GB2237489A - Enclosure for propagating plants or seeds - Google Patents

Abstract

An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds comprises insulating walls formed from an expanded plastics material and a translucent roof, the arrangement being such that the enclosure can be placed over plants or seeds planted in earth to encourage growth of the seeds/plants. The enclosure provides a structure which will retain heat and moisture and encourage early development of the seeds into plants and accelerate growth of the plants. The walls act as a heat store and retain heat, and this together with the retention of moisture within the confines of the enclosure enhances growth of plants. <IMAGE>

Description

PROPAGATING PLANTS This invention relates to a method and apparatus for propagating plants.

When plants are grown in the open, their rate of growth depends on the local climate i.e. the wind, rainfall and temperature.

Various methods and apparatus are known for growing plants from seed into good yielding crops earlier than would be normal for plants grown in the open. One method involves growing plants from seeds in an electric propagator installed in an unheated greenhouse. This method can propagate seeds to plants, typically two inches high, in as little as two weeks. However, the plants then have to be potted out in a heated greenhouse to encourage further growth. This method is expensive and is not economical for large scale plant production.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for, and method of, plant propagation.

Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an enclosure for propagating plants or seeds, the enclosure comprising insulating walls formed from an expanded plastics material and a translucent roof the arrangement being such that the enclosure can be placed over plants or seeds planted in earth to encourage growth of the seeds/plants.

An advantage of the present invention is that when placed around plants or seeds planted out in the ground, the enclosure provides a structure which will retain heat and moisture and encourage early development of the seeds into plants and accelerate growth of the plants. The walls act as a heat store and retain heat, and this together with the retention of moisture within the confines of the enclosure and the lack of disturbance of the root structure by the elimination of potting out of the plants enhances their growth and produces good yielding crops earlier than plants grown from comparable seeds in open fields. Furthermore, once the seeds have developed into sufficiently large plants, the roof of the enclosure may be removed and the walls of the enclosure can be left in position throughout the growing season and will continue to give protection to the plants from wind.The walls will also retain moisture and can form the basis of elevated structures to carry, for example, protective netting.

In a preferred embodiment the enclosure includes anchoring means for securing it to the ground.

Preferably the enclosure is movable.

Preferably, the walls are made from units in the form of long planks. Each plank is arranged on its narrow side with the width of the plank equivalent to the height of the walls. One narrow side of the plank forms a part of the base of the enclosure, the other narrow side forms part of the top surface of the enclosure.

Preferably, holes are provided extending through the planks from one narrow side to the other, the holes being adapted to receive rods, for example bamboo canes, which are inserted through the holes to secure the planks to the ground. The bamboo canes should be sufficiently long to protrude approximately 12 inches at the end of the plank forming the base of the wall to provide the anchoring means, and to protrude about 3 inches at the opposite side of the plank.

In a preferred embodiment, the translucent roof is formed from polyethylene film.

In one embodiment, the insulating walls are formed from a closed cell foam, preferably closed cell polyethylene foam.

In an alternative embodiment the insulating walls are made from expanded polystryrene.

If closed cell polyethylene foam is used as the material for planks, hinges can be made in each plank by partially cutting through the thickness of the plank along a line from one narrow side to the other.

Each plank may then be folded, where necessary to create the desired shape of enclosure. Several hinged planks may be used together to create a large enclosure. Alternatively the planks may have dovetailed or mitred corners. The corners may be secured with dowels to form the planks into an enclosure.

If expanded polystyrene is used as the material for the planks they are provided with dovetailed or mitred ends and the enclosure is formed by securing the ends of the planks with a dowel.

The shape of enclosure, seen from above, is preferably rectangular.

Symmetrical triangular shaped ends may be provided with holes positioned so that these ends can locate on the protruding canes on top of the walls to form the basis of a pitched roof for the enclosure.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plank or planks, adapted for use in forming walls for an enclosure for propagating plants wherein the planks are formed from an expanded plastics material and are provided with through holes adapted to receive rods and wherein the plank or planks are hinged.

According to a yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of encouraging the growth of plants or seeds comprising the steps of placing an enclosure around the plants or seeds wherein the enclosure has walls of an expanded plastics material and a roof formed from an insulating translucent material.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the walls of an enclosure for propogating plants from seed; Figure 2 is a side view of one plank forming part of the walls of the enclosure shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view on arrows III-III of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a view of a triangular portion for forming part of the walls of the enclosure shown in Figure 1; and Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 show plan views of possible arrangements of planks making enclosures of different shapes and sizes.

Referring to Figure 1, an enclosure is shown generally at 2. The enclosure has an open rectangular base defined by four upstanding walls - two end walls 4, 6 and two longer side walls 8; 10. The side walls are rectangular, the end walls have a lower rectangular portion extending to an equal height from the base as the side walls but each has a triangular portion 12, 14, located on their upper surface. Each triangular portion has an apex 13A, B. A bamboo cane 20 extends from one end wall 4 to the other 6 through holes 21A, B provided close to the apexes 13A, B. The bamboo cane provides support for a transparent roof, (not shown) .

