Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
  • A01G24/00—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor
  • A01G24/10—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor based on or containing inorganic material
  • A01G24/18—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor based on or containing inorganic material containing inorganic fibres, e.g. mineral wool
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
  • A01G24/00—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor
  • A01G24/30—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor based on or containing synthetic organic compounds
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
  • A01G24/00—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor
  • A01G24/40—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor characterised by their structure
  • A01G24/44—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor characterised by their structure in block, mat or sheet form
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
  • A01G24/00—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor
  • A01G24/40—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor characterised by their structure
  • A01G24/48—Growth substrates; Culture media; Apparatus or methods therefor characterised by their structure containing foam or presenting a foam structure

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method of growing plants, whereby a porous growth substrate surrounded by a plastic film in the form of a bag is used for devel ⁇ oping the roots, whereas the plant stem extends through an opening in the bag, and whereby the growth substrate is continuously supplied with water containing the addi- tives necessary for the growth of the plants, said water leaving the bag through one or more openings therein in the opposite end thereof relative to the opening through which the stem extends.
• a method of this type is known from an article in "Sup ⁇ plement to the Grower” from 24th August 1978 with the headline “Peter Bailey's drip system - cheap hydroponics", in which an amendment of the nutrient film technique (NFT) is described, which inter alia is used when crop- ping cucumbers.
• NFT nutrient film technique
• the method described in the above article is based on a system known in Scandinavia using rock wool as growth substrate, and which is characterised by the base of the bags having a considerable slope.
• the method dealt with in the article does not employ steep slope of the base of the bags, and f rthermore it avoids the use of rock wool .
• a 2.5 cm layer of peat-moss lit ⁇ ter is used or a capillary mat of a corresponding thick ⁇ ness, on which the plants in pots are placed for watering either from the top or from the bottom side by means of the capillary mat.
• the water is supplied through drip- ping either to the pots or to the mat, and as a conse ⁇ quence of the sloping base for the mat, the surplus wat ⁇ er leaks out from the mat and runs through slits in the surrounding plastic sheet and further into a gulley.
• an article in Financial Times on 11th June 1979 discloses a method, whereby growing bags located on a slightly sloping base is used for cropping for in ⁇ stance cucumbers and tomatoes.
• the bags may be filled with peat compost which is light and clean. This is e- qually true of pulverised bark which many regard as a more desirable medium since it is available in almost endless amounts, whereas peat is a natural soil which is available in a finite supply.
• DE-OS No. 2,723,435 discloses a bag-shaped growing unit containing a granular plant growth substrate comprising plant soil or other growth substrates ready for use and which by addition of water with or without the addition of nutrients are made swelling-
• the growth substrate is not hydrophilic and does not contain soil.
• the vertical orientation of the growing bag provides through the effect of gravity an appropriately quick per ⁇ colation of the nutrient solution supplied through the growth substrate, and in this manner an excellent con ⁇ tact between the root portions of the plant and the nutrient solution is obtained.
• concentration of nutrients in the watering water may be reduced to about 0.8 /00 compared to about 2 /OO by the known methods, whereby the growth of plants is car ⁇ ried out with the growing bag oriented with a slightly inclining slope relative to the horizontal plane.
• the low concentration of nutrients implies that the need of observance of definite quantitative ratios of the various nutrients to each other in the watering solu ⁇ tion is considerably reduced.
• the plant roots absorb the nutrients and the amount of oxygen necessary for the plant, and the low concentration reduces the risk of damage of the roots as a consequence of a too high os ⁇ motic pressure, and moreover the low concentration im ⁇ plies less requirements to the control of the composi- tion of the nutrient solution.. .
• the re-use of the water ⁇ ing water permits an efficient utilization of the added nutrients.
• the watering water preferably flows downwards into a gulley leading to a collecting tank, in which the content of oxygen and nutrients may be controlled and continuously supplemented. From the collecting tank the water is lead to supply pipes locat ⁇ ed above the plants, supply tubes extending therefrom to the individual growing bags.
• the nutrient solution may be adjusted at the optimal temperature at the supply.
• the supply of the nutrient solution is preferably carried out through drip watering.
• the content of nutrient salts and other additives neces ⁇ sary for the growth of the plants may be maintained at a level optimal for the growth of plants according to the growing step the plants have reached at any time.
• the method according to the invention thus ensures the necessary supply of micro substances such as iron, cop ⁇ per, molybdenum, boron, manganese, and zinc to the plants, and deficiency symptoms deriving from deficiency of the macro substances potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen are avoided.
• crop-yielding plants which are advantageously grown by the method according to the invention, are tomato, cucumber, pepper, melons, and beans, but orna- mental plants such as for instance poinsettia and car ⁇ nation may also be grown by the method according to the invention.
• the plant growing bag containing the growth sub- strate is used suspended in a string simultaneously forming a hold for the plant and its crop.
• the invention furthermore deals with a growing bag for use by the method.
