JP3781264B2 - Connectable plant cultivation container - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a plant cultivation container for institutional cultivation, and in particular, the present invention can easily connect the containers to each other, can be used for large-scale cultivation, and has a water retention function and water supply function suitable for plant growth. It relates to the plant cultivation container which has.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventional planters and the like consist of a single container and are independent of each other. Therefore, it was necessary to irrigate and fertilize each cultivation container individually. For this reason, it takes time and equipment. In order to solve this problem, it has been dealt with by a combination with an automatic irrigation apparatus.
In addition, it has been attempted to form a cultivation container having a considerably long length by connecting U-shaped baskets for large-scale cultivation. This method can supply water and thickening components from one end, simplifying the facility and saving labor.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, even in this method, since the ground and the foundation are not always horizontal, the supplied liquid components (water, fertilizer liquid, etc.) flow down, resulting in partial overhumidity, overdrying, or unevenness of fertilizer. For this reason, it is still dealt with by a combination with an automatic watering device.
Also, the retention of the feed components depends on the capacity of the deployed soil, so there is a limit to the applicable soil. In particular, there is a problem that it is not suitable for an inorganic solid medium having poor water retention.
That is, it is difficult to control water retention conditions for the smooth growth of plants. Furthermore, there is a drawback that it takes time and labor to bond the end portions (joining portions) during construction.
Attempts have been made to secure the connection by providing protrusions (engagement ribs, etc.) for locking at the end (joint part) of the U-shaped rod, but they are combined at the time of connection due to the presence of the protrusions. In addition to an increase in work effort, the protrusions are weak in strength, so that the heel itself is easily damaged.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, is suitable for mass cultivation, does not require an automatic irrigation machine, does not require fertilization and irrigation, can be supplied uniformly, and easily It aims at providing the plant cultivation container which can be installed and connected.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As a result of various studies to solve the above problems, the present inventor, if the shape of the connecting portion is devised, only the cultivation containers provided with the connecting portion are fitted together, and the cultivation containers are aligned. Thus, the present invention has been completed by improving the structure of the connecting portion that makes it easy to connect the liquid component to the outside and also improves the prevention of the outflow of the liquid component to the outside.
[0006]
That is, this invention solved the said subject by the following means.
(1) A plant cultivation container comprising a housing having an upper surface opened and no opening on the bottom surface, wherein one side surface has a male portion projecting outward at an intermediate height or more, and the other side surface facing the side surface the protruding notch or inward same height as the female portion sized to be connected with the male portion of the other container are connectable opened deployed respectively, the bottom surface of the male portion is a weir A plant cultivation container that is formed and filled with soil or a medium from the bottom of the container to the upper part of the container as a liquid reservoir.
(2) The plant cultivation container according to (1), wherein the protruding length of the male part is provided to be longer than the length of the female part.
(3) The plant cultivation container according to (1) or (2), wherein the casing is a U-shaped bowl.
(4) The plant cultivation container according to any one of the above (1) to (3), wherein one plant cultivation container has an upper opening to the extent that one plant body is planted.
(5) The plant cultivation container according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the casing stores an inert granular inorganic medium.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a connectable plant cultivation container of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view thereof.
1 and 2, components having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated description thereof is omitted.
Moreover, FIG.4 and FIG.5 which are shown by the Example mentioned later shows the connection condition of a cultivation container.
[0008]
1st aspect of this invention is the plant cultivation container 1 which consists of a housing | casing which opens an upper surface and does not have an opening part in a bottom face, The male part 2 which protruded outward more than intermediate | middle height on one side surface, The other side surface opposite to the side surface is a plant cultivation container in which female portions 3 that are notched to the same height or project inward are opened to be connectable.
The casing is preferably a rectangular parallelepiped, and the male part 2 preferably has a flat bottom surface.
Any material can be used for the housing as long as it is normally used as a cultivation container, that is, plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene, wood, metal, concrete, etc. that do not deform so much. it can. Those made of expanded polystyrene are particularly preferred because they are lightweight and have good heat retention.
[0009]
The male part 2 and the female part 3 may be an opening having a uniform inner width between the base part and the tip part, and the tip part (the outer part in the case of the male part 2) may be slightly narrowed. The connecting portions 4 and 5 are not provided with locking projections (such as meshing ribs), and are simply connected by being pushed in. For this reason, connection and separation are extremely easy. Even fragile materials such as polystyrene foam are not easily damaged during handling. It is preferable that the upper surface of this connecting portion is also open.
[0010]
This plant cultivation container 1 is naturally provided with a soil layer to grow plants. The kind of soil should just be suitably selected from natural soil or artificial soil according to the kind of plant to grow. A plant can be cultivated satisfactorily even in a medium having low water retention and buffering properties such as pumice, that is, using an inert granular inorganic medium. Further, the thickness of the soil layer may be appropriately selected according to the size of the root of the plant to be cultivated, as described above.
