JPH0755889Y2 - Medium container for hydroponics - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a medium container having an impermeable root layer provided on the side surface of the medium container body, and more specifically to a moisture medium root existing in a non-aqueous part of the container. The present invention relates to a culture medium container using a material having air permeability and water repellency as an impermeable root layer for aerating oxygen to the inside of the container to prevent the roots from intersecting with each other.

(Prior Art) There are various methods for a hydroponic culture system, but the newest method is, for example, a facility and horticulture No62 P49-54 1988,
September, Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun November 28, 1988, 6th page, Nihon Agricultural Shimbun December 5, 1988 Capillary hydroponics. In other words, it is a cultivation method in which water and nutrients are supplied from a water tank and water in a capillary formed in a medium composed of carbonized materials from papermaking residues.

A hydroponic culture system of a capillary hydroponic system comprises a culture medium container body, an impermeable root layer for preventing root crossing, which is located on the outer periphery of the culture medium container body, a liquid tank containing the above and a liquid tank upper part. The cover is the main component.

As the medium container body, air can pass through, and
A hole that does not allow the medium that is granular to leak out, for example, a diameter of 0.
A cylindrical container made of polyolefin resin, pottery, or the like having a hole of 1 to 5 mm is used.

As the impermeable root layer, non-woven fabric, nylon taffeta, spunbond / polyester taffeta laminate or the like is used.

In the above hydroponic culture system, first, the culture solution, which is commensurate with the amount of nutrient absorption required for the life of the crop, is first submerged in the liquid tank once in principle. The liquid level is lowered by the absorption of the culture solution by the crops, and the root is exposed to the air in the medium although the liquid level is lowered, but since the whole is covered with the liquid tank and the upper cover, the humidity is maintained. The root absorbs oxygen, does not die in the air, and develops a so-called damp root. Water and nutrients are supplied from the submerged liquid by the capillary water in the medium and the roots present in the water.

In such a hydroponics system, since one strain is cultivated in each medium container main body and is further provided with an impermeable root layer, the roots between the adjacent adjacent plants are mixed with each other. It is possible to suppress the occurrence and transmission of diseases.

Also, grow the seedlings by concentrating the medium containers in the nursery house,
Since they are installed at wider intervals according to their growth, they can be transplanted to a cultivation system of a large house, and then continuously hydroponically harvested for harvesting. The impermeable root layer may be removed during the transplantation. Compared to growing seedlings and harvesting in the same house, heating costs can be saved in the winter, and the cultivation cycle in the seedling raising house and the harvesting house can be shortened, enabling year-round harvesting and increasing production. .

As described above, it is necessary to equip the medium container body composed of the coarse-pore container with the impermeable root layer in order to prevent the roots from crossing with each other and to facilitate transplantation.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, the conventional impermeable root layers are all hydrophilic, and as a result of sucking up the nutrient solution by capillarity, the air permeability is significantly lowered. There is a phenomenon such as the precipitation of nutrients on the surface due to the evaporation of water.

That is, due to the decrease in air permeability, the oxygen supply to the roots in the moisture becomes insufficient and the growth of the crop becomes insufficient, and in addition to the nutrient amount required for the growth, the nutrients precipitated on the surface of the impermeable root layer. There was a problem that the amount wasted.

Further, in the case of growing the seedlings by densely consolidating the culture medium containers, if a material having coarse pores such as a non-woven fabric was used as the impermeable root layer, the prevention of root crossing was insufficient.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a result of intensive studies for solving the above problems, the present inventors have found that a crop can be cultivated without problems by using a specific impermeable layer, and the present invention It has been completed.

That is, the present invention is a medium container, which contains a medium and has an impermeable root layer on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of the cylinder in a medium container body having at least water passage / vent holes on the side of the cylinder. As a culture medium container used in a hydroponic cultivation apparatus consisting of a liquid tank containing a container and a liquid tank upper cover, hair roots do not substantially penetrate, and the air permeability measured by JIS P8117 B method is 5,0.
Hydroponic culture characterized by having an impermeable root layer consisting essentially of a breathable and water-repellent sheet-like material with a water repellency measured by JIS L1092 (spray test) of not less than 00 sec / 100cc and 70 points or more. The purpose is to use a culture medium container.

An air-permeable and water-repellent sheet-like material used for the impermeable root layer of the culture medium container of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an air-permeable and water-repellent material).
Examples thereof include a taffeta having air permeability and water repellency, a film having air permeability and water repellency (hereinafter referred to as an air permeable and water repellent film), or a laminate containing these.

