JP2014093970A - Plant growing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plant growing device capable of adjusting the number of stems of a plant.SOLUTION: A plant growing device for growing a plant capable of sprouting a plurality of sprouts 101 from a single nutritional body 100 comprises: a site specifying part for specifying a site imparting at least one of water or nutrient solution of the nutritional body 100; supplying parts 1 to 3 for supplying the site specified by the site specifying part with at least one of water or nutrient solution; an adjusting part for adjusting the amount of at least one of water or nutrient solution supplied, by the supplying parts 1 to 3, to the site specified by the site specifying part; and a controlling part for controlling the site specifying part, the supplying parts, and the adjusting part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a plant growing apparatus.

  As a technique for growing plants, a nutrient solution cultivation apparatus and a nutrient solution cultivation method for root vegetables described in Patent Document 1 below are known.

  The nutrient solution cultivation apparatus described in Patent Document 1 arranges a nutrient solution at the bottom of the cultivation container, and arranges a culture medium in contact with the nutrient solution above the nutrient solution. In this state, seedlings are planted in a culture medium as a soaking tool, and the nutrient solution is circulated. Thereby, this nutrient solution cultivation apparatus is growing tuberous root between a culture medium and nutrient solution.

JP 2008-111752 A

  However, in the above-mentioned hydroponic cultivation apparatus, when growing potato as a plant, the stem grows from the surface in contact with the water immersion tool, but the stem does not grow from the other surface. Therefore, the number of stems cannot be adjusted.

  Then, this invention is proposed in view of the situation mentioned above, and it aims at providing the plant growing apparatus which can adjust the number of stems of a plant.

  The plant growing device according to the first aspect of the present invention is a plant growing device for growing a plant capable of germinating a plurality of buds from a single nutrient body, and at least one of water or nutrient solution among the nutrient bodies. A site specifying unit that specifies a site that provides the water, a supply unit that supplies at least one of moisture or nutrient solution to the site specified by the site specifying unit, and a supply unit that supplies the site specified by the site specifying unit An adjustment unit that adjusts the amount of at least one of moisture or nutrient solution, a control unit that controls the site specifying unit, the supply unit, and the adjustment unit.

  The plant growing device according to the second aspect of the present invention is the plant growing device according to the first aspect, wherein the part specifying unit is recognized by the sensor unit that recognizes the shape of the nutrient body and the sensor unit. A bud detection unit that detects the position of a bud of the nutrient based on the shape of the vegetative body, and at least one bud position among the bud positions detected by the bud detection unit Alternatively, the control unit is configured to supply at least one of water or nutrient solution to the position of the bud specified by the site specifying unit by the supply unit, and the adjustment unit supplies the at least one of the nutrient solution. The amount of supplying at least one of water or nutrient solution is adjusted to the position of the bud specified by the part specifying unit.

  A plant growing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the plant growing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the supply unit is a sheet-like water absorbing tool.

  The plant growing device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is the plant growing device according to the third aspect, wherein the sheet-shaped water absorbing tool is a hole or a cut portion through which a stem grown from the nutrient body penetrates. It is characterized by having.

  A plant growing device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the plant growing device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the supply unit is an infusion device capable of instilling at least one of moisture and nutrient solution. It is characterized by that.

  The plant growing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention is the plant growing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the supply unit can spray at least one of water or nutrient solution in the form of a mist. It is a spray part.

  The plant growing apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the plant growing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the supply unit does not supply at least one of water or nutrient solution. It is characterized by providing a covering portion for covering a nutrient.

