NL2022851B1

NL2022851B1 - Plant container, method for forming such, and use thereof

Info

Publication number: NL2022851B1
Application number: NL2022851A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Hendrikus Smal Gerardus
Original assignee: Houdstermaatschappij Modiform B V
Priority date: 2019-04-02
Filing date: 2019-04-02
Publication date: 2020-10-08
Also published as: BE1027123A1; DE102020109005A1; BE1027123B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a plant container. For example, the plant container can be a plant tray, such as a growing tray comprising multiple plant compartments. In particular, it may be intended for or used as a growing tray for growing Phalaenopsis or other epiphytes. The plant container comprises a plant compartment for holding a plant pot or a plant. The plant compartment defines a bottom comprising a depressed bottom area, wherein at least one drainage hole, which has an unround shape which may define at least one corner or angle, is located in the depressed bottom area. Advantageously, at least one wall, which extends under an angle with the bottom, may be located at an edge portion of the drainage hole. Preferably, said wall may extend in a substantially upward direction away from the bottom and into the plant compartment.

Description

P121038NL00 Title: Plant container, method for forming such, and use thereof The invention relates to a plant container, in particular a growing tray for growing Phalaenopsis orchids or other epiphytes, comprising a plant compartment for holding a plant pot or a plant, wherein the plant compartment defining a bottom provided with a drainage hole.

Such plant containers with one or more drainage holes in the bottom of a respective plant compartment are known.

For example, a growing tray for growing Phalaenopsis is known, which comprises multiple plant compartments, usually formed as so-called cups, which are arranged for receiving plant substrate for growing the Phalaenopsis therein. A Phalaenopsis or other plant held in the plant compartment needs to be watered now and then. It is as good as impossible to give the plant the exact rightly adjusted amount of water. However, for growing Phalaenopsis, but also when growing or holding one or more other plants, it can be highly desirable that after watering the Phalaenopsis or one or more other plants, excessive water does not remain at the bottom of the plant compartment, for example as such remaining water may cause that aerial roots of a Phalaenopsis or other epiphyte or other roots may rot. Therefore, the bottom of the grow compartment or so-called cup of the known growing tray comprises a circular drainage hole, usually having a diameter of 2.5 mm, 3 mm or 4 mm. However, it has been proven in practice that diameters of up to 4 mm are often not large enough for sufficient drainage. In particular, it has been proven in practice that due to the surface tension of water, water drops remain in the plant compartments and may lie on the drainage holes as the surface tension is high enough to prevent the water inside the drop from flowing through the drainage hole. In order to counteract this phenomenon, the drainage holes sometimes have larger diameter, for instance of 5 mm or 6 mm. However, aerial roots of the Phalaenopsis, and/or other plant parts of the Phalaenopsis or other plant,

can grow through such drainage holes, in particular when the diameter is relatively large, e.g. above 3 mm.

When the Phalaenopsis, or other plant, is grown up to certain desired size and is ready to be transplanted to another plant container, which may have a larger plant compartment, the Phalaenopsis, or other plant, may be damaged upon removing it from the initial plant compartment of the initial plant container if the aerial root or other plant part extends through, or is even jammed in, the drainage hole.

Therefore, it is desirable that on the one hand the diameter of the drainage hole should be as small as possible to counteract aerial roots or other plant parts to grow through the drainage hole, whereas on the other hand the drainage hole should be relatively large in order to counteract that surface tension of a water drop can prevent the water drop from flowing through the drainage hole.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an alternative plant container and/or an alternative method for growing plants.

In particular, it can be an object of the present disclosure to provide a growing method or a plant container, in particular a plant tray or growing tray, wherein at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art growing methods and/or prior art plant containers is counteracted.

More in particular, the present disclosure may aim to provide a growing method or a plant container, in particular a growing tray, wherein at least one of the disadvantages mentioned above is counteracted.

In embodiments, the present disclosure aims at providing a method, a system or a plant container, which on the one hand may counteract that one or more parts of the plant, such as roots, may stay in contact with water unintentionally, whereas it on the other hand may counteract that a plant part, for instance an aerial root, of the plant grows through and/or get stuck within a drainage hole.

Thereto, the present disclosure provides for a plant container, for example a plant tray, such as a growing tray comprising multiple plant compartments, in particular formed as or so-called cups, especially a growing tray for growing orchids or other epiphytes, in particular Cattleya, Bromelia, Anthurium or Phalaenopsis, yet more in particular Phalaenopsis or so-called moth orchids, wherein the plant container comprises at least one plant compartment for holding a plant pot or a plant, the plant compartment defining a bottom provided with a drainage hole, wherein the bottom comprises a depressed bottom area and the drainage hole is located in the depressed bottom area, and wherein the drainage hole has an unround shape, i.e. a shape being different than round.

