TWI397373B - Plant growing medium manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Method for manufacturing plant cultivation medium

The present invention relates to a plant cultivation medium, and more particularly to a cultivation medium made of a polyvinyl alcohol foam.

The growth stages of plants can be generally divided into: root development, seed stage, flower bud differentiation stage, flowering stage, and fruiting stage. Among them, the root development and plant growth stage of seedling colonization or plant transplantation decide whether or not to plant in the future. The key point of high-quality plants, therefore, how to match the plant growth stage, pay attention to the needs of the functional development direction to give appropriate nutrients is important, and in order to provide sufficient nutrients and moisture and support the root development of plants, select the appropriate cultivation medium Become one of the important factors affecting the development of plants.

Take orchids, one of Taiwan's exporting flowers, as an example. The requirements for cultivation media are mainly ventilation, good water saturation, easy adhesion of nutrients, pH value, stable EC value, etc. The most important thing is that the cultivation medium must be For cleaning, there are no pests and diseases; at present, the planters mostly use snakewood and sphagnum as the main cultivation medium, and also cultivated with coconut shells; however, the above-mentioned cultivation mediums are formed by processing natural plants, so it is easy to attach Bacteria or pests that are harmful to the growth of orchids must be sterilized and sterilized before they can be planted. In addition, snakes or snakes have large gaps between tissues and nutrients are not easy to adhere, which increases the difficulty of fertilization. Because the water absorption is too good, it will cause insufficient gas permeability, and it is easy to cause the orchid to rot due to too long time. As for the coconut shell, although the root system can develop well, it is not easy to rot and does not meet the requirements of environmental protection. Besides, when the coconut is When the acidity of the shell is too strong, it needs to be adjusted. At the same time, when the organic matter is decomposed, it will compete with the nitrogen of the plant. Supplementary material, all these are increasing the difficulty of orchid cultivation.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a novel method for manufacturing a plant cultivation medium is proposed to improve the above-mentioned problems.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a cultivation medium which is mainly composed of a polyvinyl alcohol foam and has biodegradability, hydrophilicity, high water content and high gas permeability to provide sufficient water, nutrient and air permeability of the plant. Support the development of plant roots and strengthen plant growth.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing the above-mentioned cultivation medium by secondary foaming using polyvinyl alcohol as a substrate.

In order to achieve the above object, a plant cultivation medium provided by the present invention is a hydrophilic foam obtained by producing a crosslinked structure of polyvinyl alcohol and an aldehyde and a pore former, and the crosslinked structure is formed with a pore diameter of 5 mm ( Mm) ~30μm (micrometer) of pores.

In addition, the present invention provides a method for producing the above plant cultivation medium, and the method comprises the steps of: (a) preparing a mixed material: adding an aldehyde and a pore forming agent to the polyvinyl alcohol to obtain a mixed material; (b) the first foaming, obtaining a cultivation medium semi-finished product: the first step of foaming the mixed material of step (a) in an acidic environment of pH ≦4 to obtain a semi-finished cultivation medium having a crosslinked structure; c) pulverizing the medium of cultivation medium: pulverizing the semi-finished product of the cultivation medium into particles having a particle diameter of 1 cm to 0.5 mm; (d) preparing a foaming material: mixing the particles of the step (c) with polyvinyl alcohol and an aldehyde to obtain a Foaming material; (e) second foaming, obtaining a cultivation medium product: the foaming material of step (d) is subjected to a second foaming in an acidic environment of pH ≦4, thereby obtaining a finished cultivation medium.

Further, preferably, the cultivation medium prepared as described above has an opening ratio of 75 to 95% of the total volume and a water content of 4 to 9 times.

In order to enable the reviewing committee to have a better understanding and understanding of the purpose, features and effects of the present invention, the following detailed description is as follows: First, a plant cultivation medium provided by the present invention is mainly composed of polyvinyl alcohol and aldehydes and The pore-forming agent produces a hydrophilic foam obtained by crosslinking the structure, and through secondary foaming, as shown in Fig. 1, the crosslinked structure is formed into a high-density pore.

The invention uses polyvinyl alcohol and an aldehyde to be foamed by an acetal reaction under an acidic environment of pH ≦4 to produce a polyvinyl alcohol foam having a crosslinked structure, wherein: the amount of the polyvinyl alcohol accounts for The total volume of the cultivation medium is 5-12%; the aldehyde is selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde or acetaldehyde, and the amount thereof is 5% of the total volume of the cultivation medium. The acidic environment may be formed by a hydrochloric acid aqueous solution or a sulfuric acid aqueous solution of pH ≦4, and the amount thereof is 3% to 10% of the total volume of the cultivation medium.