  A plant growing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the plant growing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, and is provided between an illumination unit, the illumination unit, and the nutrient body. And a light-shielding portion having a hole portion through which a stem grown from the nutrient body penetrates.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a water | moisture content or nutrient solution can be supplied only to the desired position among nutrient bodies, Furthermore, the quantity of the moisture | moisture content or nutrient solution supplied to each position can be adjusted. Therefore, according to this invention, it can be made to grow so that only a specific shoot may become a stem among several shoots, and the number of stems of a plant can be adjusted.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the plant growing apparatus shown as embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the site | part specific part in the plant growing apparatus shown as embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the plant growing apparatus shown as embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the water absorbing sheet in the plant growing apparatus shown as embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the plant growing apparatus shown as embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the plant growing apparatus shown as embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  A plant growing apparatus shown as an embodiment of the present invention is configured as shown in FIG. 1, for example. This plant growing apparatus grows a plant that can germinate a plurality of buds 101 from a single nutrient body 100. An example of this plant is potato. In order to grow potatoes, the plant growing device supplies at least one of nutrient solution or moisture to the nutrient body 100 as seed pods. In addition, although the following embodiment mentions and demonstrates potato as a plant to grow, of course, it is not restricted to this.

  The plant growing apparatus includes a nutrient solution tank 1, nutrient solution supply paths 2a and 2b (hereinafter, simply referred to as “nutrient solution supply path 2”), and nutrient solution drip portions 3a and 3b (hereinafter collectively referred to as generic names). In this case, it is simply referred to as “nutrient drip section 3”). 1 shows two nutrient solution supply paths 2a and 2b and two nutrient solution drip portions 3a and 3b for one nutrient body 100, but more nutrient solution supply paths. 2 and nutrient solution drip section 3 may be provided.

  The nutrient solution tank 1 stores a nutrient solution to be supplied to the nutrient body 100. Although the plant growth apparatus demonstrates the example which supplies a nutrient solution to the nutrient body 100, what is necessary is just to give at least one of a water | moisture content or a nutrient solution. The nutrient solution stored in the nutrient solution tank 1 is supplied to the nutrient solution drip unit 3 via the nutrient solution supply path 2 by operating a pump or the like according to the control of the control unit 13 described later.

  The nutrient solution drip units 3a and 3b function as a supply unit that supplies at least one of water or nutrient solution to a site specified by a site specifying unit described later. The nutrient solution drip unit 3 can be configured by an infusion device capable of instilling at least one of water and nutrient solution. Specifically, the nutrient solution drip portions 3a and 3b drop drip-shaped nutrient solutions 30a and 30b (hereinafter simply referred to as “nutrient solution 30” when collectively referred to) from their tips. The nutrient solutions 30a and 30b are respectively dropped onto the shoots 101a and 101b (hereinafter simply referred to as “buds 101” when collectively referred to) on the nutrient body 100. The nutrient solution drip units 3a and 3b drop the nutrient solutions 30a and 30b onto the buds 101a and 101b, respectively, among the buds 101a, 101b and 101c germinated from the nutrient body 100. The shoots 101a and 101b are shoots that are to be grown to become stems. Therefore, the nutrient solution drip unit 3 has a configuration in which the nutrient solution 30 can be dropped only on the buds 101 to be grown among the plurality of buds 101. For this reason, the nutrient solution drip unit 3 has a configuration capable of changing the position where the nutrient solution 30 is dropped. Specifically, the nutrient solution drip unit 3 may be configured to manually change the dripping position of the nutrient solution 30. Alternatively, the nutrient solution drip unit 3 may be configured such that the dripping position of the nutrient solution 30 can be automatically changed by changing the position of the nutrient solution drip unit 3 using an actuator or the like.

  The plant growing device can adjust the amount of the nutrient solution 30 dropped from the nutrient solution drip unit 3 to the bud 101 by the control unit 13 described later (adjustment unit). The adjusting unit has a mechanism capable of adjusting the amount of the nutrient solution 30 supplied from the nutrient solution tank 1 to the nutrient solution drip unit 3 such as a valve structure controlled by the control unit 13. Under the control of the control unit 13, the plant growing device adjusts the amount of the nutrient solution 30 supplied to the bud 101 for each bud 101 to which the nutrient solution 30 is dropped by the nutrient solution drip unit 3.

  Moreover, this plant growth apparatus has a site | part specific part which specifies the site | part which provides at least one of a water | moisture content or a nutrient solution among the nutrient bodies 100. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the part specifying unit specifies the position of an arbitrary bud 101 among the buds 101 germinated from the nutrient body 100 as a part to which at least one of water and nutrient solution is applied.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the site specifying unit includes a sensor unit 11, a bud detection unit 12, and a control unit 13.