A series of bamboo canes 18 extend through holes 17 in the walls perpendicular to the base, protruding to a depth of approximately 12 inches at the base for insertion into the ground 1, and protruding at the top to a height of 2-3 inches. A pitched roof (not shown) is formed from a sheet of polythene which is placed over the top of the enclosure supported by the walls and the bamboo cane 20.

In use the enclosure is secured to the ground 1 around a plot in which plants are growing or are to grow.

The insulating walls absorb and retain heat. The enclosure itself retains some heat and also moisture and this retention of heat and moisture encourages the growth of plants.

The walls of the enclosure 2 are formed from three hinged planks 14 of closed cell polyethylene foam.

Figures 2 and 3 show one such plank 14 which is used for forming a part of the wall of the enclosure. The length of the plank 14 corresponds to the length of the walls of the enclosure, the width of the plank corresponds to the height of the walls and the depth of the plank corresponds to the thickness of the walls. The plank 14 is provided with three hinges 16 A, B, C, spaced equidistantly along the length of the plank. The hinges 16 A, B, C, are created by partially cutting through the depth of the plank to leave a thin flexible strip of polyethylene foam joining two adjacent portions of the plank to one another. The plank 14 is also provided with a series of parallel through holes 17 which are perpendicular to the length of the plank 14 and which are suitably sized to receive bamboo canes 18.

Three such planks 14 were used to form the enclosure shown in Figure 1 as is explained below with reference to Figure 8.

Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 show in plan view, various shapes of enclosure which can be made from a plank or several planks similar to those shown in Figures 2 and 3. In Figure 5 one plank has been used folded into a square. It can be seen that to allow the planks to fold to create the desired shape of enclosure the thin flexible strips of polyethylene forming the hinges should face the inside of the enclosure as the hinges will only fold in one direction.

Figures 6 and 7 use two planks to form a rectangular and a square cross section enclosure respectively Figure 8 uses four such planks to form a rectangular enclosure divided into two by a central wall.

Instead of using hinges the enclosed areas could be formed by dovetailing the ends of the planks or by using mitred corners secured with a dowel.

In an alternative embodiment expanded polystyrene (styrofoam TM) is used as the material for the planks.

In this embodiment the planks are not hinged but are provided with dovetailed or mitred ends and are secured together with dowels.

To create an enclosure with higher walls, two or more planks may be placed side by side on top of each other. Longer canes would be used so that the canes extended through the width of all the side by side planks.

In a further embodiment the walls may have black outer surfaces and white inner surfaces.

Claims (17)

1. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds comprising insulating walls formed from an expanded plastics material and a translucent roof, the arrangement being such that the enclosure can be placed over plants or seeds planted in earth to encourage growth of the seeds/plants.

2. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in claim 1 wherein the enclosure includes anchoring means for securing it to the ground.

3. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein, the enclosure is movable.

4. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in claims l or claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the walls are made from units in the form of long planks, each plank being arranged on its narrow side with the width of the plank equivalent to the height of the walls and wherein one narrow side of the plank forms a part of a base of the enclosure and the other narrow side forms part of a top surface of the enclosure.

5. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in claim 4 wherein holes are provided which extend through the planks from one narrow side to the other, the holes being adapted to receive rods, which in use may be inserted through the holes to secure the planks to the ground.

6. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 wherein the translucent roof is formed from polyethylene film.

7. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein, the insulating walls are formed from a closed cell foam.

8. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in any of claims 4 to 7 wherein hinges are made in each plank by partially cutting through the thickness of the plank along a line from one narrow side to the other to allow each plank to be folded, where necessary, to create a desired shape of enclosure.

9. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein several hinged planks are used together to create a large enclosure.

10. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in claims 1 to 6 wherein the insulating walls are formed from expanded polystryrene.

11. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in any of claims 4 to 10 wherein the planks are provided with dovetailed or mitred ends and the enclosure is formed by securing the ends of the planks with a dowel.

12. An enclosure for propagating plants or seeds as claimed in any preceeding claim wherein symmetrical triangular shaped ends are provided with holes positioned so that these ends can locate on any rods protruding from the surface of the enclosure to form the basis of a pitched roof for the enclosure.

13. A plank adapted for use in forming walls for an enclosure for propagating plants wherein the planks are formed from an expanded plastics material and are provided with through holes adapted to receive rods and wherein a hinge or hinges are formed in the plank.

14. A method of encouraging the growth of plants or seeds comprising the steps of placing an enclosure around the plants or seeds wherein the enclosure has walls of an expanded plastics material and a roof formed from an insulating translucent material.

15. An enclosure substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to and as shown in figures 1 to 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 of the drawings.

16. A method substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the drawings.

17. A plank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in figures 2 and 3 of the drawings.