NL8202349A - Composite pot for planting seedlings - has solid outer-pot, two-part soil-less inner filling and perforated inner pot - Google Patents

Abstract

The outer impermeable pot (10) is rigid with a conical top part and rim (12). The pot bottom part is narrowed down. The bottom (18) has a number of protrusions to support a cylindrical over-flow pipe with conical widening bottom part. The over flow arrangement cuts down watering to once every 30 days. A soil-less composition inner filling is split in two halves and has a bottom recess fitting over the overflow pipe. A top vertical recess, accommodates a perforated inner pot, which holds the seedling. The inner pot when inserted is pressed into the soil-less, fibrous, spongy composition which is water absorbing.

Description

823123 / Ke / Be

Short Designation: Plant Pot.

The invention relates to the cultivation of cutted or seeded plants in a compound pot, wherein the plants can be transported economically and safely in a small perforated pot from a nursery to a place where they are distributed, and where they are quickly and can be easily repotted and grown indefinitely in new compound pots.

The invention is directed to the cultivation of ornamental plants which are usually propagated in beds, or in hydroponics or in flower pots, other than vegetable plants. The plants thus propagated can be transported at varying distances to the wholesale or retail trade, where they are transferred into ornamental pots containing a composite nutrient medium, and then sold. In that case, the perforated pot containing the young plant is transported independently of the soil block and the associated pot in which the perforated pot is placed.

Garden plants are initially grown from seed to seedling in a nourishing soil medium in a small pot, usually plastic or some other inexpensive material. When a certain growth stage is reached, the pots with the young plants and the soil medium are transported by air, by train or by car. It is also possible that the small plants are transferred by the nursery to decorative pots and then sent to the wholesaler. The wholesaler either sells the small pots or ornamental pots to the retailer, where they are offered for sale to the public.

Plants offered at retail are usually not in ornamental pots because when shipped from a nursery they usually arrive dirty and in poor condition, requiring extensive cleaning and care work before the plant is ready to to be sold.

8202349, * - 2 -

Incidentally, the costs of transporting and protecting the ornamental pot, whether or not filled with soil, will be considerably greater than transporting a small pot with a plant. The young plants naturally get a shock from repotting, which often leads to considerable losses. The wholesaler will therefore object to the repotting of the plant due to the treatment costs of removing the original cultivation pot, the time-consuming manual work, the mess when repotting the plant into soil, and the cost of purchasing an ornamental pot. As a result, cultivation pots, which are also found in the retail trade, although functional, will be of little interest to ordinary buyers. As a result of these practices, the customer is forced to have additional ornamental pots available to surround the cultivation pot.

15 Attempts have been made to solve at least some of these problems. U5 2.891.355 attempts to solve the dirt and discoloration problem caused by the use of soil by using a synthetic material instead.

Several special types of culture pots have been designed, for example, according to US patents 115,162, 3,467,609, 4,098,021, 4,179,846, 1,200,396 and 1,428,829. Also of interest in this area are patents 3,154,884, 3,273,284, 3,275,607, 3,576,088, and 3,867,784.

In the context of transporting nursery pots from the nursery, it is important that the cost of the nursery pot is usually a loss, because it is usually discarded later when the plant is transplanted by the ultimate purchaser. The cost of transporting an ornamental pot filled with nutrient soil could be saved if the pot and the culture medium were supplied by the wholesaler.

The present invention aims to provide a cultivation pot that can be easily obtained by a grower or a wholesaler. .......... = 1 - 3 - used.

Another object of the invention is to provide an economical transport pot for young plants.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple pot system through which the cultivation pot can be transferred into an ornamental pot in the most efficient and economical manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple pot system in which watering of the plant only needs to be done once every 30 days.

According to the invention, a lightweight conical perforated pot is used in which the seedling is grown, transported and transplanted. The perforated pot can contain soil or a soil-less potting medium, suitable for supplying all the nutrients necessary for a young growing plant.

15 The soil substitute consists of a synthetic material that contains all the nutrients necessary to keep the plant alive for a period of up to 12 months. The use of synthetic material as a substrate is necessary. Thus, the more complicated preparatory steps in the cultivation are eliminated and only the simplest care remains, such as the supply of water, for the plants to continue to grow effectively.

The invention will be described and explained below with reference to the accompanying drawing of an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows the pot according to the invention in perspective, partly broken away to show the interior of the pot; Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of half a filling for the large pot; Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the perforated pot without culture medium; Fig. 4 shows a bottom view of the pot according to the invention.