  The sensor unit 11 recognizes the shape of the nutrient body 100. The sensor unit 11 is configured by, for example, a CCD, a CMOS, an infrared sensor, or the like whose imaging range is around the nutrient body 100. The sensor unit 11 supplies an image captured by the camera to the bud detection unit 12.

  The sprout detection unit 12 detects the position of the sprout 101 in the nutrient body 100 based on the shape of the nutrient body 100 recognized by the sensor unit 11. The bud detection unit 12 is supplied with image data of the nutrient body 100 from the sensor unit 11. The bud detection unit 12 detects an image position corresponding to the bud 101 in the supplied image data. The bud detection unit 12 detects an image position corresponding to the bud 101 by performing an edge detection process on the image data, for example.

  The control part 13 specifies the position of at least one bud 101 among the positions of the bud 101 detected by the bud detection part 12 as a site | part which provides at least one of a water | moisture content or a nutrient solution. Thereby, the sensor part 11 and the bud detection part 12 function as a site | part specific part. Thereby, the control unit 13 specifies the position where the nutrient solution drip unit 3 drops the nutrient solution 30 from the image position corresponding to the bud 101 supplied from the bud detection unit 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, among the shoots 101a, 101b, and 101c, the shoots 101a and 101b to be grown as stems are specified.

The control unit 13 causes the nutrient solution supply path 2 and the nutrient solution drip unit 3 as the supply unit to supply at least one of water or nutrient solution to the specified position of the bud 101. Moreover, the control part 13 has a function which controls an adjustment part, and adjusts the quantity which supplies at least one of a water | moisture content or a nutrient solution to the position of the specified bud 101. FIG.
As described above, according to this plant growing device, the nutrient solution 30 can be dripped only at a desired position in the nutrient body 100, and the amount of the nutrient solution 30 dripped at each position can be adjusted. Therefore, according to this plant growing apparatus, it can be made to grow so that only specific bud 101 may become a stem among a plurality of buds 101, and the number of plant stalks can be adjusted.

  Moreover, according to this plant growing apparatus, since the quantity of the nutrient solution 30 can be adjusted, it can suppress that the moisture content becomes excessive and the nutrient body 100 rots. Thereby, the plant growing apparatus can control the number of the stems of the nutrient body 100 and the place where the stems grow by giving the nutrient solution 30 only to the buds 101 to be grown.

  By the way, in the cultivation of root vegetables, for example, in the cultivation of potatoes, the number and size of the harvested products vary depending on the number of stems coming from the nutrient body 100 as the seed potato. Regarding the control of the number of stems of the nutrient body 100, it is conceivable to carry out sprouting after bath light sprouting. However, it is difficult to accurately control the number of stems because the stems generally grow in the soil after bath light germination. In addition, potato stems can come from anywhere on the top, bottom, left or right of the seed potato, which affects the number of days until reaching the ground. Then, since the photosynthesis start timing of the leaves changes, the timing when the harvest is made also changes, and the yield is affected. However, according to the plant growing apparatus shown as this embodiment, the position where the nutrient solution 30 is dropped can be controlled to control the position of the bud 101, and as a result, the number of stems can be controlled. Therefore, according to the plant growing apparatus, it is possible to adjust the timing at which each bud 101 grows and the leaf starts photosynthesis, and the timing to become a harvested product. Moreover, according to this plant growing apparatus, the number and magnitude | sizes of a crop can also be adjusted.

  The plant growing apparatus described above may be configured as shown in FIG. 3, for example. This plant growing device uses a water absorbent sheet 21 as a sheet-like water absorbent as a supply unit and an adjustment unit. The end of the water absorbent sheet 21 is in contact with the nutrient solution 23 disposed on the bottom surface of the storage container (not shown). The water absorbing sheet 21 can be arranged at an arbitrary position on the nutrient body 100 placed on the rubber plate 24. The rubber plate 24 has a height that suppresses the nutrient body 100 from being immersed in the nutrient solution 23. With such a configuration, the water absorbent sheet 21 can suck up the nutrient solution 23 and supply the nutrient solution 23 to any position of the nutrient body 100. Moreover, the water absorption sheet 21 differs in the water absorption speed and the water retention rate of the nutrient solution 23 according to the specification. Therefore, the water absorbing sheet 21 can supply an arbitrary amount of nutrient solution 23 to an arbitrary position in the nutrient body 100.

