JP2002017159A - Culture medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a culture medium having solved the problem that, in spite of designing artificial medium produced by mixing peat moss with an aqueous solution of a surfactant and bentonite and subjecting the thus mixed resultant to compression molding, peat moss and bentonite are formed into a dumpling- like mass due to an aqueous solution of surfactant and resulting in having done no proper mixing treatment because the peat moss, surfactant and bentonite are mixed together at the same time; as a result, high-quality compression- molded media have not been obtained. SOLUTION: This culture medium is obtained by mixing vegetable fibers with a surfactant, drying the thus obtained mixture so as to have a proper water content followed by mixing the resultant with a clayey material, and subjecting the resultant mixture to a compression molding; wherein the mixture having a particle diameter of <=1 mm after mixed is subjected to the compression molding.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium to be loaded into a seedling tray or a box-shaped seedling container having a large number of seedling pots connected thereto when sowing and raising seedlings of vegetables, paddy rice, flowers and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional example of this type, a seedling tray is loaded with an artificial medium obtained by compression-molding peat moss or the like, and then irrigated and restored, sowing vegetables, rice, flowers and the like. There is something to raise seedlings.

However, peat moss has a water repellency in a dry state and poor water absorption even when irrigated, requiring a very long time to restore, and has a low restoring ability to restore an appropriate shape. However, the workability was very poor. Therefore, an artificial culture medium in which peat moss was mixed with an aqueous solution of a surfactant and bentonite and compression-molded was considered, but since peat moss, surfactant and bentonite were all mixed simultaneously, peat moss and bentonite were mixed. And become a dumpling in the aqueous solution of the surfactant,
An appropriate mixing process could not be performed, and a high-quality compression-molded medium could not be obtained.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the conventional problems, the present invention is directed to a method according to the present invention, wherein a plant fiber and a surfactant are mixed and dried to an appropriate water content. The medium according to claim 2 is obtained by compressing and molding a medium having a particle size of 1 mm or less after mixing with a clay material. The invention according to claim 3 is the medium according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the plant fiber is peat moss. The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claims 1 to 4, wherein the clayey material is bentonite or vermiculite. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the medium according to claim 5 is the medium according to claims 1 to 4.
The medium described is a medium that is compression-molded into a tablet, a column, a sphere, or a plate.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a vegetable fiber and a surfactant are mixed and dried to an appropriate water content, and then a clay material is mixed to form a compression-molded medium. Therefore, by mixing the surfactant in a large amount by diluting the surfactant with water, the plant fiber can be appropriately and uniformly surface-treated. Then, after drying after the surface activation treatment, the dried very fine powdery clayey material is mixed. It is possible to avoid such a situation that proper mixing can be performed. Therefore, a uniform mixture without uneven mixing can be obtained, and a medium having good water absorption and excellent restoring performance can be obtained while maintaining the characteristics of the lightweight and water-retaining plant fiber.
Therefore, this medium is immediately restored to a desired shape by adding water at the time of use, so that the seeding operation can be performed efficiently, and the seedling raising operation is easy because of its light weight and good water retention.

Further, it can be stored and transported in a dry state with a light weight and a small volume, which is very industrially excellent. According to the invention of claim 2, the medium having a particle diameter of 1 mm or less after compression is formed as the culture medium of claim 1, so that the compression molding operation after mixing is facilitated.
The restoration speed at the time of adding water to the compression molding medium obtained by compression molding to restore the medium is fast, and the restored shape is very stable. Needless to say, the strength of the medium after the restoration is high, and the handling of the seedlings and the seedlings after the seedlings are facilitated.

[0007] The invention according to claim 3 is the medium according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the plant fiber is peat moss, and is excellent in water retention of peat moss which is widely sold worldwide and is easily available and inexpensive. It is possible to obtain a compression-molding medium having both advantages of lightness and light weight. The invention according to claim 4 is the medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the clayey material is bentonite or vermiculite. Therefore, a large amount of inexpensive bentonite or vermiculite is combined with excellent water absorption. A compact compression-molded medium can be obtained. Of course, the caking power of bentonite or vermiculite does not serve as a binder for connecting peat moss grains, and has the effect of maintaining the shape of the culture medium.