As a breathable water-repellent material, it has the characteristics of air permeability of 5,000 sec / 100 cc or less and water repellency of 70 points or more. Air permeability
If it exceeds 5,000 sec / 100 cc, the oxygen supply required by the roots is insufficient, which impedes the growth of crops. If you want better growth, 4,000sec / 100cc or less is preferable.

Further, if the water repellency is less than 70 points, it is easy to wet, and in the wet part, the permeability is lowered and nutrients such as fertilizers are deposited due to evaporation, so that the effect of the present invention is not sufficiently exerted.

As the breathable water-repellent film, a porous sheet obtained by stretching a polyolefin sheet containing an inorganic filler such as calcium carbonate or barium sulfate, or a porous sheet obtained by the present inventors has been previously proposed. The method described in Japanese Patent No. 270748, etc., that is, a resin having low compatibility with the base resin is added, and the added resin is finely dispersed by kneading and dispersing, and then a film formed into a sheet is stretched to obtain fine pores. A porous sheet or the like obtained by the method of obtaining the property can be used, but the invention is not limited to the one manufactured by such a method.
The pore size of these breathable water-repellent films can be produced in various ranges, but it is necessary to be 100 μm or less for use as the impermeable root layer. If it is larger than 100 μ, the hair root will infiltrate, resulting in the blockage of the vent hole, which is a vent hole, and further, the hair root may be damaged by the growth of the hair root. Further, the thickness of the breathable water-repellent film is preferably about 10 to 300 μ in terms of strength, but when laminating, a film having a thickness of 10 μ or less can be used in consideration of the reinforcing effect of the laminated material. For example, a breathable water-repellent material obtained by coating a reinforcing material such as a nonwoven fabric with a breathable polyurethane coating agent can also be used.

Furthermore, if a breathable water-repellent film having heat shrinkability is used, it can be brought into close contact with the medium container body by heat shrinkage, which is more preferable from the viewpoint of handleability.

When the seedlings are grown or removed after harvesting, it is more preferable in terms of workability and cost to use a film having low tear strength as the impermeable layer.

Further, as the breathable material for laminating with the above-mentioned film, a reticulate material, a non-woven fabric, a woven fabric, a perforated film and the like can be used, but all are limited to those having a water repellency of 70 points or more. Nonwoven fabrics include, for example, polypropylene / polyethylene,
Examples thereof include those containing at least one kind of core / sheath conjugate fiber of polyethylene terephthalate / polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate / polypropylene, polypropylene / ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer. Nonwoven fabrics, woven fabrics and the like having a water repellency of less than 70 can be treated with a generally known water repellent or the like to obtain a water repellency of 70 or more. Nonwoven fabrics, woven fabrics, etc. are generally easy to wet, the water repellency is less than 70 points, the wet part is reduced in air permeability and precipitation of nutrients such as fertilizer due to evaporation of water after wetting, The effect of the present invention is not fully exerted. In addition, since the non-woven fabric has coarse pores, the one not laminated with the film is insufficient in preventing the roots from being crossed when the medium containers are densely grown to grow seedlings. As long as it is a woven fabric, it is possible to prevent the roots from substantially permeating, so that even if the fabric is not laminated with the film, those within the above range can be used.

Further, the perforated film is usually a polyolefin-based film is a base, water repellency of 70 points or more unless a surfactant or the like is added, the water repellent treatment in the non-woven fabric or the like is unnecessary, and The air permeability of the laminate can be controlled by appropriately selecting the pore size. A suitable range for the hole diameter of the perforated film is 0.1 to 5 mm. If the hole diameter exceeds 5 mm, the effect as a reinforcing material is small, while if it is less than 0.1 mm, it is difficult to industrially produce stably.

As a laminating method, a commonly used adhesive method such as dry lamination, hot melt lamination, or thermal lamination is applied. Ventilation In order to utilize the ventilation function of the water-repellent film, it is more preferable to use a patterned laminate.

Further, in the case of thermal lamination, since lamination is performed by heat melting of the surface of the base material, it is appropriate that the breathable material to be laminated is made of the same type of resin as the breathable water-repellent film. The condition is a breathable water-repellent film and a breathable material in combination.
Select appropriately so that it will be 0 sec / 100 cc or less.

