GB2554408A

GB2554408A - Seed sowing system

Info

Publication number: GB2554408A
Application number: GB1616291.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dixon John
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-09-26
Filing date: 2016-09-26
Publication date: 2018-04-04
Also published as: GB201616291D0

Abstract

A plant growing system comprising a tray having a base portion, and an elongated former 10 having a continuous wall 12 which defines an aperture through the former, the former being releaseably engagable with the base portion of the tray, the walls of the former and the base portion of the tray define a growth medium receiving chamber having an open upper aperture for receiving said medium. The continuous wall of the former may comprise two side walls and two end walls which are parallel with each other. The growing system may also comprise a tray dimensioned to receive a plurality of formers within the tray and engage with the base portion to define a plurality of growth chambers, each able to receive a growing medium. The present invention further provides a method of preparing the plant growing system comprising the steps of; placing the former on a tray to define a growth chamber, placing growth medium in the chamber, and planting one or more seeds within the growth medium.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: Seed sowing system Abstract Title: Plant growing system (57) A plant growing system comprising a tray having a base portion, and an elongated former 10 having a continuous wall 12 which defines an aperture through the former, the former being releaseably engagable with the base portion of the tray, the walls of the former and the base portion of the tray define a growth medium receiving chamber having an open upper aperture for receiving said medium. The continuous wall of the former may comprise two side walls and two end walls which are parallel with each other. The growing system may also comprise a tray dimensioned to receive a plurality of formers within the tray and engage with the base portion to define a plurality of growth chambers, each able to receive a growing medium. The present invention further provides a method of preparing the plant growing system comprising the steps of; placing the former on a tray to define a growth chamber, placing growth medium in the chamber, and planting one or more seeds within the growth medium.

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FIG. 1

At least one drawing originally filed was informal and the print reproduced here is taken from a later filed formal copy.

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SEED SOWING SYSTEM

The present invention relates to a plant growing system and a method of preparation of such a system.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Most seeds require warmth and moisture to germinate and most domestic gardeners grow seedlings under cover, whether indoors or in a greenhouse or similar until the seedling is sufficiently hardy to be planted outside. This often involves the use of seed trays which typically take the form of a plastic or biodegradable tray with multiple small seed chambers. Growth medium such as potting mix is provided into the individual 10 seed chambers, the seed is planted within the growth medium and, after germination, the seedling grows, with each seedling’s roots extending through the growth medium in the respective chambers. Once sufficiently hardy, the seedling (with root-bound growth medium) can be removed from the seed tray and planted outside.

Removal of the seedlings from the seed tray can be tricky as the seedlings are fragile and the root-bound growth medium is often difficult to remove from each chamber in the seed tray. This can be facilitated by the provision of a small hole in the base of each chamber, to allow the insertion of a finger or pencil of the like to encourage the root bound growth medium to leave the chamber. Such a hole is also helpful for allowing water to exit the chamber in the event of overwatering. However, during the process of extracting the seedlings from the seed tray, it is not uncommon for one or more seedlings to become damaged. Further, due to the unwieldy nature of the seed trays, it can be difficult to manhandle them with one hand while trying to gently extract the seedlings with the other. Finally, once extracted, the multiple seedlings must then be individually planted out, with the correct space left between seedlings to allow them sufficient space to expand into during the growth phase. This can be a time-consuming exercise and risks the seedlings being planted with incorrect spacing between seedlings, or with seedlings being planted at different depths to one another. Keeping uniformity in, for example, flower beds or vegetable plots, can be difficult, with any inaccuracies potentially damaging the aesthetics of the resultant display or having detrimental effects of the eventual harvest, whether flowers or vegetables.

There is therefore a need for a plant growing system that overcomes the manipulation difficulties experienced with conventional seed trays, increased the ease of planting of the grown seedlings and assists with increasing the accuracy of seedling placement when planting out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to address one or more of the problems of the prior art.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides a plant growing system 10 comprising a tray having a base portion, and an elongate former having a continuous wall which defines an aperture through the former, the former being releasably engageable with the base portion of the tray, such that, when the former is received within the tray and engaged with the base portion thereof, the wall of the former and the base portion of the tray define a growth medium receiving chamber having an open upper aperture for receiving growth medium therethrough.

With this arrangement where the wall of the former and the base portion of the tray define a growth medium receiving chamber, once growth medium is provided into the chamber, it will remain within the chamber due to engagement of the former with the tray. Seeds can then be planted within the growth medium and cared for in a conventional manner.

The former and tray may comprise any suitable material known to the skilled person, including, but not limited to, plastic, wood and metal.