The invention according to claim 5 is the medium according to claims 1 to 4, which is obtained by compression-molding the medium according to claims 1 to 4 into a tablet, a column, a sphere, or a flat plate. In addition to the function and effect, it can be stored and transported in a light-weight and small-volume dry state, which is very industrially excellent. In addition, the seeding operation can be performed more efficiently by adopting a shape that matches the shape of the seedling raising container.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A case of sowing and raising a lettuce according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. The medium shown in FIG. 1 is a compression molded medium (compression molded medium) 1
In one embodiment, it is formed into a tablet (tablet or low columnar) shape. Examples of the material containing plant fibers that are used as the material of the compression molding medium 1 include peat moss and palm fruit fibers (compressed and cut fibers of coconut pulp), sawdust, bark (bark), bark compost, and the like. Can be used. In particular, peat moss formed by depositing sphagnum moss is most preferable. In addition, a material in which peat moss and coconut fruit fibers are mixed can also be used.

When peat moss is dried to a water content of about 30% or less, the water repellency becomes remarkable. Therefore, when peat moss is used as a material for compression molding, if it is dry, when it is expanded with water at the time of use after compression molding, the water is less likely to be absorbed and handling becomes inconvenient. Therefore, before compression molding, peat moss is mixed with bentonite or montmorillonite or immersed in an aqueous solution to adhere fine particles of bentonite or montmorillonite to the surface of the peat moss fiber, and then dried and compression-molded. Even if the dried peat moss is dry, it easily absorbs water, and the above problem is solved. Also, bentonite or montmorillonite is a kind of clay component that can be extracted from natural products. However, if a chemical substance is used, surfactants such as alkylene oxide-based and ester-based nonionic surfactants are repelled. It can be used as a water inhibitor. The peat moss is treated with a surfactant to prevent water repellency, and furthermore, fine particles of bentonite or montmorillonite are adhered to the fiber surface of the peat moss, and then dried and compression-molded. Even when it is dry, it becomes easier to absorb water.

In addition, peat moss generally has a pH of 3.5 to 3.5.
Since the pH is as low as 5.5, the pH is adjusted with slaked lime, quicklime, formic lime, calcium carbonate, or the like. It should be noted that magnesite lime is preferred in terms of ease of handling and effects. By the way, the bentonite or montmorillonite also serves as a binder which acts as a binder when compression-molding peat moss, and enhances the binding effect at the time of molding. Sodium alginate or the like can also be used as another binder.

Further, in order to increase the expansion ratio when the compression-molded culture medium 1 expands with water, a commercially available superabsorbent polymer or the like is mixed with a material containing plant fibers such as peat moss. Can also. Here, as an example of the above-mentioned compression molding medium, an example in which peat moss is used as a material containing plant fibers will be described in detail.

First, commercially available peat moss (water content is usually 4
A mass of 0 to 50% (often 45% on average) is crushed (crushed and crushed), and a 3 mm mesh (length and width is 3 mm)
And a sieve having a particle size of 3 mm or less is carefully selected. In addition, even if sieving with a 5 mm mesh (mesh of 5 mm in length and width) and carefully selecting those having a particle size of 5 mm or less, use of the completed compression-molded medium is not likely to cause uneven mixing during mixing in the subsequent process. Since there is no problem described above, it is sufficient that the fine selection is 5 mm mesh or less. However, when the particle size exceeds 5 mm, mixing unevenness occurs during mixing in the post-process, and the restoration performance when water is added to the completed compression-molding medium to restore it is poor (the restoration speed is slow and the restoration shape is stable. do not do).