[0011]
In the plant cultivation container 1 configured as described above, a space between the bottom part of the cultivation container 1 below the male part 2 or the female part 3 is the liquid storage part 6. That is, since the bottom surface of the male part 2 acts as a weir in the plant cultivation container 1, the position of the bottom surface determines the depth of the liquid reservoir 6. In addition, the bottom surface of the connecting part 5 of the female part 3 is lower by the thickness of the bottom part of the connecting part 4 of the male part 2 because the male part 2 of the adjacent plant cultivation container 1 is placed thereon. When the watertight state between the connecting part 5 of the female part 3 and the connecting part 4 of the male part 2 is not sufficient, water may overflow from the female part 3 having a lower height. By connecting the plant cultivation container 1 formed by the liquid reservoir 6 at the height of the bottom surface of the male part 2, water is sequentially sent to the next plant cultivation container 1.
And in the connection structure of the plant cultivation container 1 connected by the said connection parts 4 and 5, if water is supplied from the cultivation container 1 of the front-end | tip, water will first be in the liquid storage part 6 of the 1st cultivation container 1. Water is stored. And the excess water is stored in the liquid reservoir 6 of the adjacent second cultivation container 1 from the liquid reservoir 6 via the connecting portions 4 and 5, and the above process is repeated thereafter. It is discharged outside from the male part 2 of the cultivation container 1.
[0012]
Since the water supplied to the soil by the water supply disappears by absorption and drying by the plant, the water retained in the liquid reservoir 6 is supplied to the soil.
Water is sucked up by capillarity from the wet soil surface in the liquid reservoir 6 to the soil above it and absorbed by the plant.
Therefore, the plant cultivation container 1 has a water retention function and a water supply function with low cost and good handleability. And since water retention is possible without leaving a lot of water in soil, the high root rot prevention effect of a plant is exhibited.
[0013]
In addition, it is preferable that the protruding length of the male part is greater than the length of the female part.
Thereby, the bending of the container row can be corrected. Of course, the length is determined in consideration of the length of the container and does not need to be excessive.
A particularly preferred shape of such a container 1 is that the housing is U-shaped. However, the shape of the cultivation container 1 is not limited to this, and may be any shape regardless of a polygonal column shape or a cylindrical shape.
In addition, since the culture | cultivation container 1 arrange | positioned at the beginning of a container row | line | column has the part of the female part 3 open, there exists a possibility that a culture medium may fall from there, Therefore Although a culture medium does not spill on the end surface 11, it is more than a liquid reservoir part. A net 12 can be provided for the water to pass through. In addition, a sealing member 13 made of styrene foam can be provided instead of the net 12, and a drainage hole 14 for passing water above the liquid reservoir is provided at the lower end of the sealing member 13.
The same means can be taken about the part of the male part 2 of the cultivation container 1 arranged at the end of the container row.
[0014]
A preferable size of the plant cultivation container 1 is a size in which one cultivation container has an upper opening enough to plant one plant body. In particular, in the cultivation of fruit vegetables, planting for each plant is preferable. However, multiple plants may be planted.
When the size of the plant cultivation container 1 is illustrated, when the container is made of foamed polystyrene, the length is 400 mm, the width is 250 mm, the thickness is 10 mm, the male part 2 is 80 mm from the inner bottom surface, and the front The connecting portion 4 has an outer surface that is 10 mm (for the thickness of the container) inside the outer surface of the container. The female portion 3 is formed by forming the connecting portion 5 so that the other end surface of the container is only 70 mm from the inner bottom surface. The height of the end surface of the female portion 3 is exactly the same as the height of the lower surface of the male portion 2, and the connection is facilitated.
[0015]
And as a culture medium used as 1 type of soil, a pumice with a particle size of 1.0-5.6 mm can also be used. In the plant cultivation container 1 containing this inert granular inorganic culture medium, the water retained in the liquid reservoir 6 near the bottom surface is not limited to the moisture of the irrigation device, the drying of the upper part of the culture medium due to changes in weather conditions, etc. It rises to about 10 cm by capillary action, has a so-called buffering function, is uniformly supplied into the medium, and prevents plant death. Nevertheless, since no more moisture than necessary is stored on the bottom surface, the problem of root rot due to excessive moisture does not occur.
[0016]
As described above, the advantages of the connectable plant cultivation container of the present invention that has been described for each case can be summarized as follows.
It can be installed easily, and in some cases, no adhesive is required and removal is easy.
