A photobioreactor system includes a growing tower tray assembly configured to utilize laminar flow to harvest a plant; a nursery subsystem configured to feed inoculum to the growing tower tray assembly; and a nutrient feeding subsystem configured to feed nutrient media to the growing tower tray assembly.

The present invention relates to a novel insert for covering empty or unused pods of an indoor or pod gardening system. The pod insert includes an insert component that is placed inside a pod to fill empty space and a decorative or grasping topper element component that is placed on top of the insert to cover the pod. The grasping topper element is fastened to the insert for securing the topper to cover the pod. In one variant of the insert, the topper includes a weighted base that can be placed on top of the empty pod thereby eliminating need of fastening the topper. The decorative or grasping topper element can come in a variety of designs and can have an illumination source and a solar panel. The decorative insert effectively prevents algae, moss, and bacteria from growing within the pod while providing aesthetic appeal to the system.

The invention provides a lighting system comprising (i) a lighting device comprising a plurality of light sources for application in a horticulture production facility, wherein the light sources are configured to illuminate with horticulture light crops, wherein the lighting system further comprises (ii) a control unit configured to control the light intensity of local light at a location, wherein the local light is the sum of the horticulture light and light at the location originating from an optional other light source, and wherein the control unit is configured to prevent a change in the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of the local light at the location of on average more than 50 nmol/sec/m.sup.2 over a predetermined period of time selected from the range of equal to or smaller than 5 minutes by controlling the contribution of the horticulture light to the local light.

The invention provides a horticulture lighting arrangement (1000), comprising (i) a lighting system (100) configured to provide horticulture light (101) having a controllable spectral power distribution, and (ii) a control system (300) configured to control the spectral power distribution of the horticulture light (101); wherein in an operational mode of the horticulture lighting arrangement (1000) the horticulture lighting arrangement (1000) is configured to provide the horticulture light (101) according to an on-off schedule wherein consecutively an on-period (D) and an off-period (N) are applied, wherein:—the horticulture light (101) comprises one or more of first horticulture light (1011) comprising a wavelength selected from the range of 400-600 nm, red light (1012) comprising a wavelength selected from the range of 600-700 nm, and far-red light (1013) comprising a wavelength selected from the range of 700-800 mn;—the on-period (D) lasts in in the range of 12-20 hours and the off-period (N) lasts in the range of 4-12 hours, wherein the on-period (D) comprises an end-of-day period (EOD) at the end of the on-period (D), wherein the end-of-day period (EOD) lasts in the range of 0.5-4 hours;—wherein during a substantial of the on-period (D) before the end-of-day period (EOD) a R/Fr ratio, defined as a ratio I600-700 nm/I700-800 nm of red light (1012) and far-red light (1013), is selected from the range of 4-20, and during a substantial part of the end-of-day period (EOD) the R/Fr ratio is selected from the range of 0.1-4.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for treating irrigation water by introducing a propagating electromagnetic field into the irrigation water as it flows through an irrigation system. The treatments described herein may have a variety of beneficial effects when applied to hydrophobic soils, including a significant increase in the percentage of the water that is maintained in the root zone of a given crop as plant-available water and the essential mineral, e.g. calcium and/or magnesium, uptake of that crop. The treatments described herein may also have beneficial effects when applied to hydrophilic soils, and particularly high salinity, hydrophilic soils, including a reduction in the soil salinity, including the amount of chlorates, within a root zone of a crop.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for treating irrigation water by introducing a propagating electromagnetic field into the irrigation water as it flows through an irrigation system. The treatments described herein may have a variety of beneficial effects when applied to hydrophobic soils, including a significant increase in the percentage of the water that is maintained in the root zone of a given crop as plant-available water and the essential mineral, e.g. calcium and/or magnesium, uptake of that crop. The treatments described herein may also have beneficial effects when applied to hydrophilic soils, and particularly high salinity, hydrophilic soils, including a reduction in the soil salinity, including the amount of chlorates, within a root zone of a crop.

A modular hydroponics gardening apparatus for growing plants without soil includes a water pump in communication with a water source for pumping fluid upwardly through a transfer conduit. The water pump and a lower end of the transfer conduit is positioned in a watertight base member. The apparatus includes growth pods arranged radially inside a midsection member that defines spaced apart apertures, each defining an open end in communication with a respective aperture. A plurality of midsection members may be stacked atop one another. A lid assembly is stacked atop the uppermost midsection member, the transfer conduit extending upwardly from the water pump to the lid assembly where water is pumped and rains down into respective growth pods. An ultraviolet light extends about each midsection and is vertically adjustable for shining its light into respective growth pods. With a timed water supply and controllable light emissions, plant growth is maximized.

An embodiment of the novel and inventive vertical hydroponic system comprises a double-sided system, each side having two sets of double-door tile panels. Each door is mounted on hinges attached at either the right or left sides of an external support frame with the doors opening out from the middle. Each door in this embodiment may support a 6×4 array of novel and inventive tiles, each tile arranged with two columns of 3 pot supports, each such tile capable of supporting 6 grow pots, for a total of 144 grow pots per door. In this embodiment all four doors can support up to 576 grow pots. However, an infinite number of tile variations are possible with the 2×3 array being just one. The doors can be opened during the growth cycle without disconnecting or interrupting the irrigation components which allows for fast and easy harvesting and maintenance. A submersible pump and its control electronics are mounted in the support framework so the system is self-contained. Scheduling software is provided via digital mobile app, which is downloadable from common app sources. The hydroponic system is interconnectible to the internet for remote maintenance and monitoring.

Provided is an artificial light source setting method and an artificial light source setting system for controlling secondary metabolites of plant and provide an artificial light source setting method and an artificial light source setting system for controlling secondary metabolites of plant, which predict content of the secondary metabolites of plant by measuring a light interception amount by using a cultivation environment of plant, a three-dimensional structure model of plant, and optical simulation and set an artificial light source according thereto.

Techniques for horticulture light are provided. A horticulture light can monitor at least one characteristic of a defined region in which at least one plant is planted in a horticulture environment in which horticulture light bulb is installed, determine at least one action for the horticulture light bulb to perform based on a state of the at least one characteristic and at least one objective of the installation of the horticulture light bulb in the horticulture environment, and execute the at least one action.