Disclosed is a system for receiving or concealing packages or objects of all sizes safely at the doorstep. The system comprises an upper portion and a lower portion used for concealment of packages or objects at the doorstep of the user. The upper portion of the system comprises a compartment for planting similar to a planter while the lower portion has a cavity that is accessible via an opening on one facing side to allow items to be placed within, providing an aesthetically pleasant system for concealing packages or objects delivered at doorstep.

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.

A vertical farming system is disclosed including a storage structure having racks of storage shelves for housing plant-carrying containers. Mobile robots travel around the racks to transfer containers of plants to and from the storage shelves. Under direction of a central control system, one or more mobile robots may transport a container from a storage location to a workstation. Once there, care may be provided for the plant, including water and/or other nutrients, and data may be gathered on the plant. This may be done by an owner of the plant, or by an automated service robot positioned at the workstation. Data gathered on the plant, including for example photographs, may be sent by email or other communications schemes to an owner of the plant.

A gutter assembly is provided that is configured to collect water passing through a plurality of vertical hydroponic towers, the assembly minimizing leakage while simplifying gutter maintenance. The gutter assembly includes a gutter pipe from which an upper portion has been removed to form a pair of mounting ledges. The gutter assembly also includes a gutter cap that is attached to the gutter pipe via the mounting ledges using a snap fit system.

A system for growing plants, the system may include a substrate having one or more weakened areas or openings: one or more grow portions coupled to the substrate and situated at the one or more weakened areas or openings and having at least one seed or plant; and/or a fluid distribution portion coupled to the substrate and configured to provide fluid to the one or more grow portions. The system may further include a method of operation including one or more acts of: obtaining a weather forecast for a future time period; determining whether rain is expected during the future time period; and preventing, terminating, or restricting an irrigation cycle when it is determined that rain is expected during the fare time period. The restricting may restrict a flow of liquid during the irrigation cycle or shorten the irrigation interval.

Growing systems including double-walled growing devices, and methods of making and using the same are provided. Growing devices include two sheets of material, a sprouting layer and a rooting layer, strategically bonded together to form containers for growing plants. Each container includes openings in the layers to allow the plants to grow out of their containers and to allow roots to access water through the rooting layer. The two layers can be formed into a cylinder where the center of the cylinder provides a channel for watering such that the roots grow into that channel. Deployed as a flat sheet of containers, the device can include a third layer to provide a water channel between the rooting layer and the third layer. Growing systems include the device and can also include a system to provide water thereto, and an enclosure around the device for providing an overpressure.

An integrated fence irrigation and grow system is provided. The system includes one or more post members, one or more bed members disposed on the post members and an irrigation system coupled to a water supply and connected to each of the bed members to introduce water to each of the bed members. The bed members each include a tubular body having a top surface and a bottom surface. The tubular body is formed by a wall, and the wall defines an interior cavity in the bed member. The wall includes a plurality of openings disposed along a top surface of the bed members. When growing medium is disposed within the interior cavity of the bed members, plants planted in the growth medium in proximity to the openings grow therein, and foliage thereof is at least one of viewable and harvestable above the plurality of openings.

A vertical planter for growing plants includes a frame, a plurality of support planes each having a support surface for supporting at least one plant, wherein the plurality support planes are supported by the frame and a nutrient supply system including a nutrient distribution feature for delivering liquid nutrient to the support surface of a uppermost support plane, a nutrient conducting arrangement for conducting liquid nutrient from the uppermost support plane to a lowermost support plane via the support surface of intermediate support planes, and nutrient receiving feature for receiving liquid nutrient from the support surface of the lowermost support plane.

A terminal device is provided and is configured to display, on a first screen, a first number of one or more fields where one or more defective plants are detected, change a displayed screen from the first screen to a second screen, in a case where an instruction to change a screen is received, wherein one or more pictures of plants in a first field is displayed on the second screen, display, on a second screen, a second number of a field where one or more defective plants are detected, wherein the second number is less than the first number; and display, on the second screen, an user interface to instruct to change a displayed screen from the second screen to a third screen, wherein one or more pictures of plants in a second field is displayed on the second screen.

A storage system is described where goods are stored in containers (10) and the containers (10) are stored in stacks. Above the stacks runs a grid network of tracks on which load handling devices run. The containers (10) may be provided with one or more of the following services: power, power control, heating, lighting, cooling, sensing means, and data logging means. The provision of these services within individual containers rather than across the system as a whole, allows for flexibility in storage whilst reducing cost and inefficiency.