By arranging the drainage hole in a depressed bottom area, surplus water may be led towards the drainage hole, and by arranging said drainage hole such that it is noncircular or not substantially round, in particular such that it has a shape defining at least one angle or corner and/or at least one substantially straight edge or edge portion, the surface tension may break relatively easily, thereby thus facilitating that water can flow through said drainage hole relatively easily, and counteracting that surplus water unintentionally remains within the plant compartment.

For example, this may be very advantageous in methods of growing or nursing orchids, in particular Phalaenopsis, or other epiphytes, especially as their areal roots may be relatively sensitive to excessive contact with water, in particular as such plants, at least in an early stage, are often grown in relatively small plant compartments of which the bottom may have a width and/or a diameter in the range of 30 mm to 45 mm, and in which relatively large drainage holes can be highly undesirable.

It has surprisingly be found that by providing the plant container with at least one wall located at an edge portion of the drainage hole and extending under an angle with the bottom, said wall preferably extending substantially transverse to the bottom and/or extending substantially in a substantially upward direction, the surface tension may break relatively well.

In preferred embodiments, the wall, which may be formed by a partly cut loose part of sheet material forming the bottom of the plant compartment which is folded over with respect to the said bottom such as to form said wall, may extend upwardly from the edge portion of the drainage hole.

The wall may thus extend into the plant compartment, which may help facilitating that the surface tension may break relatively well.

Besides, by arranging the plant container such that said wall extends upwards, and thus into the plant compartment, and not downwards and out of the plant compartment, may counteract that a hand, in particular a finger, of a user could unintentionally get harmed by a partly cut loose part forming said wall.

By arranging the drainage hole such that it comprises at least two edge portions, at least a first one of said edge portions being provided with a wall extending under an angle with the bottom, and at least a second one of said edge portions being free of a wall extending substantially under an angle with the bottom, the drainage hole may be shaped such that it can facilitate breaking surface tension of a water drop relatively well.

By providing the depressed bottom area of the plant compartment of the plant container with multiple drainage holes, dewatering may be facilitated relatively well.

In embodiments, the multiple drainage holes may be substantially disposed in a circular pattern.

In further embodiments, the bottom may define intermediate bottom portions extending between two adjacent ones of the multiple drainage holes substantially disposed in a circular pattern, said intermediate bottom portions can then be substantially directed towards a central bottom portion around which said multiple drainage holes are disposed, preferably such that said intermediate bottom portions are extending substantially radially away from said central bottom portion.

In yet further embodiments, the at least one wall can be located at an edge portion of the drainage hole that borders a respective one of the intermediate bottom portions. It has surprisingly be found that it may be relatively advantageous when a substantially transverse edge portion of the 5 drainage hole which is substantially transverse to the edge portion bordering the respective intermediate bottom portion is free of such a wall, in particular when said substantially transverse edge portion is located at a side of the drainage hole facing away from other ones of drainage holes substantially disposed in a circular pattern.

The present disclosure also relates to a use of a plant container, in particular wherein the plant container is a growing tray and/or the plant container is used for growing one or multiple Phalaenopsis or one or multiple other epiphytes, such as for instance Bromelia, Anthurium or Cattleya.

Further, the present disclosure relates to a method for forming a plant container.

Advantageous embodiments according to the present disclosure are described in the appended claims. By way of non-limiting examples only, embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a plant container according to an aspect of the present disclosure; and Fig. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of a partly cut-away portion of the plant container of Fig. 1 showing drainage holes of a plant compartment of the plant container; Fig. 3 shows a photograph of a partly cut-away portion of a prototype forming a second embodiment of the plant container showing drainage holes in a bottom of a plant compartment of the plant container;

Fig. 4 shows a partly cut-away part of an embodiment of a tool for forming drainage holes; and Fig. 5 shows schematic top views of eight portions of a bottom of a plant compartment of the plant container of Figs. 1 and 2, wherein drainage holes, which are to be formed, which are being formed and which already have been formed, are schematically shown in different stages thereof.

It is noted that the figures show merely preferred embodiments according to the present disclosure. In the figures, the same or similar reference signs or numbers refer to equal or corresponding parts.

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a plant container 1 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

The plant container 1 comprises at least one, and preferably multiple, plant compartments 10 for holding a plant pot or one or more plants. The or each plant compartment 10 may be arranged and/or intended for receiving plant substrate for growing one or multiple plants therein. However, in other embodiments, the or each plant compartment 10 may be arranged and/or intended to receive a plant pot, which plant pot may then hold one or more plants and/or plant substrate. The plant compartment 10 does thus not necessary need to directly hold plant substrate and/or a plant.

As is shown in the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 1, the plant compartment 10 may for instance have a cup-like shape, for instance having a substantially round shape and/or being shaped substantially as a truncated cone, and may form a so-called cup 10. However, the plant compartment 10 may be shaped differently, and may for instance have a substantially rectangular shape, in particular when seen in a direction from above.