The pore-forming agent is added to the polyvinyl alcohol together with the aldehyde to provide the polyvinyl alcohol to form a pore having a larger foaming pore diameter by coating the pore-forming agent during foaming with the aldehyde; The pore-forming agent of the invention is selected from the group consisting of baking soda powder, foaming powder or starch of any kind, wherein the starch comprises corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, etc., and the amount thereof is 1-12% of the total volume of the cultivation medium. .

The invention also provides a method for producing the plant cultivation medium, as shown in Fig. 1, the method steps comprising (a) preparing a mixed material, (b) first foaming, obtaining a semi-finished medium for cultivation, and (c) pulverizing cultivation a medium semi-finished product, (d) a foaming material, and (e) a second foaming, to obtain a finished medium, wherein:

(a) preparing a mixed material: adding an aldehyde and a pore forming agent to the polyvinyl alcohol to obtain a mixed material; in the present invention, the aldehyde is formaldehyde, and the pore forming agent is selected from the group consisting of starch;

(b) the first foaming, obtaining a cultivation medium semi-finished product: the first step of foaming the mixed material of step (a) in an acidic environment of pH ≦4 to obtain a semi-finished product of a cultivation medium having a crosslinked structure; In the present invention, the acetal reaction of formaldehyde and polyvinyl alcohol is carried out to foam to form a crosslinked structure, and the pores are formed through the starch, so that the crosslinked structure of the semi-finished product of the cultivation medium is formed with a large foaming pore diameter; The foaming time of step (b) is 4 to 12 hours, and the foaming temperature is 40 to 70 ° C;

(c) pulverizing the medium of cultivation medium: pulverizing the semi-finished product of the cultivation medium into particles having a particle diameter of 1 cm to 0.5 mm;

(d) preparing a foaming material: mixing the microparticles of the step (c) with polyvinyl alcohol and an aldehyde to obtain a foaming material; in the present invention, the step (d) may also be added to the pore forming agent as needed. To increase the foaming aperture of the second foaming;

(e) the second foaming, obtaining a finished medium for the cultivation medium: the foaming material of the step (d) is subjected to the second foaming to obtain a finished product of the cultivation medium; in the present invention, the first step of the step (e) The secondary foaming time is 4 to 12 hours, the foaming temperature is 40 to 70 ° C, and the finished medium is formed into a foaming pore diameter of 1 mm to 50 μm, and the opening ratio is 75 to 95%; and the microparticles are The amount of the step (d) is 20% to 80% of the total volume of the finished culture medium, and the amount thereof is determined by the plant variety, and the orchid is taken as an example, and the preferred ratio thereof is 50-80%.

According to step (a) to step (b), in the first foaming: foaming time 4~12 hours, foaming temperature 40~70 °C, pore forming agent is starch, aldehyde is formaldehyde, etc. For example, the composition of the total volume of semi-finished products in 1000ml is as follows:

According to the steps (c) to (e), the second foaming: the primary foaming semi-finished product has a particle diameter of 1 cm to 0.5 mm, the foaming time is 4 to 12 hours, the foaming temperature is 40 to 70 ° C, and the pore forming agent is Under the conditions of starch and aldehyde as formaldehyde, the composition of each embodiment in the total volume of finished products is 1000ml. The following table is as follows:

Thereby, according to the above manufacturing method, the semi-finished product formed by adding the polyvinyl alcohol to the aldehyde and the pore-forming agent after the first foaming is pulverized into granules, and the granulated semi-finished product is made of polyvinyl alcohol and aldehydes. The pore agent is mixed and subjected to the second foaming to obtain a plant cultivation medium having biodegradability and hydrophilicity; wherein, as shown in FIG. 2, a schematic cross-sectional view showing the pore structure of the cultivation medium of the present invention, the cultivation medium The crosslinked structure 101 in one foam molding has a high-density small pores 11 , and after the second foaming, the newly formed crosslinked structure and the semi-finished particles 102 have small pores 11 , the new molding The mesoporous pores 12 are formed between the joint structure 101 and the added semi-finished particles 102. Where the pore former is originally coated, the macroporous pores 13 are formed after the pore former is removed, so the SEM as shown in Fig. 3 In the figure, the cultivation medium is formed with a pore size of 5 mm to 30 μm; and the secondary foaming causes the opening ratio of the cultivation medium to reach 75 to 95% of the total volume, so that the cultivation medium has a dry cultivation medium weight of 4 to 9 times. Water-containing multiple; in addition, due to the cultivation Hydrophilic nature of the moisture adhering to fill the pores of the cultivating medium, has good water retention moisturizing effect, so that the water can not evaporate.