• the growing bag is formed by a plastic bag with an open ⁇ ing for the plant stem at one end and one or more open ⁇ ings at the other end and containing a porous growth substrate.
• the bag according to the invention is characterised in that the bag is adapted and shaped for vertical suspension, and that the growth substrate is cut to the shape of the plastic bag from a web material not containing soil.
• the vertical suspension of the bag may be carried out in several different ways, e.g. by shaping an opening in a welded portion of the two plastic sheet layers of the bag.
• the opening may also extend through the tv/o sheet layers below an -upper welded edge or rim, but the grow ⁇ ing bag is preferably characterised in that at the top adjacent the opening for the plant stem it comprises a transverse opening for a suspension string.
• the plastic film for preparing the growing bag in ques ⁇ tion preferably comprises the. so-called milk bag plas ⁇ tics white on one side and black on the opposite side and the white side is used as the outer side of the bag.
• the growing bag according to the invention is preferab ⁇ ly formed by two quadrangular, preferabl ' rectangular layers of plastics joined along their circumference. The joining may be performed through welding, and there- by a simple and economical manufacture of the bag in question is obtained.
• the bag is formed by two trian ⁇ gular layers of plastics joined along their circum ⁇ ference, and which in the suspended position of the bag form an isosceles triangle, the base line of which is horizontal.
• Such a shaping of the bag renders it pos ⁇ sible to grow plants, the root system of which as to extension develops very strongly downwards.
• the growth substrate is a mat corresponding to the shape of the bag and preferably being of glass wool, rock wool, or foamed plastic or woven or non-woven fibre containing textile material.
• Growing bags containing Plant-Fibertex ⁇ as growth sub ⁇ strate may be manufactured through rim welding of two layers of plastics of the above type, whereby two cor ⁇ ners diagonally opposite each other are cut in such a manner that 2-3 cm long openings are provided. Through these openings a plant stem may grow since the bag is formed with a transverse openin ⁇ for a s soension strinc
• the cut opening at one end of the bag which at the suspen ⁇ sion turns downwards, hereby serves as outlet opening for the percolating water. It is preferred to form a 2-3 cm long welding at the cut corners of the bag and in connection with the actual rim welding in such a man ⁇ ner that a channel is formed, in which a tube for the watering water may be secured.
• the growth ' sub ⁇ strate is a plate of resilient polyurethane foam of a thickness of about 0.5-1.0 cm and a shape corresponding to the shape of the bag, and that the polyurethane foam has a density of 40-60 kg/m .
• Such a growing bag may be characterised in that the gr ⁇ /.-th substrate is a plate of a thickness of about 0.5 cm and made of resilient polyurethane foam which in the suspension direction of the bag is about 40 cm long and in horizontal direction about 20 cm wide, that the density of the polyurethane foam is about 50 kg/m , that the flattened bag is about 44 cm long and about 25 cm wide, and that the joining of the bag at the bottom is limited to two weldings mutually spaced.
• the gr ⁇ /.-th substrate is a plate of a thickness of about 0.5 cm and made of resilient polyurethane foam which in the suspension direction of the bag is about 40 cm long and in horizontal direction about 20 cm wide, that the density of the polyurethane foam is about 50 kg/m , that the flattened bag is about 44 cm long and about 25 cm wide, and that the joining of the bag at the bottom is limited to two weldings mutually spaced.
• Such a growing bag has turned out to be suitable for most crop-yielding plants.
• the watering of the plants which is performed through supply of water to the growth substrate in the bags is preferably performed automatically and by means of known devices such as the so-called "volmatic"-watering system.
• the plants which on account of the suspension are easy to move, are removed from each other along with the growth and according to their gradually increasing space requirement. Since the evaporation of water curing the growth of the plants is reduced to a minimum, an essen ⁇ tial water saving is obtained by the method according to the invention, and compared to corresponding growing on soil, the water saving is about 60-75%. A corresponding saving is obtained concerning the consump ⁇ tion of nutrients added to the watering water.
• the work in connection with the method accor ⁇ ding to the invention is furthermore very restricted co - pared to the traditional growth in soil.
• the growing bag according to the invention may as previously mentioned be used for growing plants such—as—--- tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, melons etc., but it is to be expected that the growing bag according to the in ⁇ vention under appropriate climatic conditions may be used for growing for instance tobacco for wrappers.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Hydroponics (AREA)
• Cultivation Of Plants (AREA)
• Cultivation Receptacles Or Flower-Pots, Or Pots For Seedlings (AREA)
• Bipolar Transistors (AREA)
• Bipolar Integrated Circuits (AREA)
• Junction Field-Effect Transistors (AREA)
• Agricultural Chemicals And Associated Chemicals (AREA)

Priority Applications (11)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8152916

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

Cited By (11)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (9)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1981
  • 1981-04-15 EP EP81902662A patent/EP0076261B1/en not_active Expired
  • 1981-04-15 AT AT0910481A patent/AT398358B/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1981-04-15 DE DE3152806T patent/DE3152806C2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1981-04-15 GB GB08234358A patent/GB2112616B/en not_active Expired
  • 1981-04-15 JP JP56503071A patent/JPS58500587A/ja active Granted
  • 1981-04-15 BR BR8109002A patent/BR8109002A/pt unknown
  • 1981-04-15 WO PCT/DK1981/000039 patent/WO1982003529A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1981-04-15 CH CH724882A patent/CH659760B/de unknown
  • 1981-04-15 NL NL8120343A patent/NL192073C/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1982
  • 1982-12-13 SE SE8207118A patent/SE459628B/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1982-12-14 NO NO82824202A patent/NO156471C/no not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (9)

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