In the shown embodiment, the plant container 1 is formed as a tray 1, in particular a so-called multi-cell tray comprising multiple plant compartments 10 which may form so-called cells. However, in alternative embodiments the tray 1 may be a single cell tray which may define only a single plant compartment. For example, the plant container 1, which thus may be a tray, may have a substantially rectangular shape when seen from above. It is noted that the plant container 1 does not need to be formed as a tray and may be another type of plant container, for instance a plant pot, which may have a substantially round shape when seen from above.

Here, the tray 1 is a growing tray 1 or so-called propagation tray 1 comprising multiple plant compartments 10, which may preferably be formed as so-called cups, especially a growing tray 1 arranged and/or intended and/or used for growing orchids or other epiphytes, in particular Bromelia, Anthurium, Cattleya or Phalaenopsis, yet more in particular Phalaenopsis or so-called moth orchids. The plant container 1, especially when it is formed as a growing tray, more especially when used for growing or nursing relatively young or small plants, such as relatively young Phalaenposis may have relatively small plant compartments. For example, the plant compartment 10, which in embodiments may have a substantially round shape such that its width W12, W13 then may be considered as being a diameter of the plant compartment, may have a width W12, W13 in the range of 2.5 cm to 7 cm. In embodiments, at a top end of the plant compartment 10, which plant compartment 10 may for instance taper towards the bottom 11 of the compartment 10, the plant compartment 10 may have a width W12 of about 3 cm to about 7 cm, preferably a width W12 of about 4 cm to about 6 cm, such as a width W12 or diameter of about 5 cm. Additionally or alternatively, in embodiments, at the bottom end of the plant compartment 10, the plant compartment 10 may have a width W13 of about 2.5 cm to about 4.5 cm, preferably a width W13 of about 3 cm to about 4 cm, such as a width W12 or diameter of about 3.5 cm. However, in alternative embodiments, the plant compartment, which for instance may be a cup for holding a plant pot, may have another width W12, W13, for instance being larger than 7 cm, such as for instance a width of about 8, 10, 11, 15, 19 or 25 cm Or even more.

Additionally or alternatively, in embodiments, the plant compartment 10, which may be substantially cup-shaped, may have a height of about 4 cm to about 10 cm, preferably a height of at least about 5 cm or even at least about 6 cm and/or a height of at most about 9 cm or even at most about 8 cm, such as for instance a height of about 6.5 cm or about 7 cm.

It will be appreciated by the skilled person that the tray 1, which may comprise multiple cups or other plant compartments 10, and in particular when it is used to nurse relatively young and/or relatively small orchids or other plants, may comprise a relatively large number of such plant compartments ten, for instance at least fifteen or at least twenty plant compartments, especially more than thirty or more than forty plant compartments, such as for example sixty plant compartments 10, as is the case in the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 1.

Although the tray 1 or other plant container 1 may be formed by any suitable means, and from any suitable material, the plant container 1 is preferably made from a plastic material, and more preferably by means of a method comprising at least a step of thermoforming, for instance vacuum forming, the plant container 1 or a semi-finished plant container from a plastic sheet material, in particular a thermoplastic polymer sheet material. Additionally or alternatively, the plant container 1 may be made of polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP). However, other materials and/or other manufacturing processes may be used alternatively or additionally, and for example, in embodiments, the plant container 1 may be formed by injection moulding, for instance from PP material or any other suitable material.

Further, it 1s noted that, in particular when the plant tray 1 or other plant container 1 is arranged and/or intended and/or used for growing or nursing orchids, in particular Phalaenopsis, or other epiphytes, but also in other cases, the plant container 1 may be made of a transparent or translucent material, in particular transparent or translucent plastic material such as transparent or translucent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), for instance such as to facilitate that areal roots of the orchid or other epiphyte can be exposed to light relatively well. It is noted that the transparent or translucent material does not necessarily need to be substantially colourless. In embodiments, the transparent or translucent material may be coloured and may for instance be green or may have another colour, and may then for instance still be able to let trough a relatively large amount of light and/or light of certain wavelengths which may be advantageous for one or multiple plants which may be held by the container. Although usage of transparent or translucent material may be advantageous in certain embodiments, in alternative embodiments the plant container 1, or at last one or more parts thereof such as the plant compartment 10 or parts thereof, may not be transparent or translucent, and may be untransparent or opaque, for example to counteract to at least some extent that roots will be exposed to light. Although the plant container 1 may thus be formed as a tray 1, it is noted that the plant container 1 is not restricted to a tray. For example, in alternative embodiments, the plant container 1 may for instance be a plant pot, which may have a single plant compartment 10. As can be seen in Fig. 1, the plant compartment 10 defines a bottom 11. The bottom 11 is provided with a drainage hole 2, and in the here shown embodiment with multiple drainage holes 2. The drainage hole 2, especially a through hole, can define a passage for draining. It 1s noted that the bottom 11 comprises a depressed bottom area

14. In particular, the upper side of the bottom 10, which can be considered the side of the bottom facing upwards and being located inside the plant compartment 10, is depressed with respect to an adjacent area of the bottom

11. In embodiments, the depressed bottom area 14 may define a depression, in particular a depression formed as a dimple. Said depression or dimple may, at least in embodiments, be depressed to only a little extent. For example, in embodiments, the lowest point of the depression may lay only between about 0.3 mm and about 5 mm lower than the adjacent area of the bottom 11, for example between about 0.5 mm and about 2 mm lower, such as about 1 mm lower.

