JPH036202Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an apparatus for growing plants by supplying a culture solution to a medium on which plants are planted.

<Conventional Examples and Problems> Conventionally, when supplying a culture medium to a culture medium, a liquid supply pipe is generally arranged on or above the medium material, and the liquid is supplied through this liquid supply pipe. There is.

The amount of culture solution absorbed by plants changes depending on the type, growth stage, temperature, humidity, solar radiation, etc. of the surrounding area where it is planted, and the amount of evaporation in the culture medium also changes, so the supply of culture solution into the culture medium changes. It is necessary to do this according to the amount of liquid remaining in the medium without causing the plants to grow to wither and without applying too much.

If this is to be carried out while measuring the remaining amount of the culture solution in the culture medium, a separate measuring device and a device for controlling the liquid supply device are required, which has the disadvantage of complicating the configuration and increasing costs.

Furthermore, when a culture medium is supplied to a medium having a certain thickness, the medium retains a small amount of liquid on the upper side and a large amount on the lower side. The culture solution in the lower part is retained for a long time due to the liquid retaining power of the medium material.

Therefore, if the roots of the plant extend to the lower part of the medium, there are problems such as excessive culture solution being applied and oxygen deficiency.

Furthermore, if the culture solution remains in the medium material for a long time, the material components may be eluted from the medium material, causing the plants that absorb it to lose their nutritional balance and become unfavorable for growth.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention was proposed to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and has a simple structure that reduces the amount of culture solution remaining in the culture medium due to absorption by plants. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plant growing device that can supply liquid accordingly and can discharge excess culture solution remaining in a culture medium without inhibiting plant growth.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention is designed to provide a cultivation device that supplies a culture solution to grow plants.
A culture medium into which a culture solution can infiltrate, a liquid supply means disposed above the culture medium, a liquid tank forming member forming a storage portion for the culture solution above the culture medium, a support member that is held apart from the liquid level in the liquid storage section;
It is made of a liquid-absorbing material, and is arranged so that both side edges are brought into contact with the culture solution in the liquid storage part, and the vicinity of the center is placed on the support member and comes into contact with the culture medium. , a suction member that absorbs the culture solution in the liquid storage part and supplies it to the culture medium; and a suction member that has liquid absorption properties but has a smaller suction force than the suction member, and that both side edges are formed in the liquid storage part. The suction member is brought into contact with the culture medium and is superimposed on the back side of the suction member so that the central portion thereof is located on the support member, and absorbs the culture medium remaining in the culture medium and causes it to flow out to the liquid storage part. ``A device for growing plants using hydroponic cultivation'' characterized by comprising a suction member and a suction member.

Then, a larger amount of culture solution than the liquid retention capacity of the medium material is supplied to the medium through the liquid supply pipe, and the amount of culture liquid corresponding to the liquid retention capacity is retained within the medium material, and the excess amount is removed from the liquid storage section. By storing a predetermined amount of culture solution in the liquid storage portion or by storing a predetermined amount of culture solution in the liquid storage portion in advance, the following effects are achieved.

When the plant absorbs the culture liquid and the amount of liquid in the medium decreases, the culture medium is replenished from the liquid storage section through the suction member.

This amount of replenishment corresponds to the decrease in the culture solution in the medium, so there is no need to frequently measure the amount of remaining liquid in the medium, and an appropriate amount of liquid is automatically supplied.

Moreover, the culture solution supplied to the medium material is largely distributed in the lower part of the medium material due to gravity.

Moreover, the liquid remaining at the bottom of the medium material is
It is difficult to discharge due to the liquid retention capacity of the culture medium.

Therefore, a suction member is provided that overlaps with the above-mentioned suction member, so that the residual liquid is forcibly absorbed and flows into the liquid storage part, and the culture liquid supplied to the culture medium is contained therein. The liquid is drained without remaining for a long period of time, and the harmful effects caused by residual liquid within the culture medium can be eliminated.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
1 is a medium in which plants are planted, and is a material that can be infiltrated with a culture solution, such as liquid-absorbing rock wool or glass wool as an inorganic fiber material, cellulose material as an organic fiber material, and liquid-supplying urethane as a foamable synthetic resin. It is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped with an appropriate thickness using foam, charcoal, sand, etc.