Then, for 1 kg of the selected peat moss, 10-30 g of formic lime (Mg, Ca) is added (20 g is optimal for adjusting the pH of peat moss).
And 0.2 to 1 of a nonionic polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether as a surfactant in one liter of water.
0.7 to 4.2 g of nitrogen as a fertilizer and 0.8 to 4.
A mixture of 8 g · 0.6-3.6 g of potassium and a pesticide (appropriate amount of commercially available bactericide or insecticide) is mixed for 10 minutes. Then, the water repellency of peat moss is no longer a surfactant, and the water content of peat moss, formic lime, fertilizer and chemicals mixed is 50 to 60% (55% on average).
This gives a powdery mixture of

The powdery mixture is dried in a dryer to a water content of 1%.
After being dried to 5%, 100 to 400 g of bentonite (or vermiculite) is optimal (200 g is optimal, and if it is less than 200 g, the strength of the slightly completed compression-molding medium is weakened, but there is not much problem in use.
Further, the performance of the completed compression-molded medium is not much different from the case of 200 g even when 200 g or more is used). Then, since both are mixed in a dry state, they are mixed appropriately and uniformly, and a state is obtained in which fine particles of bentonite (or vermiculite) adhere to the surface of peat moss.

After that, the material is pulverized to a fine powder of 1 mm mesh (powder passing through a sieve of 1 mm in length and width) by a rolling roll or the like, and selected with a 1 mm mesh net to obtain a powdery medium. Then, this is compression molded. For the compression molding, a press machine is used to pack the powdered culture medium into the cylindrical hole of the lower mold 2 and the cylindrical protrusion of the upper mold 3 descends from above to perform compression molding (see FIG. 2). To obtain a compression molding medium 1.

The compression pressure at this time is a water content of 15%.
When compression is performed at a pressure of 150 kg / cm ² , good compression molding can be performed. Compression molding is performed by pulverizing the mixture to a fine powder of 1 mm mesh and then compression molding. This is because it is easy to put the mixture in a mold when molding with a press, and the compression molding obtained by compression molding is performed. When the medium 1 is restored by adding water, the restoration speed is fast and the restored shape is very stable. Needless to say, the strength of the medium after the restoration is high, and the handling of the seedlings and the seedlings after the seedlings are facilitated. The mixture was tested for 2
When compression molding was performed in a state of a mm mesh (particle diameter: 2 mm), both the restoration speed and the stability of the restored shape when water was added and restored after molding were inferior. The strength of the medium after the restoration was weak and fragile due to the large grains.

Further, the specific dimensions after compression molding are as follows. The size of the compression molding medium 1 is as follows: diameter D1 = 15 mm;
It is compression molded into a cylindrical shape with a height H1 = 15 mm. Next, the seedling raising tray 4 shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 is formed by using styrofoam as a material, and as shown in FIGS. Are provided in large numbers. And each seedling pot 5
Has an L-shaped groove 9.9 extending from the inner side surface 5a to the bottom surface 5b.
· 9 · 9 are formed at four places, the bottom of which is a drain hole for raising seedlings, a hole 6 for inserting a seedling push rod 7 or a finger etc. for pushing out seedlings after raising seedlings is opened. ing. In addition, each groove 9, 9, 9, 9 communicates from the upper part of the seedling raising pot 5 to this hole 6, and when raising seedlings,
Air can freely flow from the top of the seedling pot 5 to each groove 9.9.9.
9 and the hole 6 so as to flow to the lower part (of course, on the contrary, air can freely flow from the lower part of the seedling raising pot 5 to the upper part through the hole 6 and each groove 9/9/9/9). It has become). In addition, at the time of watering, water permeates into the culture medium in the seedling raising pot 5 from the upper surface and the grooves 9 to the side surfaces from the grooves 9.
Since the water is drained from the holes 9 and 9, the water is also prevented from excessively collecting and causing root rot.

In particular, the groove depth of each of the grooves 9 is formed so as to gradually increase from the groove depth A1 at the upper end to the groove depth A2 at the lower end. . In addition, the size of the contents of the seedling raising pot 5 is, specifically, a bottom diameter D3 = 18 mm, and a diameter D2 of the upper end opening D2 = 23 m.
m, depth H2 = 37 mm, groove depth A1 at the upper end = 3.5
mm, and the groove depth A2 at the lower end is 4.7 mm.

