WO2007091944A1

WO2007091944A1 - Cultivation sheet

Info

Publication number: WO2007091944A1
Application number: PCT/SE2007/000097
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ola Lind
Original assignee: Ola Lind
Priority date: 2006-02-08
Filing date: 2007-02-02
Publication date: 2007-08-16
Also published as: SE0600344L

Abstract

The invention concerns a procedure regarding the retention of water during the cultivation of seeds alternatively seedlings, cuttings or embryos, in particular when cultivating in arid regions. When needed, a nutrient substrate and/or biocides can be added to the water. The procedure according to the invention utilizes a biodegradable material as for example paper or cardboard made from natural raw materials. A characterizing part of the invention is that the growth substrate's lowest part rests on a water-repelling biodegradable material. The water- repelling material can consist of paper with contents of refined wood fibers in a homogenous mixture with wax.

Description

Cultivation Sheet

The present invention concerns a procedure regarding the retention of water during cultivation, in particular within arid regions. When needed, a nutrient substrate and/or biocides can be added to the water. The procedure according to the invention utilizes a biodegradable material such as, for example paper or cardboard made from natural raw materials.

Prior Art

The cultivation of for example ornamental plants, vegetables, forestry saplings and the like in a controlled environment have long been known. For this a green house is the classic example, where temperature, humidity and other parameters can be controlled. Many types of more or less advanced cultivation systems have been developed in order to utilize available water in a more efficient manner for agricultural, forestry and horticultural products.

In the area of horticulture, a cultivation system can encompass a multitude of combinations, partly of fast growing plant types that are sown at different time periods during the growing season, for example radishes and certain herbal ornamental plants, and partly of perennials of garden variety plants such as strawberries and asparagus, woody ornamental plants, berry bushes and fruit tress. Natural fertilizers or soil-improving substances contain organic material from plants and animals that have been combined to decompose and thereafter be used. Compost is the end product that is obtained and it is mostly made up of leaves, plant tops, residual-products from kitchen plants and kitchen waste, and sometimes together with fertilizer or non-organic material, for example ash.

In woodlands twigs, leaves, needles and dead animal carcasses form natural compost, forest litter. Carbon compounds in the forest litter are utilized as sustenance by animals (insects, earthworms centipedes, single-celled organisms) fungi and bacteria, thereby forming humus, a brownish, finely composted, colloidal substance. Carbon dioxide and other substances formed during biological decomposition are absorbed by green plants that with the aid of sunlight once again rebuild energy-rich organic molecules. In nature chemical substances are recycled and biological decomposition is needed for balance in the ecosystem. Swedish patent 48738 describes in claim 1 : "A plant pot comprised of a substance resistant to dampness and water, such as impregnated cardboard, sheet metal, birch-bark, sailcloth or other comparable material and made up of a bottom and a side ". Because the pot can be manufactured of sheet metal among other things, it is clear to see that the object is not biodegradable. The same characteristic should, according to the invention also adhere to the pot made of impregnated cardboard and other materials mentioned in the patent document.

Leaves, plant tops, plastic, paper or peat paper have all been know to be used for so called mulch cover gardening which means that these materials are lain on top of what is to be grown. Applying water-repelling substances as for example wax to paper and cardboard is also known. Mulch cover gardening results in less evaporation of water and has shown to provide for more porous topsoil. Openings are usually cut into the covering material to let in sunlight (artificial light in green houses) and for natural or artificial addition of water. Mulch cover gardening of garden plants usually uses some type of soil-covering material, as for example lawn clippings, straw, bark chips or wood chips. A soil cover provides for more even soil temperature and soil moisture and also enhances soil structure and humus levels are maintained or increased. Furthermore, leaching of nutrients and growth of weeds is retarded. Mulch cover gardening protects and stimulates soil-living organisms.

A disadvantage associated with known gardening techniques is that applied water sinks to a large degree in a vertical direction down through the growth substrate and for that reason only a small amount of the water can be absorbed by the plant. If the water in addition contains nutrients, this water loss results in an undesirable diffusion of nutrients, for example nitrogen and phosphor into the surrounding environment and in the worst case gradually reach watercourses and groundwater which effects can be summed up as eutrophication.

Description of the Invention

The present invention is included as an important element in the cultivation of all kinds of plants and more exactly to provide for the needs of water and a way to preserve moisture in the growth substrate. Seeds, seedlings, cuttings or embryos (for example somatical embryos) are preferably sown into the growth substrate in a natural environment.

Liquid that is introduced into the cultivation can consist of only water, but can even contain growth enhancing nutrients. In some cases the liquid can even contain biocides. The application of a liquid can be automatically accomplished in chosen time intervals.

