A01G9/0295

METHODS SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATING DENSELY SEEDED CROPS

A horticultural raft includes a raft body, at least one top cavity, and a group of mid cavities. The top cavity includes an upper face defining a first projected area and a lower face defining a second projected area substantially equal to or less than the first projected area. The upper face provides a seeding pattern having one or two degrees of freedom in a growing medium disposed in the top cavity. Each mid cavity has an upper face defining a third projected area that is entirely contained within the second projected area. The mid cavities are configured to contribute to buoyancy of the floating horticultural raft, allow germinants in the growing medium to communicate via capillary action with a nutrient solution when the raft is floating in the nutrient solution, and mitigate hyperhydration and asphyxiation at respective root-stem junctions of the germinants.

Stackable container

The invention relates to a stackable container including a holding body, which has a bottom and a lateral wall, which bound a holding chamber. The holding body has stacking elements, which can be moved from a first position (P1) to a second position (P2) and which alternatively allow at least two such stackable containers to be stacked one inside the other and to be stacked one on the other. The holding body also has at least one drain opening in the region of the bottom of the holding body, and the bottom is designed to hold moisture and/or liquid present in the holding chamber and to guide the moisture and/or liquid toward the at least one drain opening. At least one of the stacking elements has a drain groove, which is designed to hold and to lead away moisture and/or liquid.

PLANT-GROWING TRAY
20210267134 · 2021-09-02 ·

A plant-growing tray for containing cylindrical stabilised media for growing plants comprises an array of flared columns, a lower end of the columns being wider than an upper end. The columns define an array of cells therebetween for containing cylindrical stabilised media, and a column comprises one or more contact edges defined by an intersection between a wall of the flared column and a virtual cylindrical surface in a cell, such that the contact edges are suitable for contacting a cylindrical stabilised medium positioned in the cell.

MULTI CHAMBER PLANT GROWTH DEVICE
20210219499 · 2021-07-22 ·

The invention is a plant growth chamber. Specifically, the plant growth chamber is multi-chambered and has the ability to grow multiple plants in several stages such that plant harvesting can occur every thirty to sixty days.

PLANT GROWING TRAY SYSTEM

A plant growing tray system, comprising a plurality of trays sequentially connected to each other via substantially impermeable inter-tray joints. Each of the plurality of trays extends between respective first and second lateral ends and has a respective plant growing space portion vertically recessed relative to respective first and second lateral ends in-between. Each inter-tray joint includes a male part positioned at a first horizontal longitudinal end of a tray and elongated between the respective first and second lateral ends of the tray, a female part complementary to the male part positioned at a second horizontal longitudinal end of an adjacent tray and elongated between the first and second lateral ends of the adjacent tray, and a substantially impermeable interstitial medium configured to be compressed between the male and female parts to generate residual stresses to at least partially support a tray load and mitigate leakage.

Apparatus and system for transporting a length of growth medium cut into pieces of suitable size into a propagation tray
11039578 · 2021-06-22 · ·

The present invention relates to an apparatus and system for transporting a length of growth medium cut into pieces of suitable size into a propagation tray.

Mixed media vertical farming
11109540 · 2021-09-07 ·

A mixed media farm may include a tray for holding water at a prescribed water level. A cell may be placable on the tray, with the cell defining a cavity and having at least one opening in communication with the cavity. The cell may be sized such that when the cell is placed on the tray, a lower portion of the cell resides below the prescribed water level and an upper portion of the cell resides above the prescribed water level. Soil may be in the cavity, with the soil having a lower portion below the prescribed water level, and an upper portion above the prescribed water level when the cell is placed in the tray. A plurality of seeds may be planted in the upper portion of the soil, with the plurality of seeds defining a seed density of greater than 5 seeds per square inch.

REMOVABLE BASE PLANTER SYSTEM
20210282333 · 2021-09-16 ·

A removable-base planter system that permits nesting of pots as a planting grows larger than may be supported by a single planting pot is disclosed. The removable-base planter system has one or more nesting planter pots. A first planter pots having a set of bottom drain holes and a set of side drain holes permitting roots of a planting to grow out of the bottom of a planter pot and into soil of a second planter pot. A removable base is coupled to the second planter pot covering the set of bottom drain holes and the set of side drain holes. The one or more nesting planter pots may be nested in any number of planter pots in which the first planter pot above the second planter pot has been buried into soil of the second planter pot to a distance deep enough to completely cover the set of bottom drain holes and the set of side drain holes and the diameter of a bottom of the first planter pot is smaller than the diameter of a top edge of the second planter pot.

SEED STORAGE DEVICE, COMPLETED SEED KIT, AND METHOD OF STORING AND PLANTING SEEDS
20210274701 · 2021-09-09 ·

A seed storage device comprising a plurality of pods connected sequentially. Each pod is adapted to store one or more seeds and adapted to be breachable to facilitate releasing the seeds to a planting location. An associated method of storing seeds comprising placing one or more seeds into a pod of the seed storage device, and an associated method of planting seeds using the seed storage device, are also provided. A completed seed kit comprising the seed storage device with one or more seeds stored in one or more of the pods is also provided.

MUSHROOM HARVESTING CONTAINER FUNNEL TRAY AND SORTING DEVICE
20210195853 · 2021-07-01 ·

The present disclosure relates generally to a container tray for harvesting a plurality of commercially cultivated button-type mushrooms. The present disclosure discusses a mushroom harvesting container tray that cannot only be used for temporarily storing the harvested (picked) mushrooms during the harvesting (picking) process, but the tray can also effectively store and retain the untrimmed mushrooms in place during trimming such that the mushroom stems may be trimmed while being housed in the tray, thereby substantially increasing the efficiency of harvesting mushrooms. For example, the tray holds the mushroom steady while a blade or other cutting mechanism simultaneously trims a plurality of mushroom stems. The present disclosure also relates to a sorting device that determines whether the mushrooms are acceptable and removes the acceptable mushrooms from the tray after the stems have been cut and simultaneously sorts the acceptable mushrooms according to their respective size, shape, color, weight and/or other feature, while also separating or rejecting the unacceptable mushrooms.