2 is a liquid permeable member disposed to cover the lower surface and side wall surface of the culture medium 1, and is composed of a nonwoven sheet made of nonwoven fibers such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyester, polypropylene, nylon, etc. It shall have liquid supply properties and have pores with a diameter of approximately 50 μm or less through which the roots of cultivated plants cannot pass. Note that this liquid-permeable member 2 may be formed into a unit together with the culture medium 1.

3 is a liquid tank forming member for forming a liquid storage part 4 that can accommodate a culture solution, and includes a liquid-tight flexible sheet,
Or use one with a hard box body.

When a flexible sheet is used, it is designed to enclose the culture medium 1, the liquid-permeable member 2, the support member described below, and the like. At this time, the flexible sheet may also be used as a covering member 9, which will be described later.

In addition, in the liquid tank forming member 3 made of this flexible sheet, a shape-retaining member that forms the bottom and side parts of the liquid storage part 4 may be arranged.The ground is excavated to form a groove, and the sheet is placed in this. It is also possible to lay it down.

If a box is used, it can be formed to a specific length and arranged in multiple rows along the planting row of the plants, thereby eliminating the troublesome work of leveling the bottom of the liquid tank forming member 3 over a wide area. This eliminates the need to store water and culture fluid evenly in each storage portion, and also facilitates handling during installation, transportation, etc.

Further, if the support member 5 described later is formed integrally, there is an advantage that the work of arranging the growth device can be saved.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a support member that supports the culture medium 1 so that it does not come into direct contact with the liquid surface in the liquid storage section. This support member 5 is formed by a support stand 5a installed in the liquid storage section, and supports the culture medium 1 at a position higher than the level of the liquid level in the liquid storage section.

6 is a suction member, and 7 is a suction member. These two members are arranged in a superimposed manner, and both side edges thereof are immersed in the culture solution in the liquid storage part, and the center part is placed on the support member 5 and is arranged in contact with the liquid permeable member 2.

The suction member 6 and the suction member 7 are made of cloth or other liquid-absorbing material, and may be made of the same material as the liquid-permeable member 2.

In this case, the suction member 6 has a thickness of ~
1mm, and the basis weight is about 600g/ ^m2 , and the suction member 7 has a thickness of 1 to 8mm, and the basis weight is about 250g/m2, and the suction member 6 has a basis weight of about 250g/ ^m2 . The suction member 7 has a larger capacity to suck up the culture solution due to the capillary phenomenon, and the suction member 7 has the ability to diffuse the absorbed culture solution, and the supporting member 5
Of course, it is necessary to use one that does not have suction ability up to the part on the top surface where the bottom surface of the culture medium 1 is placed.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a liquid supply means disposed on the upper surface of the culture medium 1, and in this embodiment, 1 is provided near where the plants S are planted.
A book pipe 81 is provided. This pipe 81
A large number of through holes are bored in the pipe, and the culture solution sent into the pipe is spouted out from the through holes and supplied to the culture medium 1.

The pipe 81 may be made of hard synthetic resin or metal, a flexible synthetic resin sheet formed into a cylindrical shape with a plurality of through holes, or a tube made of porous material. May be adopted.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a covering member, which is made of a material with good heat insulation and light shielding properties, and is provided as necessary.

When the covering member 9 is provided, temperature changes in the culture solution and around the roots due to solar heat etc. can be alleviated, or generation of chlorella due to light irradiation can be prevented.

In order to grow plants using the growing device configured in this way, the plants S are planted on the medium material 1. At this time, as shown in the figure, the plant S is planted on the medium material 1 without using the medium block B in which the seedlings are grown. Appropriate small holes or fissures may be provided in the soil and plants may be directly planted therein, or the plants may be grown by sowing.

The culture solution stored in the liquid storage part 4 is absorbed by the suction member 6 and supplied to the culture medium 1 via the liquid permeable member 2.

Therefore, there is no need to constantly supply the culture solution using the liquid supply means. Further, the suction member 6 sucks up the culture solution by capillary phenomenon that occurs in the gaps between the materials inside the suction member 6.

In addition, the culture solution supplied to the culture medium 1 is forced to flow out into the liquid storage part 4 mainly by the suction member 7, so that the culture solution in the culture medium remains for a long time. disappears.

The suction member 7 absorbs the culture solution in the culture medium 1 by capillary action that occurs in the gaps between the materials therein, and causes it to flow into the liquid storage section 4 .