  Such a plant growing device supplies the nutrient solution 23 sucked up by the sheet-like water absorbent sheet 21 to the buds 101 of the nutrient body 100 as seed potatoes. At this time, the plant growing device supplies a desired amount of nutrient solution 23 to the position specified by the above-described part specifying unit. The structure which supplies the nutrient solution 23 to the position of the specified nutrient body 100 may adjust the position where the water absorbing sheet 21 contacts the nutrient body 100, the size and shape of the water absorbing sheet 21. Moreover, the structure which supplies the nutrient solution 23 of a desired quantity to the nutrient body 100 may adjust the water absorption speed and the water retention rate of the water absorption sheet 21 in the specified position. As a result, the plant growing device can grow such that the root grows only from the bud 101 identified in the nutrient body 100 and the stem grows.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, the water absorbent sheet 21 may include a cut portion 21 a through which a stem grown from the nutrient body 100 passes. Further, the water absorbent sheet 21 may be provided with a hole through which the stem penetrates instead of the notch 21a. By providing the cut portion 21a or the hole portion, the water absorbing sheet 21 enables the buds 101 extending from the nutrient body 100 as the seed potato to extend upward from the cut portion 21a or the hole portion.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the plant growing apparatus may be provided with an impermeable sheet 22 as a covering portion that covers the nutrient body 100 so that the nutrient solution 23 is not supplied by the water absorbing sheet 21 as the supply portion. . For example, among the buds 101a, 101b, and 101c shown in FIG. 1, the bud 101c may be covered with the water-impermeable sheet 22 so as not to grow a stem from the bud 101c. Thereby, the plant growing apparatus can adjust the site | part with which a stalk extends among the nutrient bodies 100. FIG.

  Even in such a plant growing device, the nutrient solution 23 can be supplied only to a desired position in the nutrient body 100 as in the above-described plant growing device, and the amount of the nutrient solution 23 to be supplied to each position can be reduced. Can be adjusted. Therefore, according to this plant growing apparatus, it can be made to grow so that only specific bud 101 may become a stem among a plurality of buds 101, and the number of plant stalks can be adjusted.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the plant growing device described above may include a sprayer 41 (spraying unit) having a spraying port 42 that can spray at least one of moisture or nutrient solution in a mist form as a supply unit. Good. In this plant growing device, for example, a sprayer 41 is connected to a nutrient solution tank via a nutrient solution supply path. The sprayer 41 adjusts the spraying position to the nutrient body 100, and spouts the mist-like nutrient solution 42a from the spraying port 42. FIG. In this plant growing device, the spray direction and spray amount of the spray port 42 with respect to the nutrient body 100 can be adjusted. Thereby, the plant growing apparatus can spray the nutrient solution 42a only on the specific shoots 101a, 101b among the shoots 101a, 101b, 101c of the nutrient body 100. The sprayer 41 can adjust the supply amount of the nutrient solution 42a by controlling the spray state. For example, the sprayer 41 makes the spray timing from the spray port 42 intermittent. Thereby, the excessive water | moisture content in the nutrient 100 is suppressed, and the nutrient 100 as a seed potato is prevented from decaying.

  According to such a plant growing device, as in the above-described plant growing device, the nutrient solution 42a is specified by specifying the part of the nutrient solution 100, and the amount of the nutrient solution 42a is adjusted to adjust the nutrient solution 100a. The number of stems can be adjusted.

  The plant growing apparatus mentioned above may have the illumination part 50 and the light-shielding sheet 51 as a light-shielding part, for example, as shown in FIG. The light shielding sheet 51 is provided between the lighting unit 50 and the nutrient body 100. The light shielding sheet 51 has a hole 51a through which a stem grown from the nutrient body 100 passes. In this plant growing device, the nutrient solution 6, the rubber plate 7, the water absorbing sheet 21 and the nutrient body 100 as shown in FIG. 3 described above are arranged at the bottom of the housing 52. The plant growing device has a configuration in which the nutrient solution as shown in FIG. 1 is supplied as a drip between the light shielding sheet 51 and the bottom, or a configuration in which the nutrient solution is sprayed as shown in FIG. Also good.