In embodiments, multiple drainage holes 2 may be located in the depressed bottom area 14, such as is the case in the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures.

Further, it 1s noted that the at least one drainage hole 2, and in case of multiple drainage holes 2 preferably multiple ones thereof and more preferably even each one of the drainage holes 2, is located in the depressed bottom area 14. Preferably, the depressed bottom area 14 may slope down to some extent, especially such as to facilitate that water can run down the bottom 11 toward the drainage hole 2 or towards one or multiple respective drainage holes 2 in case of multiple drainage holes 2.

It is noted that the depressed bottom area 14 does not necessarily needs to form the lowest point of the bottom 11. For instance, as for example also is the case in the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 1, one or multiple hollow legs 9 or feet 9 of the plant container 1, which for example may serve as one or multiple spacers for spacing the under side of the one or multiple bottoms 11 of the one or multiple plant compartments 10 from a surface on which the plant container 1 may be positioned during use of the plant container 1, may form a lower point in the upper side of the bottom 11 than the depressed bottom area 14 does. Preferably, the one or multiple drainage holes 2, which in embodiments together may form a drainage rosette, may be located in a relatively central area of the bottom 11, whereas the one or more legs of feet 9 may be located at a more outward area of the bottom 11 located closer to an outer edge of the bottom 11 of the plant compartment.

It will be appreciated that the plant container 1 may in alternative embodiments be provided with one or more alternatively formed legs or feet, or may alternatively be free of any leg or foot.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, and such as can be seen in Fig. 2 which shows a schematic perspective view of a partly cut-away portion of the plant container 1 of Fig. 1, and such as can be seen in Fig. 3 which also a partly cut-away portion of an embodiment of the plant container 1 with drainage holes 2 in the bottom 11 of one of its plant compartments 10, the drainage hole 2 has an unround shape, i.e. a nonround shape or a shape being not round.

In particular, the drainage hole 2 has a shape which is not round when seen in a direction substantially transverse to the bottom and/or seen in a direction substantially transverse to the upper side of the bottom.

It has been surprisingly found that such an unround shape of the drainage hole 2 may facilitate that the surface tension of water drops may break relatively easily, thereby thus facilitating that water can flow through said drainage hole 2 relatively easily, and counteracting that surplus water unintentionally remains behind at the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10. Advantageously, as can be seen relatively well in Figs. 2 and 3, as well as in Fig. 5 showing schematic top views of different stages 2A-2H of drainage holes 2 which are to be formed, being formed, and have already been formed, the drainage hole 2 can have a shape defining at least one angle or corner 20, 20’, which then may help facilitating breaking the surface tension.

In particular, at least one of the at least one angle 20, 20’ or corner 20, 20’ can enclose a relatively small angle a of at most 135°, preferably at most 110°. As can be seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, different angles or corners 20, 20’ of a drainage hole 2 may define angles a, a’ that differ from each other.

In embodiments, such as for instance is the case in each of the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures, the shape of the drainage hole 2 may for instance approach the shape of a trapezium, in particular an acute trapezoid having two acute angles a on its longer base edge 21, more in particular an isosceles trapezoid having two sides 22, 23 of substantially the same length and having two acute base angles a of substantially the same measure. It will be appreciated that although the shape of the drainage hole 2 may for instance approach the shape of a trapezium or so-called trapezoid, it does not need to form a perfect trapezium or trapezoid to do so. For example, the longer base edge 21 and/or the shorter base edge 23 may be curved to some extent and may for instance be substantially formed as an arc, as can be seen in Fig. 5.

As is the case in the exemplary embodiments here shown in the figures, multiple drainage holes 2 may be substantially disposed in a circular pattern. In particular, the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 may then define intermediate bottom portions 53 extending between two adjacent ones of the multiple drainage holes 2 substantially disposed in such circular pattern, and said multiple drainage holes 2 may then for instance form a rosette group or a drainage rosette. More in particular, said intermediate bottom portions 53 may substantially be directed towards a central bottom portion 54 around which said multiple drainage holes 2 are disposed, preferably such that said intermediate bottom portions 53 are extending substantially radially away from said central bottom portion 54.

For example, in particular in such embodiments, the drainage holes 2 may somewhat taper, especially towards said central bottom portion

54.

