Automated transplanter assemblies and systems. For example, the disclosure sets forth a plug holder and assembly adapted to transplant plugs into tight-fitting plug holders. The disclosure also conveys a transplanter assembly useful in transplant operations where a plug holder is oriented at a non-perpendicular angle to the surface of a grow tower or other structure that contains the plug holder. The disclosure also provides a transplanter system useful in transplanting plugs into grow towers.

A tractor suspension type automatic transplanting machine for plug tray seedlings is provided. The machine includes land wheels, a machine frame, a three-point linkage, a seedling pickup mechanism, a plug tray conveying device, a plug tray recovery device, seedling separating and planting devices driven by land wheels, and a watering device. Through front and rear drive cylinders, the seedling pickup mechanism is driven to move front and back to pick up seedlings above plug trays and release seedlings above a seedling guide device. Juxtaposed left and right seedling pickup modules in the seedling pickup mechanism are driven by left and right drive cylinders, to move left and right and pick up seedlings after combing, and to release seedlings after separating towards left and right. Plug trays fall onto a plug tray conveyor belt of the plug tray recovery device and slides into a plug-tray-recovery stacking box.

In order to reduce a possibility of damaging a seedling in the event of transplant of unit nursery beds when the seedlings are replanted from a seedling tray that supports unit nursery beds individually planted with seedlings germinated from seeds to a hydroponic panel capable of securing a longer seedling-to-seedling distance, a seedling transplanter (1) includes: a seedling tray (3) supported by a frame (2) and configured to support a nursery bed (7) having unit nursery beds (71) separable from each other and arranged in two directions on a plane; a hydroponic panel (4) supported by the frame (2) and provided with holes (41) for storing the unit nursery beds (71), the hydroponic panel (4) serving as a transplant destination of the unit nursery beds (71) on the seedling tray (3); and a holding member (5) supported by the frame (2) pivotally around a vertical axis and vertically movably to separate the unit nursery bed (71) from the nursery bed (7) by holding any one or a plurality of the unit nursery beds (71) on the seedling tray (3) arranged in the outermost side of the nursery bed (7) from a lateral face side of the unit nursery bed (71) in a width direction of the unit nursery bed (71), insert the unit nursery bed (71) into the hole (41) of the hydroponic panel (4), and release the unit nursery bed (71).

A method and a device for propagating plants, by way of which the risk of contamination can be minimized and the costs of the production of plants can be reduced. This is achieved in that the plants to be propagated are automatically grasped by a first gripper and separated, the individual plants, hanging on the first gripper, are systematically cut into multiple clones and the individual clones are automatically transported away by a second gripper for further processing.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a potting apparatus, which includes a drill that is repositionable relative to a pot-driving conveyor such that the potting apparatus may be placed in a first potting configuration or a second potting configuration. In the first potting configuration, the drill is in a first position relative to the pot-driving conveyor such that the apparatus can provide the requisite drilling functionality for potting plant life with smaller vertical profiles. In the second potting configuration, the drill is in a second position relative to the pot-driving conveyor to provide sufficient vertical clearance above the pot-driving conveyor for potting plant life with larger vertical profiles. The potting apparatus may further include a soil delivery system adapted to receive and dispense soil to the pot-driving conveyor and a drive system operatively connected to the pot-driving conveyor.

A container, such as a pot, strip or tray, comprising at least one accommodation for at least one specimen from a group, comprising: plants; seeds; seedlings; cuttings and the like, where the accommodation is configured to be filled with a substrate and the container exhibits at least a side wall, a bottom and a top surface to accommodate the substrate and the specimen in the substrate, of which at least a portion of the top surface is open to enable growth of the specimen there through in a longitudinal direction. The side wall includes a completely open passage which is dimensioned for inserting or extracting a block of substrate with essentially a full size of an interior of the accommodation into or from the interior through the passage in a sideways direction relative to the longitudinal direction, where at least the side wall includes a cutting edge alongside the passage.

A full-automatic system and operation method of integrated sorting-transplanting-replanting for plug seedlings includes a frame, feeding units for a target tray and source tray, a discarding seedling tray bin, a single-claw for replanting unit, a multi-claw for sorting and transplanting unit, seedling picking claws and a monitoring module. During transportation, the seedling picking claws pass through a seedling picking zone, seedling monitoring zone, seedling discarding zone and seedling releasing zone in turn. The monitoring module and the single-claw for replanting unit are located behind and in the front of the vertical movement plane of the multi-claw, respectively. Along a tray feeding direction, a first row of the source tray is set as a source area for replanting, and other rows of the source tray are all set as the source area for transplanting. The monitoring and sorting is finished during the transportation without stopping.

The present invention provides a flower pot which may be easily opened to facilitate placing or removing of the potted plant therein. The flower pot has at least one of the sidewall divided into two sidewall portions, and an opposing sidewall is provided with a hinge arrangement to allow for separating the two sidewall portions from each other, such that a front of the flower pot is opened for convenient placing or removing of the potted plant inside therein as desired without damaging the plant. Further, a locking arrangement is provided to hold together the two sidewall portions after the transplantation operation has been performed.

An apparatus having an automatically adjustable pot seedling feed rate and a method therefor are provided. In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises a pot seedling scooper, a conveyance unit, a detection sensor, a controller, a seedling sorting unit, side panels, and brackets. The conveyance unit comprises a servomotor, a transmission shaft, a conveyor belt, a tension shaft, and a bearing. The seedling sorting unit comprises a seedling sorting rod, a reset spring, a guide post and a support seat.

A selective transplanter is provided for transplanting seedlings from a tray to seedling planting apparatus. The tray includes a plurality of cells for holding plugs of growing medium containing seedlings. The transplanter is arranged to eject plugs from the cells of the tray to a conveyor which conveys the plugs to the seedling planting apparatus. The transplanter is arranged to remove plugs that do not contain germinated seedlings from the conveyor at a removal position before they are transferred to the seedling planting apparatus. A seedling retention roller engages with plant material of the seedlings projecting from the plugs at the removal position before the plugs are transferred to the seedling planting apparatus, preventing removal of plugs containing seedlings with projecting plant material. The transplanter provides the advantage that the plugs containing seedlings can be planted in rows in a field without dud plugs being planted, leaving the rows substantially gap free.