As the growth medium within the former forms a single mass within the chamber, an elongate chamber will allow multiple seeds to be planted within a single chamber i.e.

within a single growth medium mass. Thus, it is to be appreciated that multiple seeds may be planted in a single chamber such that they are spaced apart the same distance that subsequent seedlings would normally be spaced when being planted out.

Therefore, once the seeds have germinated and grown to an appropriate seedling size for planting out, they will already be the appropriate space apart within the chamber.

Thus, the former may be lifted from the tray, with the growth medium mass remaining within the walls of the chamber due to the seeding roots binding the growth medium into a solid mass coupled with frictional forces acting on the walls of the former. The site of planting is preferably already prepared by digging out a recess in the soil surface corresponding to the dimensions of the chamber and growth medium mass. The former may then be placed at the surface of the dug-out recess and the growth medium and seedlings removed from the former by applying force to the top of the growth medium mass while sliding the former upwards, such that the growth medium and seedlings are left behind in the recess and the former is moved away. Alternatively, or in addition, if using a former comprising a resilient material such as a plastic or the like, the sides of the former may be gently squeezed to separate the growth medium from the walls of the former to assist with removal of the growth medium and seedlings from the former. It is then just a simple task to bed the seedlings in by firming soil around the growth medium mass to firmly embed the mass within the prepared recess.

In one embodiment, the continuous wall of the former comprises two side walls and two end walls. For example, the two side walls may be parallel to one another and the two end walls may also be parallel to one another.

The provision of a regular shape for the former allows the use of a regular shaped tray to neatly receive the former therein. Further, a regular shaped former allows for more efficient sowing of seeds in a regular, spaced apart manner, ready for subsequent seedling planting out.

In a further embodiment, the tray is dimensioned to receive a plurality of formers therein, and wherein when the plurality of formers is received within the tray and engaged with the base portion thereof, the wall of the formers and the base portion of the tray define a plurality of growth medium receiving chambers having an open upper aperture for receiving growth medium therethrough.

When the tray can receive a plurality of formers, it allows more efficient seedling growth. Each former may contain the same seeds, or alternatively, different formers may contain different seeds to allow different lines of planting out of the subsequent seedlings. In addition, the different formers may be removed from the tray at different times, depending on when the seedlings in that former are ready for planting out, and the space left by the former refilled with another former (or the original former once the growth mass and seedlings have been removed) and that former filled with growth medium and fresh seeds sown in the new growth medium.

This is a significant difference from conventional seed trays, which typically comprise a single unit with multiple small single seed chambers, which are often disposable due to damage to the base of the seed trays when removing the seedlings. Thus, if seedlings grow at different speeds and require removal from the seed tray at different times, it would not be practical to refill the seed chambers (due to damage to the chamber bases) and thus once emptied, the chambers would continue to take up space even though no seeds are present in the chambers until such time as the whole seed tray has been emptied and the seed tray can be removed to allow another tray to take its place.

Whereas, in the present invention, the relevant former may be removed and replaced, without the need to wait until the seedlings in other formers are ready to be planted out. This is particularly useful where space is at a premium, which is often the case in potting sheds, greenhouses and the like.

A further aspect of the present invention provides a method of preparing a plant growing system, the method comprising the steps of:

a. Providing a plant growing system according to any preceding claim;

b. Placing the former in the tray and engaging it with the base portion of the tray such that the wall of the former and the base portion of the tray define a growth medium receiving chamber having an open upper aperture for receiving growth medium therethrough; and

c. Placing growth medium within the growth medium receiving chamber.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of planting one or more 5 seeds or seedlings within the growth medium receiving chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a former of a plant growing 10 system in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a tray of a plant growing system in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of several of the formers of figure 1 planted up with seedlings in place within the tray of figure 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows a plant growth system 1 comprising an elongate former 10 of a plant growing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Former 10 has a continuous wall 12 comprised of first and second side walls, 14, 14’ and first and second end walls 16, 16. Continuous wall 12 defines an open aperture 18 therethrough. In other words, former 10 has no base wall and thus continuous wall 12 comprises a ‘collar’ with an open aperture therethrough.

Figure 2 shows a tray 20 of a plant growing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Tray 20 comprises a substantially planar base 22, first and second side walls 24, 24’ and first and second end walls 26, 26’. Tray 20 is dimensioned to receive multiple formers 10 therein. Once former 10 is received within tray 20, first and second side walls 14, 14’ and first and second end walls 16, 16’ of former 10 make contact with base 22 of tray 20 to define therebetween a chamber 28 for receiving growth medium therein.

It is to be noted that, optionally, a waterproof sheet 34 may be placed within tray 20 prior to placing former 10 into tray 20 to both protect tray 20 and retain more moisture within the growth medium 30 subsequently placed within chamber 28. Thus, although the base 22 of tray 20 still defines part of chamber 28 when former 10 engages the base of tray 20, there will be a layer of sheeting 34 between former 10 and tray 20 preventing direct contact between the two, as shown in figure 3.