  In this plant growing device, a light shielding sheet 51 is provided so that the nutrient body 100 is not irradiated with light from the illumination unit 50 or from the outside. The light shielding sheet 51 is arranged at a distance from the bottom so that when the buds 101 sprouted from the nutrient body 100 grow and grow into stems, the stem penetrates from the light shielding sheet 51 to the illumination unit 50 side. The stem penetrating from the light shielding sheet 51 to the lighting unit 50 side can be photo-synthesized by the light from the lighting unit 50. The illumination unit 50 performs light irradiation when the stem penetrates from the light shielding sheet 51.

  According to such a plant growing device, as with the plant growing device described above, the nutrient solution 100 is specified and the nutrient solution is supplied, and the amount of the nutrient solution is adjusted so that the number of stems of the nutrient solution 100 is increased. Can be adjusted. Moreover, according to this plant growing apparatus, when the stem extends and penetrates the light shielding sheet 51, photosynthesis can be performed by the light from the illumination unit 50. Thereby, the plant growing apparatus can adjust the timing when each bud 101 grows and the leaf starts photosynthesis, and the timing when it becomes a harvested product.

  The above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made depending on the design and the like as long as the technical idea according to the present invention is not deviated from this embodiment. Of course, it is possible to change.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nutrient solution tank 2, 2a, 2b Nutrient solution supply path 3, 3a, 3b Nutrient solution drip unit 6, 23, 30, 30a, 30b, 42a Nutrient solution 7 Rubber plate 11 Sensor unit 12 Bud detection unit 13 Control unit 21 Water absorption Sheet 22 Water-impermeable sheet 24 Rubber plate 41 Sprayer 42 Spray port 50 Illumination part 51 Light-shielding sheet 51a Hole part 100 Nutrient body 101, 101a, 101b, 101c Bud

Claims (8)

A plant growing device for growing a plant capable of germinating a plurality of buds from a single nutrient,
A site specifying part for specifying a site for supplying at least one of moisture or nutrient solution among the nutrients;
A supply unit for supplying at least one of moisture or nutrient solution to the site specified by the site specifying unit;
An adjusting unit for adjusting the amount of at least one of water or nutrient solution supplied to the site specified by the site specifying unit by the supply unit;
A plant growing device comprising: the part specifying unit, the supply unit, and a control unit that controls the adjustment unit. The site specifying unit includes a sensor unit that recognizes the shape of the nutrient body, and a bud detection unit that detects a position of a bud of the nutrient body based on the shape of the nutrient body recognized by the sensor unit. The position of at least one bud among the positions of buds detected by the bud detection unit is specified as a site that provides at least one of moisture or nutrient solution,
The control unit causes the supply unit to supply at least one of moisture or nutrient solution to the position of the bud specified by the site specifying unit, and allows the moisture or liquid to be supplied to the position of the bud specified by the site specifying unit by the adjustment unit. The plant growing device according to claim 1, wherein an amount of supplying at least one of the nutrient solution is adjusted.   The plant growing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit is a sheet-like water absorbing tool.   The plant-growing device according to claim 3, wherein the sheet-shaped water-absorbing device has a hole portion or a cut portion through which a stem grown from the nutrient body penetrates.   The plant supply device according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit is an infusion device capable of instilling at least one of moisture and nutrient solution.   The plant growing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the supply unit is a spray unit capable of spraying at least one of water or nutrient solution in a mist form.   The plant growing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a covering unit that covers the nutrient so that at least one of water and nutrient solution is not supplied by the supply unit. . A lighting section;
The light-shielding part provided between the said illumination part and the said nutrient body, and having the hole part which the stem grown from the said nutrient body penetrates, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 7 characterized by the above-mentioned. The plant cultivation apparatus as described in.

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