For instance then, the angles or corners 20, 20’ of a drainage hole 2 may define angles a, o’ that differ from each other, in particular wherein angles q’ of corners or angles 20’ located near the central bottom portion 54 are larger than angles a of corners or angles 20 located at opposite regions more away from the central bottom portion 54. In particular, the angles a’ of corners or angles 20’ located near the central bottom portion 54 may be obtuse angles a’, whereas the angles a of the corners or angles 20 located at opposite regions more away from the central bottom portion 54 may be acute angles a. In preferred embodiments, the drainage hole 2 may have a shape defining at least one substantially straight edge 22, 23 or substantially straight edge portion 22, 23.

Advantageously, the plant container 1 may further comprise at least one wall 3 located at an edge portion 22, 23 of the drainage hole 2 and extending under an angle B with the bottom 11. Preferably, as will be further discussed below, the wall 3 may be formed by a part 3 of sheet material 80 for forming the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 which is cut loose partly and folded over with respect to said bottom 11 such as to form the wall 3 that preferably extends substantially in the substantially upward direction D3, and said edge portion 22, 23 may then be formed by a folding line 22, 23 along which the part 3 of sheet material forming said wall 3 is folded over with respect to the bottom 11.

Here, the drainage hole 2 comprises two of such walls 3, but in alternative embodiments the drainage hole may for instance be provided with only a single wall 3 or with more than two walls. It is noted that the walls 3, which may be not or almost not visible in Fig. 1, are visible relatively well in for instance Figs. 2 and 3.

Preferably, the wall 3 can extend substantially transverse to the bottom 11 and/or extending substantially in a substantially upward direction D3. For example, the angle 6 between the direction in which the wall 3 extends away from the bottom 11 may lay between 60° and 120° preferably between 70° and 110°, and may for instance be about 90° as for instance 1s the case in situations corresponding with situation 2G in Fig. 5, such that the wall 3 or walls 3 may extend substantially vertically. Alternatively, said angle 8 may be smaller than 90° such as for instance is the case situations corresponding with situation 2F in Fig. 5, such that the wall 3 or walls 3 may be located above or below a part of the drainage hole

2. Alternatively, said angle 6 may be larger than 90°, such as for instance is the case situations corresponding with situation 2H in Fig. 5, such that the wall 3 or walls 3 may be located above or below a part or portion 53 of the bottom 11 located adjacent to the drainage hole 2, said part or portion 53 for example being an intermediate bottom portion 53 extending between two adjacent drainage holes 2. It will be appreciated that in case of multiple walls 3 per drainage hole 2, and/or in case of multiple drainage holes 2 provided with at least one wall 3, not all walls 3 need to extend under the same B between the bottom and the direction in which the respective wall 3 extends away from the bottom 11. Although the wall 3 may preferably be extending upwardly from the respective edge portion 22, 23 of the drainage hole 2, such that said wall 3 may thus extend into the plant compartment 10, the substantially upwardly extending wall 3 may alternatively extend downwards from the respective edge portion 22, 23 of the drainage hole 2. Advantageously, the wall 3 can have a certain height H3, preferably being at least 0.2 mm, more preferably at least 0.3 mm, yet more preferably at least 0.4 mm, such as at least 0.5 mm. Said height H3 can be measured substantially transverse to the bottom 11, and may alternatively, or additionally, be measured substantially along the wall 3 and transverse to the edge or portion 22, 23 of the drainage hole 2 at which the wall 3 is located. In preferred embodiments, the wall 3 can have a thickness T3 of at least 50% of the thickness T11 of the bottom 11. In particular, the thickness T3 of the wall 3 may substantially corresponds with the thickness T11 of the bottom 11, in particular when the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10, preferably the substantially the entire plant compartment 10, and more preferably the entire plant tray 1 or other plant container 1, is substantially formed by sheet material 80, such as by thermoforming.

As mentioned above, the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 can, at least in embodiments, thus be formed by sheet material 80, and the wall 3 can be formed by a part 81, 82 of said sheet material 80 which is cut loose partly and folded over with respect said bottom 11, in particular along a folding edge 22, 23 or edge portion 22, 23, such as to form the wall 3. Advantageously, the drainage hole 2 can comprise at least two edge portions 21, 22, 23, 24, at least a first one 22, 23 of said edge portions being provided with a wall 3 extending under an angle B with the bottom 11, and at least a second one 21, 24 of said edge portions 22 being free of a wall extending substantially under an angle B with the bottom 11, in particular wherein said first one 22, 23 and said second one 21, 24 of the edge portions 21-24 are located adjacent to each other, as that may facilitate breaking surface tension of a water drop.