In use, one or more formers 10 are placed in tray 20 to define one or more chambers 28. Growth medium, such as potting mix or soil, is placed into chamber 28 such that the chamber is then filled with sufficient growth medium 30 to allow seeds to be planted into the growth medium 30. The growth medium 30 with planted seeds is then kept at appropriate light and temperature conditions and regularly watered to encourage the seeds to germinate and the seedlings 32 to grow. The contact between the walls 14, 14’, 16, 16’ of former 10 and base 22 of tray 20 prevents the growth medium 30 from egressing chamber 28.

The growth medium 30 may be watered either using a fine spray from above. Alternatively, or in addition, the growth medium 30 may be watered from below by simply adding water to the tray 20. The growth medium 30 may then directly absorb the water and the seedling roots, once developed, can take up water directly also.

It is to be appreciated that the former 10 may be filled with growth medium 30 then the tray 20 with filled formers 10 may then be moved to a second location where the seeds can be planted. This allows the time-consuming process of accurately planting the seeds at specific distances apart to be carried out at a more comfortable location, such as sitting at a table indoors, or the like. Whereas, the process of filling the formers 10 is typically carried out in a less comfortable environment such as outdoors or in a potting shed where the mess of manipulating growth medium has to be accommodated.

As the seeds germinate and the seedlings 32 grow, the roots of the seedlings 32 extend through the growth medium 30, binding the growth medium 30 into a bound mass of intertwined growth medium 30 and seedling roots.

Unlike when using conventional seed trays, removal of the seedlings from the plant growth system 1 of the present invention is very straightforward. When using conventional seed trays, each seedling is typically grown in its own distinct chamber. Each chamber has an integral base, sometimes provided with a small aperture in it to allow a user to poke an item, such as a stick or finger, through the hole to encourage the soil/seedling mass to exit from the chamber in an upward direction. This makes the seed tray unwieldy and manipulation of the seed tray to remove the seedlings in the required upward direction can cause damage to seedlings.

However, in the present invention, former 10 containing growth medium 30 and seedlings 32 is simply lifted out of tray 20 and moved to the location where the seedlings 32 are to be planted on. Former 10 is then placed at the site of planting and gentle pressure applied to the surface of the growth medium 30 to loosen the growth media from walls 14, 14’, 16, 16’ of former 10, to allow former 10 to be removed in an upward direction away from the seedlings 32, leaving the bound mass of intertwined growth medium 30 and seedling roots at the planting site, ready for bedding in at the new planting site, without any damage to the fragile seedlings.

It is to be appreciated that, if using a former comprising a resilient material such as a plastic or the like, the sides of the former may be gently squeezed to separate the growth medium from the walls of the former to assist with removal of the growth medium and seedlings from the former, either in addition to or as an alternative to the application of gentle force to the upper surface of growth medium 30 to loosen the growth media from walls 14, 14’, 16, 16’.

It is to be noted that, due to the elongate nature of former 10, multiple seedlings may be planted in a single former 10 spaced apart at a distance that correspond to the spacings at which subsequent seedlings would be planted out after removal from the former.

This way, the growth medium and seedling mass, when removed from the former, can be simply bedded in at the site of planting out. Planting in the way involves minimal disturbance to the new seedlings and therefore facilitates the best possible growing conditions for the planted out seedlings.

Although aspects of the invention have been described with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiment shown and that various changes and modifications may be effected without further inventive skill and effort, for example, the former 10 may differ in shape from the embodiment shown in the figures.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A plant growing system comprising:

a tray having a base portion, and an elongate former having a continuous wall which defines an aperture through the former, the former being releasably engageable with the base portion of the tray, such that, when the former is received within the tray and engaged with the base portion thereof, the wall of the former and the base portion of the tray define growth medium receiving chamber having an open upper aperture for receiving growth medium therethrough.

2. A plant growing system according to claim 1, wherein the continuous wall of the former comprises two side walls and two end walls.

3. A plant growing system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the two side walls are parallel to one another and the two end walls are parallel to one another.

4. A plant growing system according to any preceding claim, wherein the tray is dimensioned to receive a plurality of formers therein, and wherein when the plurality of formers is received within the try and engaged with the base portion thereof, the wall of the formers and the base portion of the tray define a plurality of growth medium receiving chambers having an open upper aperture for receiving growth medium therethrough.

5. A method of preparing a plant growing system, the method comprising the steps of:

a. Providing a plant growing system according to any preceding claim;

c. Placing growth medium within the growth medium receiving chamber.

6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of:

d. Planting one or more seeds or seedlings within the growth medium.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1616291.9 Examiner: Mr Gary Clements