Incidentally, if the air permeability of the impermeable root layer wrapped around the side surface of the medium container body satisfies the above range as an average value of the whole, it is partially outside the above range, or another non-air permeable material. Although it may be used, it is preferable that the aeration / water repellent material is 50% or more of the area of the side surface of the culture medium container in order to prevent uneven root growth, and it is even over the entire circumference. Is more desirable.

Further, the range in which the impermeable root layer is wound is preferably the entire side surface of the medium container body, but the range where the hair root does not reach before transplantation may be omitted.

The medium container body allows air to pass through, and is a cylindrical container made of a polyolefin resin, a pottery or the like having a hole such that a granular medium does not leak out, for example, a hole having a diameter of 0.1 to 5 mm. Used.

As a method of attaching the impermeable root layer to the outer periphery of the medium container body, a breathable water-repellent material such as a hot plate seal, a fusing seal, a high frequency seal, a heat seal method such as an ultrasonic seal,
When a culture medium container is inserted into a tubular product formed by an adhesive method using a water-resistant adhesive and the tubular molded product is heat-shrinkable, it can be closely fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the container body by heat treatment. However, in other cases, the upper end of the cylinder may be fixed with, for example, a stapler. Alternatively, after wrapping the breathable water-repellent material around the medium container body, align both ends so that the roots do not substantially pass and finish into a tubular shape with a stapler,
Furthermore, the upper end may be fixed, and finally it may be fixed as an impermeable root layer on the outer periphery of the medium container body.

Similarly, the impermeable root layer may be attached to the inner circumference of the medium container body, and may be considered to be functionally the same.

A medium container may be a container whose side surface is substantially made of a water-repellent material and whose lower portion is made of a water-permeable material capable of holding a medium, without separately using the medium container body.

(Effect of the device) When hydroponics is carried out in the medium container of the present invention, sufficient oxygen is supplied to the roots of the damp due to its suitable air permeability, and due to the water repellency, there is no capillary phenomenon of water containing nutrients, and it is impermeable. No precipitation of nutrients due to water evaporation is observed on the root layer surface, and the crop can grow as well as or better than ordinary soil cultivation.

Further, since the impermeable layer of the present invention does not completely penetrate the root, there is no entanglement of the root with other plants in adjacent containers, and it is easy to move the crop by moving the medium container together. Therefore, the farming period in the production house can be shortened, and the facility and equipment can be highly utilized and labor can be distributed and managed by multi-cycle rotation.

(Examples) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The values measured by the following methods are used for the air permeability and water repellency in the present invention.

Air permeability; JIS P8117 B method Water repellency; JIS L1092 spray test Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 A nursery pot having Earlsmellon seedlings grown in a nursery house for 20 days was installed in a hydroponic house. The culture medium was transferred to a hydroponics device having the structure shown in FIG. 1 (the main body of the culture medium was 10 cm in outer diameter, 40 cm in height, and was made of polyethylene having holes with a diameter of 5 mm on the side and bottom), and the hydroponics was carried out for 30 days. The medium is a granular material of papermaking residue carbonized with superphosphate, the nutrient solution is a normal fertilizer dissolved in water, and a pH-adjusted solution is used.
As the impermeable root layer, the sheet-like materials shown in the columns of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 in Table 1 were wound around and fixed on the portion up to 30 cm from the top of the container body.

For each example, as shown in Table 1, the seedlings were grown well using the impermeable root layer suitable for the conditions of the present invention, but with poor air permeability and water repellency. Those with inferior roots had poor growth.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a hydroponics device using the medium container used in Examples and Comparative Examples. The symbols in the figure are as follows. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Frame plate 2 ... Polyethylene sheet 3 ... Nonwoven fabric 4 ... Silver or mirror film 5 ... Medium container body 6 ... Impermeable root layer sheet 7 ... Nursery pot 8 ... Medium

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A culture medium container comprising a culture medium container body containing a culture medium and having water passage / aeration holes at least on the side surface of the cylinder portion, and an impermeable root layer provided on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of the cylinder portion,
As a culture medium container used in a hydroponics device consisting of a liquid tank containing a culture medium container and a liquid tank upper cover, the hair roots do not substantially penetrate, and the air permeability measured by the JIS P8117 B method is 5,000 se.
Hydroponic culture characterized by having an impermeable root layer consisting essentially of an air-permeable and water-repellent sheet-like material with c / 100cc or less and water repellency measured by JIS L1092 (spray test) of 70 points or more. Culture medium container. 2. A gas-permeable and water-repellent sheet material is a gas-permeable and water-repellent film.
Medium container for hydroponics.