An indoor gardening appliance includes a grow module that is seated on a turntable that is rotatably mounted within a grow chamber and is rotated by a drive assembly. A position sensing assembly monitors an angular position using two proximity sensors, such as Hall-effect sensors, mounted below the sump at the same circumferential position but at different radial positions. The turntable includes a plurality of proximity indicators, such as magnets, positioned at each of three circumferential positions on the turntable and at different radiuses to define a two-digit binary code corresponding to each of the three circumferential positions that is detectable by the proximity sensors.

A flexible layered fabric sheet comprising a porous front layer and a pre-seeded substrate layer, where the seeds are in-between the two layers (rather than at the back of the substrate layer), for supporting root growth, the two layers together having an upper and lower edge and being attached together with one or more non-continuous seams between the upper and lower edges, which seams have a component of direction parallel to the upper and/or lower edge, and wherein the non-continuous seams enable water to exit the layered fabric sheet at its lower edge, and the non-continuous seams further serve to slow water flow through the water sheet. The seams also serve to keep the two layers from separating which would hamper the penetration of the sapling through the front porous layer, and thus stunt growth.

A plant growing vessel includes an impervious outer vessel, a cover, a first permeable membrane, a nutrient chamber, and a pocket. The impervious outer vessel includes an inert substrate in a root zone. The cover is positioned over the impervious outer vessel. The first permeable membrane is in contact with the inert substrate. The nutrient chamber includes solid nutrients. The nutrient chamber is between the cover and the first permeable membrane or between the first permeable membrane and a bottom of the impervious outer vessel, and the solid nutrients are in contact with the first permeable membrane. The pocket is configured to allow seeds, seedlings, or shoots of plants access to the inert substrate through an aperture in the cover.

The invention relates to a coherent propagation growth substrate product (1) formed of man-made vitreous fibres (MMVF), the product (1) having two opposed top and bottom surfaces and at least one cavity (2) which is open at the top surface and which extends from the top surface towards the bottom surface, wherein a superabsorbent polymer (3) is provided in the cavity (2).

A modular lighting system is provided. The modular lighting system includes a first LED board. The first LED board includes one or more LED arrays. The one or more LED arrays include one or more ultraviolet LED light sources and one or more non-ultraviolet LED light sources. The first LED board further includes one or more constant current LED drivers configured to output a driver current for the one or more LED arrays. The modular lighting system further includes a second LED board. The second LED board includes one or more LED arrays. The one or more LED arrays include one or more non-ultraviolet LED light sources. The second LED board further includes one or more constant current LED drivers configured to output a driver current for the one or more LED arrays of the second LED board.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology are directed to devices and/or apparatuses for receiving, housing and displaying plants on surfaces having a repetitive pattern of elevation changes resulting in multiple horizontal planar surfaces of varying elevation. The apparatus may be, for example, a caddy adapted to conform to the staggered pattern of one or more steps, curbs, ledges, and/or walls. The caddy may be further adapted to receive and store, at an angle between 0 degrees and 90 degrees, an elongated planter. In further embodiments, a self-contained planter may be disclosed. The planter may be adapted for receiving soil, planting substrate and/or plants. The self-contained planter may have a base region adapted to conform to the staggered pattern of one or more stepped surfaces.

The pot for culturing an epiphyte is integrally injection molded from a transparent plastic. The pot has a bottom, a lower edge, an upper edge and a sidewall extending between the lower edge and the upper edge. The sidewall of the pot is provided with an outwardly protruding lip at the level of the upper edge. A cross section through the sidewall of the pot, tangent to the lower face of the lip, has a substantially hexagonal or octagonal shape. Consequently, the pot, at least at the top, is hexagonal or octagonal, thus allowing more pots to be positioned per unit area compared to a round shape having the same diameter as the diameter of the circumscribed circle of the hexagonal or octagonal shape.

A rotary garden apparatus, method and system for growing plants comprising an open rotatable cylindrical drum mounted within a structural frame is provided wherein said apparatus comprises an accessible front area permitting access to the drum and grow trays mounted on said drum from the front of the apparatus. The rotating drum portion comprises metal bars which form struts round the periphery of the drum on which grow trays can be mounted. The grow trays are inserted by sliding them along the struts of the drum and they are held in position by arms which extend below the metal struts over which the grow trays slide into position. The inverted T shaped fit between the tray and the strut holds the tray in position during rotation without further securing mechanisms required. The operation and most routine maintenance of the apparatus can all be done from the front of the apparatus thereby permitting multiple apparatus units to be placed side by side in a grow facility or against walls. The apparatus may be stacked one above the other all of which maximizes the number of units which can be present in a defined floor space in a grow facility. A light source comprising a holding tray, a sleeve and at least one bulb as part of a rotary garden apparatus is present in the rotary garden apparatus providing light for growing plants.

A container unit for greening of wall surface and greening method using container unit. The planting container unit has an outer container having an upper-surface and a front-surface opening, an inner container that can be inserted into the front-surface opening of the outer container, and a fixing plate where the inner container is fixed to the outer container. The inner container is capable of housing a planting base, incudes a front-surface opening where a plant body part of the pot plant can be exposed to an outside, and includes an upper-surface opening for housing the planting base and the pot plant. The inner container has, on a front surface having the front-surface opening, a front-surface flange that engages with a wall of the outer container around the front-surface opening. The planting container unit is configured such that the inner container is removably housed inside the outer container.

A top cover system includes a bag including a growing medium wherein a top side of the bag includes an opening to access the growing medium for growing at least one of a seed and plant, and a top cover including an opening for placement upon the top side of the bag wherein a perimeter and an area of the opening of the top cover is smaller than a perimeter and an area of the opening of the top side of the bag and a perimeter and an area of the top cover is larger than a perimeter and an area of the top side of the bag such that when the top cover is placed upon the top side of the bag, the top side of the bag and a portion of the opening of the top side of the bag cannot be seen and the opening of the top cover includes access to the growing medium for growing the at least one of a seed and plant.