Next, the seeding operation using the seedling raising tray 4 and the compression molding medium 1 will be described. First, nursery tray 4
The compression molding medium 1 is placed in each seedling pot 5 (FIG. 8). Then, the compression-molding medium 1 placed in each of the seedling raising pots 5 is watered from above. Then, since the water repellency of peat moss, which is the main raw material, is no longer a surfactant, the compression molding medium 1 absorbs water in each of the seedling raising pots 5... And rapidly expands (the expansion of the compression molding medium 1 is When the test ends within 20 seconds), the expanded medium 1 ′ is almost completely filled in the seedling raising pots 5 (FIG. 9). This compression molding medium 1
When swelled with water, a small gap is left between itself and the inner surface of the seedling raising pot 5, and H3 = 1 to 2 mm from the upper end opening.
It is compression-molded so as to become a culture medium 1 'having such a size as to protrude. Note that the compression-molding medium 1 is a mixture of particles obtained by attaching and drying the bentonite fine particles to the surface of the peat moss fiber as described above, and crushing the particles to 1 mm or less. When including and restoring, quickly restore straight and neatly to the desired shape.

Then, when a well-known seeding hole forming roll 22 is rolled from above the filled medium 1 'to apply pressure (FIG. 10), the seeding hole forming projections 23 are positioned inside the medium 1'. To form a seeding hole 24 with a depth L = 5 mm, and the upper part of the culture medium 1 ′ is pressed by the cylindrical outer surface 25, and the seedling pot 5 of the culture medium 1 ′ is opened from the upper end by one to one.
The medium 1 ′ is compressed by an amount of 2 mm, and the medium 1 ′ is compressed.
Are filled in the seedling raising pot 5 (FIG. 11). At this time,
Even if there is some error in the expansion of the compression-molded medium 1 and there is some gap between the medium and the inner surface of the seedling pot 5, the medium is expanded by H3 higher than the appropriate medium height H2 of the seedling pot 5. After that, the medium is pressed to an appropriate medium height H2, so that the seedling raising pot 5 can be appropriately filled with the medium.

Thereafter, the seeding hole 24 is sown and the seeding hole 2 is sown.
Four parts are covered 26 with vermiculite or soil (FIG. 12). At that time, the seedling pots 5 are filled with an appropriate medium as described above. However, if the corners of the compression-molded medium 1 are lacking and the compressed medium is pressed after expansion, the appropriate medium is filled. Even when the seedling is not provided, the medium in the seedling raising pot 5 can be corrected to an appropriate amount with the cover soil 26 such as vermiculite or soil, so that individual seedlings grow unevenly or hinder the seedling raising. And good seedlings can be obtained, and high quality seedlings can be obtained.

Then, the seedling raising trays 4 which have been seeded as described above are arranged on a lattice-shaped table so as not to block the holes 6 at the bottom of each seedling raising pot 5, and air is passed through the grooves 9 and the holes 6. Seedlings are raised in a state where they can be freely distributed. The seedlings that have grown appropriately are transplanted to the cultivation field. At this time, the seedling pushing rods 7 are inserted into the holes 6 at the bottom of the seedling growing pots 5 or pushed up with fingers to be accommodated in the seedling growing pots 5. When the removed seedlings are pushed out, the seedlings can be easily taken out from the seedling raising pots 5 of the seedling raising tray 4 (FIG. 13). When vermiculite is used for the cover soil 26, seeds are easy to germinate because the specific gravity is light, the germination rate is improved, and seedling raising is easy because of good water retention.