Moreover, since it communicates, if a culture solution or water is supplied in an appropriate excess from one end, they are held at the bottom of each container and supplied to the plant body. What is necessary is just to select the height of the connection parts 4 and 5 of the male part 2 and the female part 3 by the balance of the root part of a plant body and capillary water absorption. For example, the position can be about 6 cm from the bottom of the container 1.
For this reason, since plants and the like that do not necessarily require precise irrigation control can be supplied with water or the like by capillarity, maintenance and management become extremely easy, and unmanned operation can also be performed by timer water absorption or the like.
In addition, plants can be cultivated smoothly even in a medium with low water retention and buffering properties such as pumice.
Such an apparatus is particularly suitable for cultivation of fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers and eggplants. Salad vegetables can also be grown.
[0017]
In the fruits and vegetables that grow greatly in both the harvested part and the root system as described above, each strain uses a large amount of water. For this reason, it is suitable to plant one strain at a time in a cultivation container provided with a liquid reservoir.
For example, in the case of fruits and vegetables that have developed aerial parts and need to be supported by the root system, such as tomatoes, it is better to plant them one by one in one cultivation container.
[0018]
【Example】
The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to this example.
[0019]
Example 1
As shown in FIG. 3, which is a plan view of the greenhouse 7, the cultivation containers 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 having a length of 400 mm and a width of 250 mm in the greenhouse 7 having a width of 9 m and a length of 25 m are arranged in a row. The plant cultivation container row | line | column 8 was formed by connecting individually and connecting, and the row | line | column was arrange | positioned 6 rows. The distance between each row was 1000 mm, the distance from the side wall of the greenhouse was 1250 mm, and the distance between the end of each row and the side wall of the greenhouse was 2500 mm.
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 5, the cultivation container 1 forms a plant cultivation container row 8 such that the male part 2 is joined and connected to the female part of the next cultivation container 1. The aluminum pipe 10 for supplying liquid is disposed below the liquid crystal so that the culture solution can be supplied from a necessary place.
[0020]
Each cultivation container 1 was filled with pumice having a particle size of 1 to 5.6 mm. Plants 9 were planted one by one in the culture medium of each cultivation container 1. In this case, tomato was planted as a plant body.
By supplying liquid to the endmost cultivation container 1 of the plant cultivation container row 8, cultivation of tomatoes was successfully performed.
In addition, in order to make a liquid flow sequentially to each cultivation container 1 of the plant cultivation container row | line | column 8, in order to make the water level in each cultivation container 1 as much as possible, the plant cultivation container row | line | column 8 is inclined somewhat loosely. It is preferable to arrange in.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to easily connect by bridging and fitting the connecting parts composed of the male part and the female part of the adjacent plant cultivation container, and the connecting part has a simple structure and is not easily damaged. , Plant cultivation containers can be connected without any hassle.
And since the side plates of adjacent plant cultivation containers are in contact with each other, the containers can be connected without using an adhesive, so that cost reduction can be achieved.
Moreover, since the male part is inserted and inserted into the adjacent plant cultivation container through the female part, the outflow of moisture, fertilizer liquid, etc. can be prevented from the connecting part.
Furthermore, it is suitable for large-scale cultivation, eliminates the need for automatic irrigation machines, eliminates the need for fertilization and irrigation, and provides a plant cultivation container that can be supplied uniformly and prevented from causing root rot, and can be easily installed and connected can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a connectable plant cultivation container of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the plant cultivation container of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a greenhouse showing an arrangement state of plant cultivation container rows in Example 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a side view of connected plant cultivation container groups.
FIG. 5 shows a plan view of connected plant cultivation container groups.
6A and 6B are side views showing an end surface of a plant cultivation container according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 6A shows a case where a net is provided, and FIG. 6B shows a case where a sealing member is provided.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plant cultivation container 2 Male part 3 Female part 4,5 Connection part 6 Liquid storage part 7 Greenhouse 8 Plant cultivation container row 9 Plant body 10 Aluminum pipe 11 End surface 12 Net 13 Sealing member 14 Drainage hole

Claims (5)

It is a plant cultivation container consisting of a case with an opening on the top surface and no opening on the bottom surface. One side has a male part protruding outward at an intermediate height or more, and is equivalent to the other side facing the side. A female portion of a size that can be connected to a male portion of another container that is notched or projecting inwardly is opened to be connectable, and the bottom surface of the male portion forms a weir. A plant cultivation container characterized in that the bottom of the container is a liquid reservoir and the soil or culture medium is filled up to the upper part of the container from the weir .   The plant cultivation container according to claim 1, wherein the protruding length of the male part is provided to be longer than the length of the female part.   The plant cultivation container according to claim 1, wherein the casing is a U-shaped bowl.   One plant cultivation container has an upper opening of the grade which plants one plant body, The plant cultivation container of any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The plant cultivation container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the casing houses an inert granular inorganic medium.

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