodiment respectively in side and front elevations, and Fig. 6 shows in part section a modification applicable to the embodiments of either Figs.

1-3 or Figs. 45.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, each cuplike member is a hollow hemisphere 1 of plastics or other suitable moisture-impermeable material, suitable for holding a quantity of rooting compound. The rim 2 of each hemispherical cup is provided at diametrically opposite positions with a semi-circular notch 3 so that when the cups are brought together rim to rim with the notches in alignment, the cups provide a container for a ball of rooting compound and the notches together form holes to accommodate the stem of a tree or shrub passing through the middle of a ball of compound. Each cup-like member is also provided with wing-like flanges 4 which are perforated by holes 5 for the passage of securing bolts.

In use of the device as a rooting aid, the cups are filled with rooting compound such as sphagnum moss to which is added a hormone rooting powder and water. The filled cups are brough against the stem to be rooted from opposite sides so that their rims are in abutting engagement and the notches are in alignment with one another and with the stem. The cups are then secured together by the bolts so that the cups hold a ball of compound about the stem.

Fig. 2 shows an embodiment in which the two cup-like members 21 are hinged together at one edge 22 so that the device can be opened in order that each cup may be filled with rooting compound before the two parts are brought together rim to rim with the stem of a shrub lying across stem and the cups being held together by a bolt or clip or other suitable means engaging on lugs 24 located diametrically opposite hinge 25.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the rim 31 of the cup-like member 32 is provided with semicircular notches 33 at diametrically opposed positions, whilst midway between the notches at one side the rim has an upward projection 34 of rectangular shape whilst opposite the projection is a rectangular recess 35 of similar dimension. The lateral edges 36 of the projection are provided with studs 37 whilst the lateral edges 38 of the rectangular recess are provided with corresponding hollows 39. The arrangement is particularly advantageous in that the two cups are identical plastics mouldings so formed that they may be brought together, the projection of each fitting into the recess of the other.

The cups being formed of plastics or other resilient material, the studs and/or the edges of the recesses are capable of being deformed sufficiently to allow the projections to be fitted into the recesses and to recover their original shape and allow the studs to be accommodated in the hollows when so fitted. The respective members can be separated completely by a reversal of the process of assembly the penetration of the studs into the hollows providing clipping means, but alternatively they can be separated by a hinging action at either side, the penetration of the studs into the hollows providing effective pivot points. The alignment of the notches provides a hole for the passage of a stem transversely of the line between the projection and recess.

In the embodiments shown in Figures 4 and 5 a hinge 40 is formed from projections 43, 44 pivotally to link cups 41 at one side of the rim 42, whilst similar projections 43, 44 at the opposite side of the rim together constitute a releasable clip for holding the rims of the cups in abutting relationship. The projections 44 have cylindrical studs 45 extending laterally therefrom, the common axis of the cylinders lying in the plane of the rim 42. On each cup the projection 43 comprises two lugs 46 spaced apart by the width of the projection 44.

The lugs are formed with cut-outs 47 which are part circles having a diameter similar to the of the studs 45 and being centred in the plane of the rim 42. The cut-outs 47 open at edges 48 spaced from the plane of the rims 42 so that the openings 49 are less than the said diameter and consequently that the studs 45 can enter and be removed from the cut-outs 47 through the openings 49 only by distortion of the studs or lugs or both. The projections are formed integrally with the cups 41 from resilient plastics material and the size of the opening 49 relative to the diameter of the stud is chosen by reference to the resilience of the material according the desired force required to pass the studs through the opening.

The edges 48 are rounded at 50 to facilitate the passage of the lugs 43 of one cup over the outer periphery of the other cup when the rims of the respective cups are brought together.

Similarly, the projection 44 is rounded at 51 to facilitate the entry of the projection between the lugs 46.

It will be observed that the two cups are identical and thus they can be economically made from one mould. Moreover, the cups are capable of nesting within one another when not in use so as to conserve space.

In a modification of the above-described embodiments, illustrated in Fig. 6 which shows a cross-section of a cup-like member in the region of a notch 62, each cup 64 is integrally provided with a half-collar 60 upstanding from the edge 61 of the notch so that, when the two cups are brought with their respective rims meeting at interface plane 65, the half-collars also meet edge-to-edge and form a funnel converging on the notch 62. The funnel-forming half-collars are provided at both sides of the cups so that one of the funnels provides for the introduction of extra water into the rooting medium whilst the other allows for drainage of excess water is required.

In alternative embodiments of the invention, not shown, a deep notch in only one cup is substituted for the aligned notches in both cups at one or each of the opposed positions about the rim. The cups may be shaped other than hemispherically, for example they may be cones, cylinders or less than half of spheres. One of the cups may indeed be only very shallow or even be replaced by a flat or cylindrically flanged plate, though rooting aids so constructed will not hold a full ball of rooting compound and for this reason may not be as suitable for the stated purpose.

Whilst the device has been developed for use as a rooting aid, the cup-like members are therefore required to be suitable for holding a rooting medium against a tree stem, the device may also be used in other circumstances where a body is required to be fitted about a rod or equivalent elongate article of constant crosssection when it is impracticable to thread the rod or equivalent through the body. For example, it has been found that the device of the invention is useful as a means of visualising telephone or electric power cables around which it can be fitted as around the stem of a plant in its primary application. In this example whilst the cup may be suitable for holding rooting compound it may, in fact, hold nothing but air or may be filled by other material prior to being fitted round the cable.

Claims

1. A device for holding a quantity of rooting medium about the stem of a tree, shrub or the like comprising a cup-like member for holding rooting medium, a further member for releasable engagement with the cup-like member about substantially the whole of the rim thereof so as to be able to retain the rooting medium within said cup-like member, the device being provided with notches where the members engage to accommodate the stem, and means for retaining the members in engagement.

2. A device according to Claim 1 wherein the further member is also cup-like.

3. A device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the notches are diametrically opposed to one another.

4. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the notches are formed in the rim of each member.

5. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the device is provided with a funnel-like protrusion radially outwardly from each of the notches.

6. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the retaining means are formed integrally with the members.

7. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the cups are at least substantially identical.

8. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein each of the cups may be stacked inside the other when not in use.

9. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the rim of at least the first named cuplike member is provided with a flange or lug whereby it may be secured in engagement with the flange member.

10. A device according to any preceding Claim provided with means whereby the cups may be hinged together at one side and clipped together at the diametrically opposite side.

11. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the or each cup is shaped internally to aid the retention of rooting compound therein.

1 2. A method of air layering a tree, shrub or the like plant having a stem, comprising the steps of filling a cup-like member with rooting medium, placing the member against the stem so that the stem is in contact with the medium introducing a further member against the other side of the stem so that it is in releasable engagement with the cup-like member about substantially the whole of the rim thereof and retains the rooting medium within said cup-like member, one or both members being provided with notches where they engage to accommodate the stem, and retaining the members in engagement

13. A device suitable for holding a quantity of rooting medium about the stem of a tree, shrub or the like, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

13. A method according to Claim 12 wherein the further member is also cup-like and is filled with rooting medium and introduced against the stem so that the other side of the stem is also in contact with the medium.

12. A method of air layering a tree, shrub or the like plant having a stem, substantially as described.