An horticultural blend is disclosed. The horticultural blend includes coal refuse and slag blended with at least a portion of the coal refuse. The coal refuse has a particle size, the particle size corresponding with all material in the coal refuse having a maximum dimension of less than about 2 inches and at least about 25% of the material in the coal refuse being capable of passing through a standard number 4 sieve. The horticultural blend has a pH within a range of about 3.5 and about 10 and the horticultural blend facilitates growth of vegetation when applied to a coal refuse pile at a thickness of less than about 2 feet.

Pallet box assembly configured as planter box or workman's utility box is disclosed. The pallet box assembly includes a pallet base, two side panels, a front panel, and a rear panel, which are collapsible and reusable. Pallet base has tenon joint parts with locking mechanisms that extend out. Pallet base has an opening extending therethrough for ease of handling by pallet jack or hand truck. The side panels include grooves. Front and rear panels include tenon joint part with locking mechanism. The side panels are identical and interchangeable, the front panel is identical and interchangeable with the rear panel. Each locking mechanism includes a winged bolt threadedly inserted and engaged into the tenon joint part, and a wing which is rotated by about 45 to 135 degrees to engageably and securely attach the corresponding tenon joint part in the corresponding groove, so that the pallet box assembly is securely installed.

A rooftop greenhouse built into a roof infrastructure is disclosed. The roof infrastructure is constructed from conjoining modular building segments. The conjoining modular building segments are prismatic box-like structures, each having at least three walls, and the prismatic box-like structures are arranged and attached horizontally to create the roof of a building infrastructure. Inside each prismatic box-like structure is a displaceable garden box and a mechanism for lifting the garden box out of the prismatic box-like structure. The prismatic box-like structures and garden boxes may also be equipped with glass ceilings, thin insulation, mirrors, a growing medium, a grid system, an automated water supply system, an automated gas supply system, an automated temperature control system, an automated shading and light control device, and artificial lighting.

A method for making a dyed mulch composition or a dyed growing medium, the method comprising combining tree bark including one or more pigments and/or pigment precursors and wood components together to form an initial composition; heating the initial composition at a temperature greater than about 149 C. under steam in a pressurized vessel; processing the initial composition through a refiner with a plurality of opposing disks, the refiner separating the tree bark and wood components into fibers and separating the fibers from each other; and dyeing the wood components by the one or more pigments and/or pigment precursors while the tree bark and the wood components are being separated into fibers in the refiner to obtain dyed fibers.

The present disclosure provides instruments, kits and methods for growing a plant. In some embodiments, a plant producing writing instrument is provided. Such writing instrument may include a housing having a writing end and an opposing non-writing end. In addition, a capsule with one or more seeds may be disposed at the non-writing end of the housing. The capsule may be degradable after placement in a moist soil to release the one or more seeds.

The invention relates to a modular container or irrigation module, as well as a modular irrigation system obtained by arranging at least two of said modules. The proposed modular irrigation system comprises at least two irrigation modules of the invention, and by stacking the modules vertically, the system can be used to form a continuous-flow irrigation system in which excess irrigation water is recirculated and evaporation losses can be minimized. Similarly, the module and the system of the invention can be used to form a sustainable construction system in which multiple irrigation systems are arranged to form various architectural elements, such as green walls, green columns, vertical gardens and the like.

A holder for producing a plant of any one of lettuce, sprout and herbs, having a container and a semi-permeable filter, for defining a closed space for wholly accommodating the plant; a reservoir for holding an amount of liquid in the close space; and a passage which is open during use for supplying the liquid to the plant, wherein the reservoir, the container and the semi-permeable filter are arranged to allow the whole plant to grow in the closed space, wherein the semi-permeable filter has a vapor permeation capacity related to a type of the plant and the content of the reservoir, and wherein the amount of liquid is pre-determined corresponding to the vapor permeation capacity, such that the amount of liquid is sufficient for the plant to be isolated in the closed space from cultivation through to offering for sale.

Exemplary embodiments described in the application are directed to planting container potting insert devices and methods of use that simplify the potting of a plant in a planting container having an interior volume that exceeds the volume required by the root material and supporting soil associated with the plant. Exemplary embodiments include a plant receiving and supporting component, and an associated suspension assembly for suspending the plant receiving and supporting component within the interior volume of a planting container of interest. The plant receiving and supporting component may be in the form of a mesh bag.

There is provided a seedbed holding unit capable of reliably and firmly holding a seedbed with a simple structure, causing no damage to a plant. A seedbed holding unit 160 that holds a seedbed B used in plant cultivation includes a first holding member 170 and a second holding member 180 that are rotatable relative to each other about a predetermined rotation axis A, the first holding member 170 is provided with a first claw part 173 in a fixed state, the second holding member 180 is provided with a second claw part 183 in a fixed state, and the seedbed B is held between the first claw part 173 and the second claw part 183 by rotating the first holding member 170 and the second holding member 180 relative to each other.

There is provided a plant-transplanting device that, with a simple structure and at a low cost, realizes speedy and stable transplantation, prevents damage to a plant, and is easily automated. A plant-transplanting device 100 that transplants a seedbed B from a plant holder 110 to a cultivation pallet 120 includes a holder retaining mechanism 130, a pallet retaining mechanism 140 for retaining the cultivation pallet 120 below a holder retaining position of the holder retaining mechanism 130, and a lowering mechanism 150 for lowering the seedbed B retained by a holder seedbed retaining part 111 downward and inserting the seedbed B into a pallet seedbed retaining part 121.