The seedling raising pots 5 of the seedling raising tray 4 are provided with grooves 9. Since the medium 1 'does not enter the grooves 9 and fill the grooves when the medium 1' expands, the grooves 9 are formed.
… A space is formed inside. Therefore, at the time of raising seedlings, when the roots of the seedlings extend and try to extend from the medium into the grooves 9, the roots stop there due to the air pruning effect. Therefore, in addition to preventing the roots from becoming overly wound along the outer peripheral surface of the medium, the growth of the lateral roots in the medium becomes vigorous in the medium because the roots stop growing in the grooves 9. In addition, the survival of the seedlings when transplanted to the field is improved.
(If the roots are overgrown and become densely wound along the outer peripheral surface of the medium, after transplantation, new roots that are going to take root in the field are blocked by the roots that are excessively wound on the outer peripheral surface of the medium. There is a problem that the roots are difficult to elongate and take root on the soil outside of the seedlings.) Also, when performing the seedling raising using the seedling raising tray 4 formed with the seedling raising pots 5 having the above-mentioned effect on the seedling raising, Since the compression-molded medium 1 has a columnar shape adapted to the seedling raising pot 5, the medium does not block the grooves 9 when expanded with water. In particular, as described above, the compression-molded medium 1 is put into each seedling pot 5 in a posture where the compressed direction is the vertical direction, and compressed by adding water to the compression-molded medium 1 thus placed. When the molding medium 1 is expanded and filled in each seedling pot 5 and the medium is filled in the seedling pot 5, the compression-molded medium 1 does not expand significantly in the horizontal direction when it contains water, and does not expand and contract. Since the medium expands greatly in the direction, the medium can be easily filled in the seedling raising pot 5 so that the medium does not enter so as to fill the grooves 9 and a space is formed in the grooves 9. Therefore,
The seeding and the seedling raising can be easily performed in a state where the air pruning effect by the grooves 9 of the seedling raising pots 5 is sufficiently exerted.

Further, when small dirt, sand, pebbles and the like are clogged in the groove 9, the small dirt, sand, pebbles and the like are accumulated and filled in the groove 9 above the clogged portion every time irrigation is performed. Then, the air pruning effect cannot be obtained, and it is impossible to grow a good quality seedling. However, the groove depth of each groove 9, 9, 9, 9 is changed from the groove depth A1 at the upper end to the groove depth A2 at the lower end.
Are formed so as to become deeper one by one until reaching each groove 9.
The cross-sectional area of 9.9.9 is also formed so as to gradually increase from the opening area at the upper end to the opening area at the lower end, so that small garbage, sand, pebbles, and the like during the raising of seedlings are in the grooves 9. Even if it enters the groove 9 from the upper end, it is easily discharged from the lower end through the hole 6 without clogging the groove 9 (even if small dust, sand, pebbles, etc. enter the groove 9). , Especially during irrigation,
It is easily washed out with water. ), The grooves 9 are prevented from being buried, and seedlings can be easily grown in a state where the air pruning effect is sufficiently exhibited as described above.

It is to be noted that if the medium 1 obtained by compression-molding a material containing plant fibers is expanded by adding water after compression molding, the expansion in the direction substantially opposite to the compression direction during compression molding is large. Has characteristics. For example, when the compression-molding medium 1 in the form of a tablet shown in FIG. 1 is compressed and molded from above and below using peat moss, the size at the time of compression molding is 15 mm in diameter × 15 mm in height. When expanded with water, the expansion in the direction opposite to the compression direction increases from 15 mm to a height of 38 to 39 mm and becomes about 2.5 times the expansion, and the expansion in the direction intersecting the compression direction has a diameter of 1 mm.
The diameter increased from 5 mm to 18 to 19 mm, and the expansion was about 1.2 times.

On the other hand, the seedling raising tray 4 is formed of styrene foam and is covered with the culture medium 1 'by the inner surface 5a and the bottom surface 5b of each seedling raising pot 5, so that the heat insulating property is good and the roots The temperature is prevented from rising more than necessary, and even if the seedlings are raised in the hot summer season, the seedlings can be prevented from growing too long, and healthy seedlings can be grown. Each seedling in each seedling pot 5 can be grown uniformly.

