Plant husbandry – Receptacle for growing medium – Vertical array
Patent
1988-07-27
1990-05-01
Hafer, Robert A.
Plant husbandry
Receptacle for growing medium
Vertical array
47 67, A01G 902
Patent
active
049206958
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a container system for growing plants in a growing medium.
Containers for a growing medium in which a number of plants can be grown at one time are known. Some are small plastics containers or small clay pots, such as are sold for growing herbs in the kitchen, while others are larger and more complex container systems. Some are claimed to meet the needs of commercial growers as well as of amateur growers. There are some low cost systems that are based on the use of thin plastics bags, which are simply cut to expose the growing medium and to provide the openings into which seedlings can be planted, but these bags tend to degrade and have short useful lives.
One disadvantage of many known containers is that they are of fixed sizes, or are at least not readily extended. There is a need for a low cost container, particularly for the production of vegetables, that would be of high strength and durability and would have particular application among poorer peoples or in the developing world. Such a container would be adaptable to whatever size was required. A suitable container should also be readily and economically manufactured and shipped, and would be usable with a variety of growing media, including the growing media that are most available in the country of use.
A container system which includes both a container and a growing medium, in which the container and the medium are adapted to one another, is especially desirable. The combination should ensure that the plants are able to receive light and warmth and have adequate supplies of water and air. The medium must be able to supply plenty of water, especially in climates which expose the plants to high light intensity or temperature, but too much water can mean that the roots become short of air. A container in which plants are grown at different vertical levels needs a growing medium which can give an even and correct distribution of water, air spaces and fertiliser. An unsuitable growing medium will compact at lower levels in the container and may eventually form a pan that is substantially impermeable to water.
According to the present invention, a container for a growing medium for plants comprises at least one wall panel and panel connector means connecting together adjacent wall panel edges to form a continuous container wall; the at least one wall panel being generally stiff but capable of being resiliently flexed between planar and curved configurations, and being provided with openings through which plants can be grown and closure means therefor; the closure means being flaps that are integral with the panel and which open outwardly to form the openings.
Such a container can be formed from one wall panel or from a plurality of wall panels, connected edge to edge by the connector means. The wall panels will normally be vertical with connections between adjacent vertical edges, and the container may have any number of straight and curved wall panels to make up the desired container shape and size. At its smallest, the container will consist of a single panel flexed into an upright cylinder with edge connector means joining the opposed vertical panel edges.
A flap may be formed by making a non-linear cut through the panel, a hinge for the flap being defined between the opposite ends of the cut. The cut is suitably made along three sides of a quadrilateral or along the major part of the circumference of a closed curve, the hinge being defined along the fourth side of the quadrilateral or along a chord of the curve respectively.
This method of forming the closures simplifies and reduces the costs of production and packaging compared with the alternative of making separate closures and fixing them individually in place. There is far less material wastage and no risk of losing the closures between growing seasons. The panels are manufactured with closures in place and, if flat, can be packaged and shipped in convenient stacks.
In order to facilitate movement of the flap about the hinge, it is preferred that the hinge be further d
REFERENCES:
patent: 4034508 (1977-07-01), Dedolph
patent: 4123873 (1978-11-01), Canova
patent: 4161085 (1979-07-01), Moffett
patent: 4683674 (1987-08-01), Faul
Ceretech Limited
Cofsky Lynda M.
Hafer Robert A.
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