As for instance is the case in the exemplary embodiments of Figs. 2,3 and 5, at least one wall 3 can be located at an edge portion 22, 23 of the drainage hole 2 that borders a respective one of the intermediate bottom portions 53. Preferably, one or multiple walls 3 may then extend substantially radially away from the central bottom portion 54. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more inner edges or inner edge portions 24 located near the central bottom portion 54 and/or one or more outer edges or outer edge portions 21 located at opposite regions more away from the central bottom portion 54 may be substantially free of a wall 3 extending substantially under an angle B with the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10. It is noted that, preferably, the plant container 1 can be made by means of a method which comprises a step of forming at least one drainage hole 2, wherein said step of forming the drainage hole 2 may comprise a step of partly cutting loose at least one part 81, 82 of sheet material 80 that will form the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10. In particular, the method may comprise an initial step of providing a semi-finished plant container, and preferably the step of forming the at least one drainage hole 2 can then be carried out after said initial step of providing the semi-finished plant container.

The step of providing the semi-finished plant container may comprise a step of forming, in particular thermoforming, said semi-finished plant container.

After the semi-finished plant container, e.g. a semi-finished tray not yet comprising the one or multiple drainage holes 2, is formed, the one or multiple drainage holes 2 may be created.

However, it is not necessary that the holes or holes 2 are formed afterwards, and in alternative embodiments, for instance in case the plant container 1 would be made by means of injection moulding, the holes 2 may be formed substantially simultaneously with the rest of the plant container 1. It will be appreciated that the initial step may be preceded by one or more other steps, and does thus not necessarily have to be the first and foremost step o the method.

It is noted that when the wall 3 is formed from a part 81, 82 of sheet material 80 which is cut loose partly and folded over, in particular along a folding line 22, 23, it may preferably have been cut by means of a tool 6, in particular a punch 6. An exemplary embodiment of such tool 6 is shown in Fig. 4, and will be further discussed below.

It is noted that such punch 6 or other tool, which may be for forming one or more drainage holes 2 in the bottom 11 of a respective plant compartment 10 of the container 1, may be coupled or integrated with one or more other tools or tool parts.

For example, multiple punches 6 or other tools may be coupled or integrated such as enable providing multiple plant compartments 10 of a plant container 1 with one or more drainage holes substantially simultaneously.

Additionally or alternatively, the punch 6 or other tool may be coupled or integrated with another cutting or punching tool or tool part, for instance a cutting or punching tool or tool part for cutting an edge portion 15 of the plant container 1 loose of a further part of the sheet material 80 from which it 1 can be formed.

The method may further comprise a step of folding over said at least one part 81, 82 of partly cut loose sheet material 80 such as to form at least one wall 3 located at an edge portion 22, 23 of the drainage hole 2, wherein said wall 3 extends substantially under an angle B with the sheet material 80 from which it 3; 81, 82 is partly cut loose. In advantageous embodiments, the tool 6 used to cut partly loose the wall 3, may also be used to fold over the wall 3 with respect to the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10, preferably in a substantially integral and/or substantially continuous manner.

Advantageously, at least one part 81, 82 of partly cut loose sheet material 80 can be partly cut loose by cutting or punching through the sheet material 80 that will form the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 in a direction corresponding with a direction directed from below the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 towards inside said plant compartment 10. The drainage hole 2 can then be cut by cutting or punching sheet material of the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 in direction directed from below the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 towards inside said plant compartment 10. However, in alternative embodiments the one or more drainage holes 2 may be formed by cutting of punching from the inside of the plant compartment 10 out, i.e. in a direction directed from the upper side of the bottom 11 to the lower side of the bottom 11.

With respect to the tool 6, it 1s noted that it may have at least one and preferably multiple tool portions 60 each defining at least two elongate cutting edges 61, 62 converging into a piercing point 66, and may preferably be defining three elongate cutting edges 61, 62, 63 converging into said piercing point 66. In particular embodiments, such as for instance is the case in the shown exemplary embodiment shown in Fig. 5 which shows schematic top views of eight portions of the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10 of the plant container 1 in which eight different stages 2A-2H of drainage holes 2, which are to be formed, see stage 2A, which are being formed, see stages 2B-2E, and which have already been formed, see stages 2F-2H, firstly said piercing point 66 is pushed into the sheet material 80 that forms the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10, and subsequently the tool portion 60 is pushed further into or through said sheet material such that the at least two, and preferably three, cutting edges 61-63 cut through the sheet material 80 to a certain extent, as can be understood form stage 2B in Fig. 5, thereby partly cutting loose at least one part 81-82, and preferably two parts 81-82, of the sheet material 80, wherein said at least one part 81-82 being cut loose partly is cut loose along at least two cutting Lines 71 and 72; 71 and 73 cut by the two cutting edges 61 and 62; 62 and 63 that converge into the piercing point 66 of the tool portion 60.

In case of using two cutting edges 61 and 62; 61 and 63 per partly cut loose part 81, 82 of sheet material, the partly cut loose part 81, 82 may, once folded over, form a substantially triangular wall, as may be understood from stage 2B in Fig. 5 in which stage the tool portion 60 is not yet protruding far enough such that also the further cutting edges 64, 65 cut through the sheet material 80. However, in embodiments, three cutting edges 61, 62 and 64; 61, 63 and 65 can be used to cut partly loose a respective part 81, 82 of sheet material for forming a respective wall 3, such that said wall 3 may be substantially formed as a substantially trapezium shaped, in particular substantially rectangular shaped, wall 3, as for instance can be seen in Figs. 2 and 5, in particular in stages 2D and 2E in which the further cutting edges 64, 65 are cutting through the sheet material 80, as well as in stages 2F-2H which show stages of a completely formed drainage hole 2 from which the tool portion 60 has been withdrawn.

