Plant husbandry – Receptacle for growing medium – Irrigator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-02
2002-06-18
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3644)
Plant husbandry
Receptacle for growing medium
Irrigator
Reexamination Certificate
active
06405482
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cool weather and the cost of indoor growing of plants limits the availability of high quality food produce in many parts of the country for a very large part of each year. Typically, the produce will be grown in a warm climate, harvested in an unripe or green condition ad then shipped to consumers throughout the country. The quality of the produce suffers from these less than ideal growing conditions.
Prior to the spring and summer time periods in the cool regions, plants may be started in a greenhouse and then transplanted by the consumer. Again, the cost is too great for full growth to occur in the artificial climate.
A further need for an improved growing system is to provide plants with the smallest amount of growing medium, ultimate nutrients and with access to a larger growing medium to counter adverse extreme effects of salt build up. The highest quality including the best tasting food produce comes from plants grown under these conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A water and nutrient first pot is placed inside a larger second pot having perforated side and bottom walls. Both pots are filled with a porous root medium made of a fine grade of peat soil and perlite such as that sold as Hasselfors peat. A two inch diameter plastic pipe slightly taller than the outer net pot is used to fill the inside pot with fertilized water. An outer watering saucer is provided in which the outer net pot is placed during the initial period of growing the crop in a warm first climate. The inner first pot may be glued to the inside bottom of the net pot with equal spacing there around as to the sides of the net pot. The assembled first and second inner and outer pots can initially rest in a common watering system or in the outer watering saucer.
Because of the holes in the net pot and because of the porous root medium, 16 lbs. of air pressure penetrates the entire mass of medium and the invention may be in continuous contact with water. With the unrestricted air penetration and water distributing itself throughout the root medium utilizing the small pore spaces and capillary action; the root medium serves as a carburetor mixing the air and water, creating 100% humidity (vapor) in the large pore spaces of the root medium. The roots of all plants grow and function in the humidified air spaces absorbing the water from the small pore spaces, as needed, by the plant.
Adding a fertilizer with all the major and minor elements to the water, the carburetor now provides the roots functioning in the humidified air spaces with the plant's needs as to fertilizer as well as water. This process is called cafeteria feeding by the roots.
Like tiny rivers, the small pore spaces in the root medium move the fertilized water by capillary action from the water source throughout the root medium. The feeder hair roots growing in the larger pore spaces, like fishermen, “catch” what they need to supply the plant its needs as to water and fertilizer, at all times, without any human discretion or control. The carburetor provides the optional and optimum needs of water and fertilizer for all plants.
Resting in the fertilized water contained in a common watering system or individual outside saucer, the root medium between the inside saucer and inside wall of the net pot absorbs and moves the fertilized water from the water source throughout the root medium by capillary action. It is not necessary that the inside sauder be filled with fertilized water so long as the net pot rests in a water source or has access to another water source such as a drip line.
At any time during the crop's growth, the system, without using the outer saucer, may be placed on top of field or garden soil; a container holding soil or soil mix; or another substrata. From this time on, fertilized water is added through the fill pipe, to the inside saucer which may be maintained full at all times.
The roots that have grown in the root medium between the inside saucer and the inside of the net pot will automatically grow into the substrata upon which the transition transplanting system is resting.
An automatic transition is made by the roots from a “man-made,” “hydroponic” system into a natural soil or other man-made/hydroponic system automatically without any shock or interruption of growth and production.
A “catch 22” situation happens without the benefits of the system in transplanting up a carburetor system:
1) Because there is a minute amount of root medium in relationship to the size of the plants, the root medium must be kept in continuous contact with water. If the systems were planted conventionally (buried in the farmer's or home gardener's soil or a larger container), cutting off the air while keeping the root medium saturated would drown the roots severely shocking or killing the plant(s).
2) On the other hand, the cutting off the air by planting the systems into the farmer's or home gardener's soil and then attempting to monitor the amount of water and fertilizer needed minute by minute by the crops would require computer programming for each plant too complex to even be considered.
The “catch 22” situation is the roots must be transplanted up into additional soil or root medium into which they can grow and obtain the water and fertilizer needed to support exponential continued growth of the plant(s) while the carburetor feature of the system must be maintained.
The invention solves this dilemma. By placing the system on top of the farmer's or home gardener's soil or on a larger container of root medium, the air continues to reach the sides of the net pot. By keeping the inside saucer full of fertilized water, the root medium is maintained in a saturated condition at all times. The horticultural carburetor is maintained exactly as it functioned before transplanting up.
The roots growing between the inside sauder and inside wall of the net pot automatically penetrate the new moist substrata without any shock whatsoever to the crop, without any interruption of growth and harvest.
Because the crop, utilizing cafeteria feeding, can take from the horticultural carburetor exactly what it needs in water and each fertilizer element and the amount of each, as needed, at all times, without human judgment and control; the crop grows faster, is healthy and produces optimum yields.
Because the root medium between the inside saucer and inside wall of the net pot (circular legs) draw the fertilized water up when the system rests in a tray of water, all the plants for a backyard garden or thousands (no limit) of systems growing seedlings to mature crops can be grown together in common watering trays. Moved to their new location and spread-out where the roots make their “transition” into soil or other substrata; they are watered utilizing a common drip line providing the fertilized water for the inside saucers.
One person can water and fertilize a “a million” plants of varying varieties and sizes and never make a mistake in providing perfect watering and fertilizing conditions for optimum growth of each plant with its unique needs. The water/fertilizer person can be totally unskilled in horticulture yet he does a better job than a Ph.D. expert specializing in one crop, by doing nothing other than maintaining the fertilized water in contact with the root medium in the systems at all times.
In conventional watering and fertilizing of crops, because the soil or root medium is not in continuous contact with fertilized water; there must be enough mass of soil or root medium to store water and fertilizer between periodic applications of each. Because the root medium can be in continuous contact with fertilized water, there is no need for a volume mass of root medium used for the storage of water and fertilizer. Growing in the invention, the foliage and fruits of the crops reach a significantly, disproportionate, actually a “Gulliver size” in relationship to the size and volume of the root medium. Following are some of the commercial benefits of this capability of the invention called the mic
McKee Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C.
Nelson Judith
Poon Peter M.
The Vivian A. Skaife Trust
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