The suction member 6 also performs the same function as the suction member 7 by causing the culture solution in the culture medium 1 to flow out from the culture medium 1 to the liquid storage portion 4 when the culture solution is in excess.

When the culture solution is supplied by the liquid supply means 8, a large amount of culture solution will remain in the lower part of the culture medium 1, but it will be transferred to the liquid storage part 4 by the suction member 6 and the suction member 7. The outflow will take place.

Furthermore, when the amount of liquid remaining in the culture medium 1 decreases due to absorption by plants, the suction member 6 conversely sucks up the culture liquid in the liquid storage part 4 and supplies it to the culture medium 1. At this time, if the culture medium 1 has a stronger ability to absorb the culture solution than the suction member 7, the culture solution will be supplied from the suction member 6 without being absorbed into the suction member 7 side. .

Therefore, an excessive amount of culture solution is not supplied to the culture medium 1, and an appropriate amount of culture solution is supplied.

The suction member 6 and the suction member 7 may be formed separately so as to be separable and stacked on top of each other, or may be formed integrally by fixing them together, or may be formed into a single sheet and have a weight per unit area in the thickness direction. It is also possible to deploy those formed with different amounts.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the plant growing device, and FIG. 2a shows an example in which a flat plate-shaped support member 51 is used. In this case, the liquid storage section 41
A step portion 52 for supporting the support member 51 is provided on the member forming the support member 51. Of course, the liquid tank forming member may be a hard container or may be formed by excavating the ground and laying a flexible sheet. b and c are examples in which the support members 53 and 54 are arranged so that their upper surfaces are inclined. When the support members are arranged in an inclined manner in this way, and the liquid supply means 8 side is set at a high position as shown in the first figure, the culture solution supplied from the liquid supply means is concentrated below it. Although the liquid reaches the bottom of the culture medium, it is guided by the suction member 6 and the suction member 7 and is also supplied to the lower position side, which has the effect of uniformly supplying the liquid over the entire area of the culture medium. .

In addition, when a flat support member is arranged at an angle, if a support member 55 as shown in FIG. There are advantages that can be achieved.

<Effects> The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and when the amount of culture fluid held in the culture medium decreases due to absorption by the plants, the suction member supplies fluid in accordance with the decrease, and vice versa. If there is a large amount of culture solution supplied from the liquid supply means and held in the medium material, the liquid will be quickly drained by the suction member, so it is necessary to frequently perform the liquid supply operation using other liquid supply means. This eliminates the need for draining when there is an excess of culture solution in the culture medium.

Moreover, this action is performed automatically by the suction member and the suction member, and is performed in response to changes in the amount of liquid in the medium material.Furthermore, the culture solution remaining in the medium material is automatically replaced. This allows fresh culture solution to be supplied under normal conditions.
This greatly contributes to maintaining the environment for plant growth in the supply of culture solution.

In addition, the amount of liquid supplied to the culture medium can be controlled by adjusting and combining the absorption capacity of the culture liquid of the suction member and the suction member, so it is possible to supply the culture liquid according to the type of plant etc. becomes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention;
Figures a, b, and c are sectional views showing other embodiments, and Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the support. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Culture medium material, 2... Liquid permeable member, 3... Liquid tank forming member, 4... Liquid storage part, 5... Support member, 6...
... Suction member, 7... Suction member, 8... Liquid supply means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A cultivation device for growing plants by supplying a culture solution, comprising a culture medium into which the culture solution can infiltrate, a liquid supply means disposed above the culture medium, and the culture medium. a liquid tank forming member that forms a liquid storage portion for the culture medium above the liquid storage portion; a support member that holds the medium material away from the liquid level in the liquid storage portion; The medium is brought into contact with the culture solution in the liquid storage part, and the central part is placed on the support member and is arranged so as to be in contact with the medium material, and absorbs the culture solution in the liquid storage part. a suction member that is made of a material that has liquid absorption properties but has a smaller suction force than the suction member, and has both side edges brought into contact with the culture solution in the liquid storage part, and a central part of the material that is A suction member, which is superimposed on the back side of the suction member so as to be positioned on the support member, absorbs the culture solution remaining in the culture medium material and causes it to flow out to the liquid storage part. A plant growing device using hydroponic cultivation.