For instance therefore, the respective tool portion 60 of the used tool 6 may comprise at least one further cutting edge 64, 65 extending away in a substantially sideward from a first one 61 of the cutting edges, which first cutting edge 61 extend from the piercing point 66 to said further cutting edge 64, 65. Here, the tool portion 60 comprises two of such further cutting edges 64, 65, here forming a fourth and a fifth cutting edge 64, 65, each of which extends away from a lower end 67 of the first cutting edge 61, as can be seen in Fig. 4.

The first cutting edge 61 of the tool 6 may cut the cutting line 71, which may define the upper ends 31 of the walls 3, or the lower ends of the wall in case the walls would be folded downwards in stead of upwards, and which is cut at the location of the dotted line 71’ in stage 2A of Fig. 5. The second and third cutting edges 62, 63 of the tool 6 may cut the cutting lines 72, 73, which together may define an edge 21, in particular an outer edge 21, of the drainage hole 2, and which are cut at the locations of the dotted lines 72’, 73’ in stage 2A of Fig. 5, whereas the fourth and fifth cutting edges 64, 65 of the tool 6 may cut the cutting lines 74, 75, which together may define a further edge 24, in particular an inner edge 24, of the drainage hole 2, and which are cut at the locations of the dotted lines 74’, 75’ in stage 2A of Fig. 5. These second, third, fourth and fifth cutting edges 62-65 may further also define sides, in particular lateral sides 32-35, of the wall 3. The striped lines 24’, 23’ in stage 2A of Fig. 5 define the locations where the partly cut sheet portions 81, 82 will be folded over, once cut loose partly, and where they stay connected to the bottom 11 and define further edges 22, 23, in particular lateral edges or side edges of the drainage hole 2. As further may be understood from the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 4, the tool 6 may comprise multiple tool portions 60, each for forming a respective drainage hole 2 and one or multiple walls 3 provided at an edge or edges of said respective drainage hole 2. For example, the tool 6 may be formed by a punch, in particular an off-the-shelf punch, which is not punched completely through the sheet material 80 of the bottom 11 of the plant compartment 10, such that the outer edges 21 of adjacent holes 2 are not joining up to each other, such that the punch does not cut out a relatively large hole substantially having the diameter of the tool 6 and/or substantially covering an area of the bottom provided with the drainage holes 2 and the central bottom portion 54. Here, the tool 6 has eight tool portions 60 for forming eight drainage holes 2, but alternatively the tool 6 may have another number of tool portions 60, e.g. a single tool portion. Alternatively, for instance tools 6 with two, three, four, five, or six tool portions 60 are possible, or tools with seven or even more than eight tool portions 60.

It is noted that for the purpose of clarity and a concise description features are described herein as part of the same or separate embodiments, however, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present disclosure and the one or multiple underlying inventive concepts may include embodiments having combinations of all or some of the features described.

Further, it 1s noted that the present disclosure and the claimed invention are not restricted to the embodiments described herein. It will be understood that many variants are possible.

It is noted that although in the shown embodiments the plant container is formed as a growing tray comprising multiple plant compartments which may directly hold plant substrate, for instance formed by a grow plug, the plant container may be a different type of plant container. For example, the plant container may be formed as a transport tray comprising multiple compartments formed as cups that each may hold a respective plant pot. As another example, the plant container may be formed as a so-called carrier or open tray which may comprise only a single plant compartment, which may be relatively large, for example having a width and/or length of over 25 cm, and which may directly hold plant substrate in which multiple plants can be growing, and which plant container for instance may be a seed propagation tray or a cutting propagation tray. The plant container may also be formed as a plant pot or the like having a single plant compartment. As yet a further example, the plant container may also be formed as a carrier comprising multiple compartments that each can directly hold substrate or as a carrier arranged for carrying multiple plant containers such as plant pots, carry packs, or trays, which are relatively small in comparison with said carrier.

Such and other variants will be apparent for the person skilled in the art and are considered to lie within the scope of the invention as formulated in the following claims.

Claims

Conclusions

A plant container, comprising a plant compartment for accommodating a plant pot or a plant, the plant compartment defining a bottom provided with a drainage hole, the bottom comprising a lowered bottom region and the drainage hole located in the lowered bottom region, and wherein the drainage hole has an unround shape.

The plant container of claim 1, wherein the drainage hole has a shape that defines at least one corner.

3. Plant container according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the at least one corner includes an angle of a maximum of 135 °.

The plant container of any preceding claim, wherein the drainage hole has a shape that defines at least one substantially straight edge or at least one substantially straight edge portion.

Plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one wall disposed on an edge portion of the drainage hole and extending at an angle to the bottom, said wall preferably extending substantially transversely to the bottom. and / or substantially in a substantially upward direction.

The plant container of claim 5, wherein the wall extends upward from the edge of the drama hole.

Plant container according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the wall has a height of at least 0.2 mm, preferably at least 0.3 mm, more preferably at least 0.4 mm, such as at least 0.5 mm.

Plant container according to any one of claims 5-7, wherein the wall has a thickness of at least 50% of the thickness of the bottom, preferably wherein the thickness of the wall substantially corresponds to the thickness of the bottom.

Plant container according to any one of claims 5-8, wherein the bottom of the plant compartment is formed by sheet material, and wherein the wall is formed by a part of said sheet material which is partially cut loose and folded over with respect to said bottom to so to form the wall that preferably whitens in the substantially upward direction.

A plant container according to any one of claims 5-9, wherein the drainage hole comprises at least two edge portions, at least a first of said edge portions having a wall extending at an angle to the bottom, and at least a second of said edge portions. said edge portions are free from a wall extending substantially at an angle to the bottom.

Plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of drainage holes located in the lowered bottom area.

Plant container according to claim 11, wherein a plurality of drainage holes are disposed substantially in a circular pattern.

The plant container of claim 12, wherein the bottom defines intermediate bottom portions extending between two adjacent ones of the plurality of drain holes disposed substantially in a circular pattern, said intermediate bottom portions facing substantially a central bottom portion around which said plurality of drainage holes are disposed, preferably such that said intermediate bottom portions extend substantially radially away from said central bottom portion.

A plant container according to claim 13, wherein claim 11 is directly or indirectly dependent on claim 5, wherein the at least one wall is located on an edge portion of the drainage hole that is adjacent to a respective one of the intermediate bottom portions.

15. Plant container according to claim 9 or any one of claims 10-14 insofar as it depends directly or indirectly on claim 9, wherein the part of the plate material which has been partially cut loose and folded over has been cut by means of a tool, in particular a tool. punching or enlarging tool having a tool portion defining at least two elongated cutting edges that converge to a piercing point, the tooling portion preferably defining three elongated cutting edges converging toward the piercing point, with the said piercing point in the sheet material being the bottom of the plant compartment is pushed, and then the tool portion is pushed further into or through said plate material such that the at least two, and preferably three, cutting edges cut through the plate material to some extent, thereby at least a portion, and preferably two parts, of the sheet mate rial partially cutting loose, said at least one portion being partially cut loose being cut loose along at least two cutting lines cut by the two cutting edges converging in the piercing tip.

A plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plant container is a plant tray, such as, for example, a plurality of plant compartments, preferably formed as so-called cups, comprising a growing tray, in particular a growing tray for growing orchids or other epiphytes, in particular Cattleya, Bromeliad,

Anthurium or Phalaenopsis, more particularly Phalaenopsis or so-called butterfly orchids.

A method for forming a plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, preferably a plant container according to claim 9, such as a plant container according to any one of claims 10-14 insofar as it directly or indirectly depends on claim 9, comprising the steps of: forming at least one drainage hole, the step of forming the drainage hole comprising a step of partially cutting loose at least a portion of sheet material that will form the bottom of the plant compartment, and folding over said at least one portion of partially cut sheet material so as to form at least one wall disposed on an edge portion of the drainage hole, said wall extending substantially at an angle to the sheet material from which it has been partially cut away.

A method according to claim 17, wherein at least a portion of partially cut sheet material is partially cut loose by cutting or punching through the sheet material that will form the bottom of the plant compartment in a direction corresponding to a direction directed from below the bottom. from the plant compartment towards inside said plant compartment.

A method according to claim 17 or 18, comprising an initial step of providing a plant container semi-finished product, and wherein the step of forming the at least one drainage hole is performed after said initial step of providing the plant container semi-finished product. .

A method according to any one of claims 17-19, wherein the step of partially cutting loose the at least part of the sheet material that will form the bottom of the plant compartment is carried out using a tool, in particular a tool to punch or enlarge holes, which has a tool portion that defines at least two elongated cutting edges converging towards a piercing point, and preferably defining three elongated cutting edges converging towards the piercing point, first pushing said piercing point into the sheet material covering the bottom of the plant compartment, and then the tool portion is pushed further into or through said sheet material such that the at least two, and preferably three, cutting edges cut through the sheet material to some extent, at least a portion, and preferably two partially cutting parts from the sheet material, whereby h The said at least one portion that is partially cut loose is cut loose along at least two cutting lines cut by the two cutting edges converging in the piercing tip.

Use of a plant container according to any one of claims 1-16, preferably wherein the plate container is a growing tray and / or used for growing Phalaenopsis or other epiphytes, such as, for example, Anthurium, Bromeliad or Cattleya.