It is worth mentioning that when the amount of the primary foamed semi-finished product is 30-50%, it has a better composition for orchid planting. The invention adopts the crosslinked structure produced by the foaming of polyvinyl alcohol, and the high-density pores formed after the secondary foaming make the cultivation medium have a good water retaining effect, and can achieve the control of the amount of water attached to the cultivation medium. Balanced moisture and breathability, so that the roots of orchids or other plants can absorb sufficient water and nutrients in a high air permeability environment. At the same time, the cultivation medium is difficult to make water molecules for a long time due to its good moisturization. Evaporation can also reduce the number of times the grower is watering and reduce the difficulty of fertilization, and achieve the purpose of supporting the development of orchid roots and strengthening plant growth.

10‧‧‧Cultivation medium

101‧‧‧ cross-linked structure

102‧‧‧Semi-finished granules

11‧‧‧Small pores

12‧‧‧Mesoporous pores

13‧‧‧Macropores

a‧‧‧Preparation of mixed materials

b‧‧‧First foaming, a semi-finished medium

c‧‧‧Crushing medium of cultivation medium

d‧‧‧Preparation of foaming materials

e‧‧‧Second foaming, a finished cultivation medium

Fig. 1 is a flow chart showing the production of the cultivation medium of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the constitution of the cultivation medium of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an SEM image of the cultivation medium of the present invention.

10. . . Cultivation medium

101. . . Crosslinked structure

102. . . Semi-finished grain

11. . . Small pore

12. . . Mesoporous pore

13. . . Macroporous pore

Claims (10)

A method for manufacturing a plant cultivation medium, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a mixed material: adding an aldehyde and a pore forming agent to a polyvinyl alcohol to obtain a mixed material; and (b) first foaming to obtain a cultivation medium. Semi-finished product: the first step of foaming the mixed material of step (a) in an acidic environment of pH ≦4, the foaming time is 4 to 12 hours, the foaming temperature is 40 to 70 ° C, and a crosslinked structure is obtained. Semi-finished product of cultivation medium; (c) semi-finished product of pulverizing cultivation medium: pulverizing the semi-finished product of the cultivation medium into particles having a particle diameter of 1 cm to 0.5 mm; (d) preparing a foaming material: the particles of step (c) and polyvinyl alcohol and The aldehyde is mixed to obtain a foamed material; (e) the second foaming is performed to obtain a finished medium: the foaming material of the step (d) is subjected to a second foaming in an acidic environment of pH ≦4, The foaming time is 4 to 12 hours, and the foaming temperature is 40 to 70 ° C, that is, a finished medium of cultivation medium is obtained. The method for manufacturing a plant cultivation medium according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the cultivation medium is used as a cultivation medium for an orchid, and the cultivation medium semi-finished product accounts for 50 to 80% of the total volume of the cultivation medium. The method for manufacturing a plant cultivation medium according to the above aspect of the invention, wherein the semi-finished product of the cultivation medium accounts for 20 to 80% of the total volume of the finished cultivation medium. A method for producing a plant cultivation medium according to claim 1, wherein The aldehyde of the step (a) is selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde or acetaldehyde. The method for producing a plant cultivation medium according to the above aspect, wherein the acidic environment of the step (b) is selected from the group consisting of an acidic aqueous solution formed by hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid, and the acidic aqueous solution accounts for the total amount of the finished product of the cultivation medium. 3 to 10% of the volume. The method for producing a plant cultivation medium according to claim 1, wherein the polyvinyl alcohol accounts for 5 to 12% of the total volume of the finished cultivation medium. The method for producing a plant cultivation medium according to the above aspect of the invention, wherein the preparation of the cultivation medium is a hydrophilic hair obtained by producing a crosslinked structure by secondary foaming from polyvinyl alcohol, an aldehyde and a pore former. A foam body, and the crosslinked structure has pores having a pore diameter of 5 mm (mm) to 30 μm (micrometer). The plant cultivation medium according to claim 7, wherein the crosslinked structure is formed by reacting formaldehyde and polyvinyl alcohol with an acetal. The plant cultivation medium according to claim 1, wherein the finished product has a cell opening ratio of 75 to 95% after secondary foaming. The plant cultivation medium according to claim 1, wherein the finished medium has a water-containing multiple of 4 to 9 times.