JPS62220125A - Production of plant growing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for producing a plant growing medium, and more particularly to a method for producing a growing medium for agricultural and horticultural purposes using a molded inorganic fiber containing fertilizer as a base material.

Conventional technology Traditionally, natural soil or agglomerated natural soil has often been used as a plant growing medium, but on the other hand, media have also been developed that are based on industrially mass-produced artificial materials. has been done. As such artificial material-based culture medium, in addition to calcined minerals such as vermiculite and perlite, it is known to use inorganic fibers such as rock wool (
(See Special Publication No. 12,642 of 1972). The invention primarily aims to improve soil quality by mixing inorganic fibers into clay soil to increase its ability to adsorb and retain water. Additionally, in Europe, hydroponic cultivation, which uses rock wool, a type of inorganic fiber, molded into plates, granules, or blocks as a culture medium is attracting attention. Such a rock wool medium is made by molding rock wool using a water-soluble phenol resin, melamine resin, etc. as a binder, and contains a water absorbing agent, a pH adjuster, a fertilizer, etc. as necessary.

The water absorbing agent retains the moisture necessary for plant growth, and the pH adjusting agent adjusts the pH suitable for plant growth depending on the medium material and the type of plant.
It is used to provide H, and is also effective when using fertilizers, especially culture media, as materials for raising seedlings. Methods for blending fertilizer into rock wool media include soaking the culture medium in an aqueous fertilizer component solution and drying it, spraying the aqueous solution of fertilizer components onto the culture medium and drying it, or evenly blending fertilizer powder into the culture medium material. There is also a known method in which inorganic fibers are mixed with a binder used during molding and applied together with the binder (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-74,928).
(See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 183-626-1982).

Problems that the invention aims to solveHowever, although the fertilizer solution dipping method allows fertilizer to be mixed uniformly,
It costs a lot of money to dry a large amount of water. The fertilizer liquid spraying method causes problems such as uneven adhesion of the fertilizer and because the fertilizer can only be applied to the surface of the culture medium, it may peel off during transportation or handling. Furthermore, in the binder mixing method, the fertilizer is captured in the binder and gradually eluted after coming into contact with water, so it is slow-release and long-lasting. Cannot be combined. In addition, it was difficult for the fertilizer to adhere uniformly, which sometimes caused problems with the growth and growth of plants.

(Means for Solving the Problems) An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a plant growing medium containing fertilizer uniformly and economically. This is a method for producing a plant growing medium, characterized by injecting an aqueous solution of fertilizer components.

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

The inorganic fibers used in the present invention include rock wool, glass wool, etc., and in particular, the fibers are made by dissolving blast furnace slag produced by blast furnaces in steel plants or natural minerals such as basalt, andesite, and diabase. Rock wool (also called rock wool, slag wool, mineral wool) can be used successfully.

Rock wool is a layered collection of fibers, and in order to mold it into plate shapes, blocks, etc., it is sprayed or impregnated with a binder such as phenol resin or melamine resin with an aqueous solution or dispersion, and then hardened. A culture medium base material is produced by heating in a furnace or the like.

The medium for growing plants is required to have appropriate water absorption and water retention.
For this reason, it is preferable to subject the inorganic fibers to a hydrophilic treatment. For such hydrophilic treatment, it is preferable to add a nonionic surfactant or a polyhydric alcohol.

Nonionic surfactants include alkyl polyoxyethylene ether, alkylphenyl polyoxyethylene ether, alkyl carbonyloxy polyethylene, N,
Representative examples include N-di(polyoxyethylene)alkanamide, fatty acid polyhydric alcohol ester, fatty acid polyhydric alcohol polyoxyethylene ether, fatty acid sig sugar ester, fatty acid monoglyceride, N,N-di(alkanol)alkanamide, etc. Can be mentioned.

In addition, polyhydric alcohols include ethylene glycol,
Propylene glycol, trimethylene glycol, 1.
2-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4
Typical examples include -butanediol, glycerin, butanetriol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polybutylene glycol, diglycerin, and the like.

The appropriate amount of these surfactants added is 0.05 to 5% by weight, preferably 0.3 to 1% by weight, based on the alt-free fiber. If it is less than 0.05% by weight, there will be no effect, and if it exceeds 5% by weight, the wood parentness will not be further improved and the economical efficiency will decrease.

