The present invention provides an anti-insect culture medium, comprising a shaped medium having a plurality of pores interconnected to each other, and an anti-insect agent evenly dispersed and fixed in the pores; wherein the shaped medium comprises at least one culture medium solid, the anti-insect agent comprises an anti-insect ingredient, and the anti-insect agent is a sustained-release formulation. The anti-insect culture medium of the present invention can provide a long-term and complete anti-insect efficacy to plant roots. The present invention further provides an anti-insect method, which reduces the amount of anti-insect agents and avoids the inconvenience of regular application.

A method and an assembly of a pre-shaped substrate plug and a container for planting out plant material, of which the plug includes one or more press sections sideways of an upwardly opening plant insertion recess. The outer wall dimensions of the press sections are larger than inner wall dimensions of corresponding parts of the container, such that during a step of placing the plug in an insertion position into the container, a pressing of the plug into the container needs to be performed for the press sections to be able to fit into the corresponding parts of the container while the press sections compress inwardly in a sideways direction and at least partly decrease the plant insertion recess around a seed or lower plant part which had been placed therein preceding the pressing.

The invention provides a method of growing plants in a mineral wool growth substrate, the method comprising: providing at least one mineral wool growth substrate comprising man-made vitreous fibers bonded with a cured binder composition, and positioning one or more seeds or plants for growth in the growth substrate, and allowing growth of the one or more plants,
wherein the binder composition prior to curing comprises: a) a sugar component, and b) a reaction product of a polycarboxylic acid component and an alkanolamine component,
wherein the binder composition prior to curing contains at least 42% by weight of the sugar component based on the total weight (dry matter) of the binder components.

Hydroculture media can be a synthetic soil including a three dimensional solid made of a plurality of fibers. The three dimensional solids can be a variety of shapes, such as spheres, cylinders, cones, cubes, cuboids, parallelepipeds, polyhedrons (e.g., pyramid, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron), prisms, spheroids, ellipsoids, paraboloids, hyperboloids, rings, and combinations thereof. The solids can have a length/diameter ratio in the range of 0.1-5:1. Some or all of the fibers can include an antimicrobial substance and/or plant nutrients.

An agricultural water retention system including a subsurface water retention barrier positioned in soil below a root zone of one or more plants; wherein the subsurface water retention barrier consists of a plurality of hydrophobic beads layered in a loosely packed manner; and wherein the subsurface water retention barrier is air permeable. Optionally, there is also included a surface evaporation barrier positioned proximate a surface of the soil, such that the surface evaporation barrier includes at least one layer of hydrophobic beads.

Some aspects of the disclosure relate to composite materials and cultivation systems with particular utility for use in aquaculture, for example cultivating various species of seaweed. The systems comprise at least one highly tortuous and often micro-fibrous material and at least one material having low tortuosity. These systems may be configured in a variety of shapes and associated with a number of different structures. Some of these composite materials and cultivation systems may be used in both direct and indirect seeding of macroalgae plants such as seaweed.

Some aspects of the disclosure relate to composite materials and cultivation systems with particular utility for use in aquaculture, for example cultivating various species of seaweed. The systems comprise at least one highly tortuous and often micro-fibrous material and at least one material having low tortuosity. These systems may be configured in a variety of shapes and associated with a number of different structures. Some of these composite materials and cultivation systems may be used in both direct and indirect seeding of macroalgae plants such as seaweed.

A gel plug comprised of a gel may be used for growth of plants. The gel may include two polysaccharide components, with a second of the two components providing increased rigidity Plants may be grown, including from seed, in the gel plug.

A gel plug comprised of a gel may be used for growth of plants. The gel may include two polysaccharide components, with a second of the two components providing increased rigidity Plants may be grown, including from seed, in the gel plug.

An aluminium hydroxide hydrogel for agriculture is provided. The aluminium hydroxide hydrogel includes aluminium polyhydrate and water.