Devices, systems, and methods for depositing plant seeds are provided herein. Some embodiments include a seeder head device that includes a body having a proximal end and a distal end spaced a distance from the proximal end, a bore extending through an interior of the body from the proximal end to the distal end, a first hold arm disposed within the bore and coupled to a first actuator, and a second hold arm disposed within the bore and coupled to a second actuator. The bore includes a proximal opening at the proximal end and a distal opening at the distal end, and is shaped and sized to receive seeds at the proximal opening. The first hold arm and the second hold arm are movable to selectively allow one or more of the seeds to fall under force of gravity (or other force) to the distal opening of the bore.

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.

Disclosed herein are precision seeder heads and seeder components that include precision seeder heads. According to some embodiments, a precision seeder head includes a seed queue tube having an inside circumference that is sized to accommodate one seed at any vertical location, a first seed hold that selectively blocks the seed queue tube when located in a default position and selectively unblocks the seed queue tube when located in the release position, and an optical sensor positioned at a vertical position below the first seed hold, the optical sensor adapted to detect seeds dispensed from the seed queue tube.

A system for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod includes a tray moving along a track arranged in an assembly line grow pod, a plurality of cells arranged on the tray and a contaminant sensor. Each cell supports seeds, plants, or both, and a selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity. The contaminant sensor is arranged in the cavity of the selected cell. The contaminant sensor includes a sensing device and a control device. The sensing device directly senses a characteristic of a content present in association with the selected cell. The control device is coupled to the sensing device and operable to receive a signal from the sensing device. The control device may determine a likelihood of contamination based on the received signal.

A method for placing seeds inside a growth substrate by a seed insertion device including the steps of: arranging the seed insertion device in contact with the growth substrate such that a tip of the seed insertion device penetrates through an outer surface of the growth substrate; creating a growth pocket inside the growth substrate with the seed insertion device; supplying seeds to the growth pocket of the growth substrate via the seed insertion device; removing the seed insertion device from contact with the growth substrate; and closing the growth pocket by elastic force of the growth substrate for forming a closed growth pocket such that the seeds remain in the closed growth pocket inside the growth substrate.

The present invention provides a plant transplanting device that achieves rapid and stable transplantation with a simple structure and at low cost, prevents damage to the plants, and can be automated easily. A plant transplanting device 100 that transplants a seedbed B from a plant holder 110 to a growing pallet 120 includes a holder holding mechanism 130 for holding the plant holder 110, a pallet holding mechanism 140 for holding the growing pallet 120 above a holder holding position in which the holder holding mechanism 130 holds the plant holder 110, and a push-up mechanism 150 for pushing the seedbed B held in the holder seedbed-holding hole 111 upward so as to insert the seedbed B into the pallet seedbed-holding hole 121.

A high throughput system for depositing seed into germination wells of a germination tray. The system comprises a seed distribution subsystem, and an individual seed transfer subsystem structured and operable to transfer individual seeds from wells in a seed storage tray to the seed deposition subsystem. The system additionally comprises a bulk seed transfer subsystem structured and operable to singulate a plurality of bulk seeds and transfer each singulated seed to the seed deposition subsystem, wherein the seed distribution subsystem structured and operable to receive seeds from the individual seed transfer subsystem and the bulk seed transfer subsystem, and deposit the seeds into wells of the seed germination tray.

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 method of sowing watermelon seeds includes seeding triploid watermelon seeds and watermelon pollinizer seeds in separate cells within a seedling tray. The triploid watermelon seeds produce seedless watermelons and the pollinizer seeds produce seeded watermelons. The seeded watermelons are not inherently bred to have reduced competition to plants grown from the triploid watermelon seeds.

The present invention relates to a device and method for sowing seeds. The invention relates more particularly to a device and method for sowing seeds as part of a plant. The system according to the invention comprises a separating device for separating a single seed relative to a remainder of the plurality of seeds, an optical recognition system (9) for recognizing the separated seed, a robot arm device (4) for picking up the separated seed and for sowing the picked-up seed, arid a control unit for controlling the separating device, the optical recognition system (9) and the robot arm device (4). With this system it is possible to sow seeds in a more accurate and less error-prone manner.