As described above, the compression-molded medium 1 greatly expands substantially in the direction opposite to the compression direction when containing water, but the medium 1 'after the expansion expands in the expansion direction (vertical direction). It has the property of being strong against shearing and weak against shearing in a direction (left-right direction) crossing the expansion direction.

Conventionally, when pulling the stem of a seedling in which no root winding has occurred due to the air pruning effect and pulling it upward, only the seedling is pulled out because the root is not entangled with the medium, and the seedling together with the medium is removed. It is difficult to pull out the seedlings, and even if you push the stick into the hole at the bottom of the seedling raising pot and try to take out the seedling with the medium, the stick pushed into the bottom breaks the soil because the roots are not entangled with the medium, and the seedling with the medium Is difficult to push up.

Then, the compression-molded medium 1 is put into each seedling pot 5 with the compressed direction up and down, and the compression-molded medium 1 is impregnated with water.
Are expanded and filled in each seedling raising pot 5, and then seeded on the expanded medium 1 ′ to raise seedlings. Since the medium will be resistant to vertical shear,
The seedlings can be pulled out by holding the stems of the seedlings and pulled out. Also, when pushing out the seedlings contained in the seedling raising pots 5 by inserting the seedling pushing rods 7 into the holes 6 at the bottom of the seedling raising pots 5. Even when the medium is not easily disintegrated and the roots of the seedlings are not very extended, the seedlings can be more easily taken out from the seedling raising pots 5. Therefore, highly adaptable seedlings (seedlings that can be easily pulled out by a device that pulls out from the inside of each seedling pot 5... Or a device that pushes out from below) can be grown.

Since the seedling-growing pot 5 is circular in plan view, the shape of the above-mentioned compression-molding medium 1 is also circular. If you also use a square thing,
When the compression-molded medium placed in the seedling raising pot is expanded by adding water, the medium is properly filled in the seedling raising pot. Therefore, if the shape in plan view of the compression-molded medium matches the shape in plan view of the seedling pot of the seedling raising tray in which the medium is filled, the medium can be filled in the seedling pot well.

Further, the material of the seedling raising tray is not limited to foamed styrene, but may be formed of any material such as a hard synthetic resin or a soft synthetic resin that can be bent freely. Further, in the above example, the example of the seedling pots 5 arranged in a large number on the seedling tray 4 is shown. However, the present invention may be applied to a single seedling container such as a flowerpot, a plastic pot (pot), a rice seedling box, or the like. The good thing goes without saying.

Finally, if polyvinyl alcohol or polyacrylate or water glass (sodium silicate) is mixed as a binder before compression molding, the block strength can be maintained even after restoration, and the culture medium 1 is hardly disintegrated. Handling of seedlings becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a compression molding medium 1.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of compression molding of the compression molding medium 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a seedling raising tray 4.

4 is a plan view of the seedling raising tray 4. FIG.

5 is a bottom view of the seedling raising tray 4. FIG.

6 is a plan view of a seedling raising pot 5 of the seedling raising tray 4. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line S1-S1 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view showing an example of loading the compression-molding medium 1 into the seedling raising pot 5.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view showing a state where the compression-molding medium 1 loaded in the seedling raising pot 5 contains water and has completed expansion.

FIG. 10 is a side view for explaining the operation of the seeding hole forming roll 22.

FIG. 11 is a sectional side view showing a state where a seeding hole 24 is formed.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view showing a state in which seeds are seeded in seeding holes 24 and soil is covered.

FIG. 13 is a sectional side view showing a state where a seedling has grown.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Compression molding medium 4 Seedling tray 5 Seedling pot 30 Seedling box

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A medium characterized in that a plant fiber and a surfactant are mixed and dried to an appropriate water content, and then a clay material is mixed and compression-molded. 2. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the medium having a particle size of 1 mm or less after mixing is compression-molded. 3. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the plant fiber is peat moss. 4. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the clay material is bentonite or vermiculite. 5. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the medium is in the form of a tablet.
A culture medium characterized by being formed into a columnar, spherical, or flat plate by compression.