Panel for floating cultivation of plants on water, including parallel grooves at a top side extending longitudinally, adapted for receiving a substrate and a number of plants or precursors in the substrate, each groove extending through the panel from a first top plane to a second parallel plane. The panel includes air chambers at a lower side extending substantially below the second plane, each of the air chambers allowing therein formation of air roots of plants supported in the substrate of the grooves. At the second plane, each groove is spaced apart from the circumferential side wall of the air chamber it debouches in when projected onto a plane normal to the longitudinal direction, each of the grooves including at least two side support surfaces extending parallel to the groove and below the top side, the side support surfaces adapted for substantially completely supporting the substrate in the groove.

A method for moving wetted seeds from a tank includes positioning a first batch of seeds within a tank, directing water from a water source to the tank, wetting the first batch of seeds within the tank with the water from the water source to initiate germination of the first batch of seeds, releasing the first batch of seeds from the tank to a pod line in fluid communication with an assembly line grow pod after a predetermined time, and subsequent to releasing the first batch of seeds from the tank, detecting a level of seeds remaining in the tank.

A system for planning the placement of plants in a multi-cell planter module. The system comprises an electronic processor having one or more electrical inputs and one or more electrical outputs, and an electronic memory device electrically coupled to the processor and having instructions stored therein. The processor is configured to access the memory and execute the instructions stored therein such that the processor is configured to: receive electrical signal(s) representative of information relating to plants to be planted in the planter module, acquire information relating to the planter module cells; determine an exclusion zone for each plant to be planted based on the received plant information and/or the acquired information relating to the planter module cells; and create a planting arrangement for the plants based on the determined exclusion zones, wherein each plant is assigned one or more cells in which it is to be placed.

A seed level managing system includes a seed tank configured to contain seeds, a plurality of seed level sensors placed on a sidewall of the seed tank, a surface detecting sensor, and a controller. The controller includes one or more processors, one or more memory modules, and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the controller to receive first information from the plurality of seed level sensors; receive second information from the surface detecting sensor and determine a number of the seeds in the seed tank based on the first information and the second information.

A seedling transplanting system is provided that utilizes a seedling feeder that is configured to fit between a tray of seedlings contained within a series of chain pots and a hydroponic trough. The feeder includes a ramp and a chute that direct the seedlings from the tray into the trough. A pair of guide surfaces, which form ramp sidewalls, help the seedlings to self-right as they are drawn into the hydroponic trough. A restraining jig aids in establishing and maintaining the relative positions of the seedling tray, feeder and trough during the transplanting process. A pulling tool simplifies the transplanting process by providing means for pulling a pair of media strips along with the captured chain pots into the hydroponic trough.

A system for sowing seeds in cells of a germination tray or other container and related methods of operation. The system may include a conveyor configured to move the germination tray in a conveying direction, a seed storage container configured to hold a plurality of seeds, a seed sowing machine, and a seed diverting mechanism. The seed sowing machine may be configured to transfer the seeds from the seed storage container along at least one seed transport path and into respective cells of the germination tray as the conveyor moves the germination tray in the conveying direction. The seed diverting mechanism may be configured to selectively divert seeds from the at least one seed transport path such that the diverted seeds are not deposited in cells of the germination tray during operation.

A seeding device is provided. That seeding device includes a seeding paddle having a plurality of seed holders and a seed tray having a channel. The channel receives the seeding paddle so that seeds in the seed tray are easily directed into the plurality of seed holders. The paddle may then be removed from the seeding tray for planting seeds in a desired quantity at the desired spaced locations.

Devices, systems, and methods for providing and operating crop control hardware are provided herein. Some embodiments include an assembly line grow pod having a master controller with a plurality of bays and being communicatively coupled to components of the grow pod, a crop control module within one of the bays such that the crop control module is communicatively coupled to the master controller and the components of the grow pod, and a second control module in one of the bays, which is removably insertable such that it is removable from the bay without altering the assembly line grow pod functionality. The crop control module is programmed to sense a removal of the second control module, determine control signals necessary to maintain an operation of the grow pod and the components of the grow pod, and provide the control signals to the grow pod or the components of the grow pod.

A method for moving wetted seeds from a tank includes positioning a first batch of seeds within a tank, directing water from a water source to the tank, wetting the first batch of seeds within the tank with the water from the water source to initiate germination of the first batch of seeds, releasing the first batch of seeds from the tank to a pod line in fluid communication with an assembly line grow pod after a predetermined time, and subsequent to releasing the first batch of seeds from the tank, detecting a level of seeds remaining in the tank.

A method for pumping seeds to an assembly line grow pods includes releasing seeds to a pipe in fluid communication with a pump, moving water from a water source to the pipe in fluid communication with the pump, combining the seeds released from the tank with the water from the water source in the pipe, and pumping the combination of the seeds released from the tank and the water from the water source to a grow pod line in fluid communication with the pump, and moving the seeds from the grow pod line to one or more carts of an assembly line grow pod.