The large plant pot according to the invention is indicated in fig. 1 by 8202349 «n« - 4 -. It consists of an impermeable, rigid, conical top part with a peripheral edge 12 at the top. This rim removes some of the compressibility of the shim so it can be more easily removed. The bottom part of the pot 10 is narrowed, as indicated by 16, with respect to the centerline of the intermediate wall part 14. The pot 10 has a closed bottom 18 which is provided on the outside with a number of studs 18 'which support the bearing points. the pot, so that the bottom of the pot 10 is further above the substrate or above a saucer, to allow excess water to leave the pot, which is done via the overflow tube 18 ". This overflow tube forms one piece with the pot 10 and has an open connection to the space for the perforated pot 30. The bottom part of the overflow tube is conical, and this passes near the top into a tubular extension or column 15. The overflow tube serves to fix the boundary of the water level in the pot, so that it is not overfilled, with the liquid overflowing above a given maximum level "X" in the pot 10. For example, vapor penetrates from the reservoir into the saturated soilless medium. or both in the large filling of the pot and in the filling of the perforated pot, so that the plant is constantly supplied with water or another liquid food. Both fillings, which may have been treated with water-soluble nutrients as required, will effectively pass the vapors that maintain the plant as long as the reservoir contains a liquid. Fig. 3 shows the semi-rigid perforated culture pot 30, which may contain a seedling (see Fig. 1) that grows in natural soil or in a groundless medium or filler, hereinafter referred to as the second fill. This filling may consist of a fine, inert composition of soft, permeable, spongy and fibrous materials, which may be pretreated with nutrients that decompose on contact with water or vapor. The perforated pot 30 is shown in Figs. 1 8202349-5 while it is placed in a larger filling 20 composed of two halves 20 '+ 20 "of a groundless medium. The cavity 22 in the filling 20', 20" is shaped to conform to the external shape of the perforated pot 30, 5, but having slightly smaller dimensions. This cavity 22 is finished at the top with slightly flexible edges 24, 24 '. These edges form a kind of shoulder for holding a perforated pot. When the perforated pot is pressed with force, the edges will recede to return later and retain the perforated pot when it is in the cavity. When the halves 20 ', 20 "are held together, they have externally slightly larger dimensions than the interior of the pot 10, so that they are tightly held in the pot with friction.

The second filling 20 ', 20 "consists of composite, fibrous 15 and spongy synthetic materials which are held together to a state where the whole is porous and permeable to liquid. The filling can be pretreated with water-soluble nutrients. The vertical dimension is such that the filling 20, 20 'rests on the bottom 18 of the pot so that it is in constant contact with the water and other liquid nutrients.

The cavity 26 in the shim 20, 20 'is adapted to the shape of the overflow tube 18 "of the pot. Thus, the reservoir of the pot 10 can be defined as the maximum depth corresponding to the level" X "equal to the total height of the overflow pipe.

Intermediate cavities 22 and 26 preferably lie a portion of the filling 20 ', 20 ", although there may also be an opening therebetween.

- conclusions - 8202349

Claims (8)

1. Pot for growing and transporting live plants, characterized in that it comprises: - an impermeable outer pot which is open at the top and has a closed bottom at the bottom, the bottom merging into an upwards-facing overflow pipe at the top, - a soilless culture filling made of interrelated particles, the filling at the top having a cavity smaller than the diameter of a perforated pot intended to be placed therein, the cavity at the top of which is bounded by an annular rim which faces inwards, while the filling further below has a vertical cavity intended to be placed over the overflow pipe. 2. Pot according to claim 1, characterized in that the filling consists of two halves which are placed together in the pot, each of which is provided with half of the cavities at the top and bottom. 3. Pot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the filling consists of a liquid-permeable, soilless composition of mutually cohesive, fibrous and sponge-like material, wherein the filling or the two half-fillings, respectively, have larger dimensions. than the interior of the outer pot. 4. Pot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the presence of a semi-rigid perforated pot, with external dimensions smaller than the cavity at the top of the filling in the large pot, such that the perforated pot can forcefully enter said cavity pressed to then be held therein by said inwardly directed edge, 5. Pot according to claim 4, characterized in that the perforated pot is provided with a filling with the same composition as described in claim 3. 8202349 - 7 - Pot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by a number of studs on the outside of the top surface to support the bottom with the possibility of excess liquid flowing away through the overflow. 7. Combined pot for growing and transporting plants, characterized in that it comprises: - an impermeable outer pot, which is open at the top and the bottom of which is partly closed, and which is provided with a drainage pipe through which a reservoir is created at the bottom of the pot, 10. a multi-segment filling for the outer pot, which together comprises a cavity for a perforated inner pot and a cavity for placement over the discharge pipe, which cavities are both axial, and - a semi-rigid perforated inner pot located inside the cavity 15 is located in the top of the filling in the outer pot and which itself contains a filling of a groundless medium which is porous and can absorb liquid. 8. Pot combination according to claim 7, characterized in that the cavity at the top of the filling in the outer pot is provided with a deformable, inwardly directed edge, whereby the perforated inner pot is retained after pressing in the cavity. 8202349