In addition, inorganic fibers such as rock wool contain alkaline components such as Ca and Mg, and when they are immersed in water, the immersion water has a
H increases, so when using a neutral or weakly acidic medium as a medium base for plant growth, use mineral acids such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid, or ammonium salts of these mineral acids, acetic acid, and citric acid. It is preferable to add an organic acid such as , humic acid, nitrofumic acid, etc., and further wash with water as necessary.

In the present invention, fertilizer is injected into such a culture medium base material in the form of an aqueous liquid such as an aqueous solution or an aqueous dispersion. The aqueous fertilizer solution can be efficiently injected by inserting an injector equipped with a large number of injection needles vertically and horizontally into the base material, and forcefully feeding the aqueous fertilizer solution into the injector. The depth of the injection needle may be about half the thickness of the base material, and the density of the injection needle is preferably 0.08 to 0.3/cd. From the viewpoint of drying efficiency, the higher the concentration of fertilizer in the aqueous liquid, the better; however, since the injection needle may become clogged, it is better to have a concentration of about 50 to 300 g/l.

Fertilizer ingredients include nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate, urea, etc., potassium fertilizers such as potassium sulfate, potassium chloride, etc., and phosphoric acid fertilizers such as lime superphosphate, ammonium phosphorus, etc., or one or more of them as appropriate. It is better to mix it.

The density of the culture medium of the present invention is 50 to 250k depending on the purpose of use.
g/171, preferably □ is 70 to 150 kg/n? Good. If it is less than 50/d, the balance between water retention and aeration will be disrupted, resulting in poor plant growth. If it exceeds 250 kg/nl, the germination rate will deteriorate. The shape of the culture medium can be formed into any shape other than plate, block, granule, etc. Since the fibers of the base material manufactured in this way are oriented in the horizontal direction of the base material, plate-shaped molded products used as beds for growing plants are manufactured with the horizontal fibers as they are. Good too.

However, in order to improve the penetration of roots into block-shaped molded products for raising and growing seedlings and mats for raising rice seedlings, the horizontal fiber base material is cut to an appropriate thickness and laid out 90" down to improve the orientation of the fibers. Since the medium is vertical, a vertical fiber base material can be produced by gluing it to a sheet of paper.These mediums may be scored or covered with a plastic film as necessary.

Example 1 15.9% ammonium sulfate, 4% ammonium phosphorous, and potassium sulfate were added to a rock wool cloak with a thickness of 18 mm, a width of 280 mm, and a length of 580 mm, with the fiber direction vertical, and a density of 80 and containing a +r/m water absorbing agent. An aqueous solution of 4.5% fertilizer was injected from the top surface of the mat using a syringe needle at 496 points, ie, 248 mJ, at a depth of 9 mm in the thickness direction using a 18 mm pinch of Q, 5 m 12 per point. This was dried in the open at 120°C for 20 minutes. Fertilizer 60 per product mat
Contains g.

This mantle was placed in a seedling box according to the customary method, and after diving from above, 200g of Saigamomi was sown, and the seedlings were raised in a flat position. Regardless of the type of soil covered, good rice seedlings with no rooting were obtained. .

Example 2 An aqueous fertilizer solution containing 9% ammonium sulfate, 2.3% ammonium phosphorus, and 2.5% potassium sulfate was applied to the top surface of the same rock wool cloak as in Example 1 by 1 mjl per point with a 36 mm pinch for 12 minutes.
8 points, or 128mj! was injected to a depth of 9 mm in the thickness direction using a syringe needle. This was dried in an oven at 120°C for 20 minutes. Each mat contains 18g of fertilizer.

As a result of germinating fir in the same manner as in Example 1 and raising seedlings in a flat position, healthy seedlings with no root uprooting were obtained regardless of the type of covering soil.

As described in detail, the present invention, especially when used as a medium for growing rice seedlings, can produce healthy seedlings with no rooting, regardless of the type of covering soil. Furthermore, although there was a limit in setting the fertilizer concentration, in the present invention, an arbitrary fertilizer concentration can be set because the fertilizer aqueous solution is injected into the mat.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A method for producing a plant growing medium, which comprises injecting an aqueous fertilizer component solution into an inorganic fiber molded product. (2) The method for producing a plant growing medium according to claim 1, in which the aqueous fertilizer component solution is injected using an injection machine equipped with a large number of injection needles.