In contrast to the known technique of mulch cover gardening, the procedure according to the invention utilizes in principal an inverse procedure. Thus a biodegradable material is placed under the growth substrate and that which is to be grown and not above which is the case in traditional mulch cover gardening. The biodegradable material can consist of so called bioplastic, textile material (cotton, silk), paper or alternatively cardboard. In a variation of these materials, they can be provided with current conducting characteristics that allow for a temporary or long term (continual) heating of both the growth substrate and plant. Naturally the heat output should be low (<5 W/m²) so that the warming does not harm the microenvironment. Temporary heating is particularly advantageous when temperature variations are relatively great between day and night. In accordance with the invention, the mentioned material shall be water-repelling that is to say hydrophobic. Preferably a paper is used that is impregnated with a water-repelling substance, which in addition has no detrimental affect on the biological environment.

Furthermore, it is advantageous to use paper whose whole cross-section is homogeneously impregnated with a water-repelling substance. Examples of such substances are among others animal waxes, vegetable waxes, mineral waxes and synthetic waxes. Most waxes are burnable, often odorless and of course insoluble in water. In such a paper the weight ratio of wax should not exceed 3% of the paper's total weight.

Examples of animal waxes are among others, beeswax, lanolin (wool wax), spermaceti (sperm whale wax). Beeswax is a mixture of cerotic acid and myricylpalmitate (myricine). Waxes have a relatively low melting point which seldom exceeds 65⁰C. This implies that the sheet used in accordance with the invention can not be exposed to intense heat. In regards to vegetable waxes, they consist of a mixture of hydrocarbons, esters of fatty acids, as well as long-chain alcohols, ketones and fatty acids.

Mineral waxes as tradable goods are divided into paraffin waxes, microcrystalline waxes and petrolatum and consist mainly of higher saturated hydrocarbons. Paraffin wax is normally used for candles, pastel chalks and industrial polishers and for making wood and other things water-repellant. Microcrystalline waxes are mainly used as a thin surface layer on paper and cardboard and are utilized among other things as lubricants and rust-proofing. Ceresin, ozocerite, paraffin and vaseline are examples of mineral waxes. Synthetic waxes are comprised of complex molecular substances of shifting chemical compounds. Ethylene glycol is often used.

Known paper pulp such as chemical pulp (sulfate pulp and sulfite pulp), semi-chemical pulp (wood exchange 55-90%) and mechanical pulp (stone-polish pulp and disc refiner pulp) that includes recycled fibers can be used as raw material fiber in the sheet. These fibers can be mixed advantageously with peat fibers with a low humus coefficient (<5 according to von Post) as well as fibers from other straw plants such as reed canary grass, hemp and straw. Cardboard from paper pulp with or without a mixture of peat fiber is another type of biodegradable material. Even the use of biodegradable plastic may be considered. In such a case starch-based plastics are preferred. Other substances which can be used are lactic acid (monomer lactate) and polyhydroxyal canoate, that can individually be linked together to polymers of different lengths.

The cultivation sheet can be continuously manufactured in a paper machine and then stored in the form of a roll. Direct after rolling the cultivation sheet can be cut into smaller pieces whose size can be chosen within a wide interval. Thus the length can vary from one-half a meter up to hundreds of meters and its width can vary from 0.2 meters up to 9 meters. The size chosen is of course determined by the current need and any practical problems that need to be considered. A suitable thickness for the cultivation sheet is anywhere from 0.5 mm up to 8 mm (in the form of cardboard or sheet). The cultivation sheet can be converted into bags or into box-like designs with a square or rectangular form.

A characteristic feature of the invention is that a, for the purpose suitable biodegradable material is placed at least 20 mm under the growth substrate's upper surface which is temporarily or continuously exposed to some form of light source. The light source can consist of sunlight and/or artificial light which radiates ultraviolet (UV) rays. When cultivating small areas that are less than a few square meters, a preferred application of the invention consists of, with the aid of the material, hindering or at least limiting the loss of liquid from the side position. When using for example waxed paper, the sides of the paper are folded into a box-like shape (or tub). The folded sides can, when needed reach up to and somewhat over the growth substrate's upper surface. In this way a barrier layer against water run-off in both a horizontal and a vertical direction is obtained. Mulch cover gardening as a compliment can of course be utilized within the scope of the invention. With mulch cover gardening is meant the covering of the cultivation surface with moisture and air permeable material. Even impenetrable material can be used. Furthermore, it is preferable that the material is biodegradable. In principle the same type of material which is used in the procedure according to the invention can be used. Even the use of hot beds which are covered by plastic or glass are defined as mulch cover gardening within the scope of the inventive idea. During temperature variations, evaporate moisture can condense on the glass or plastic and thereby create a climate with a high relative humidity. The procedure according to the invention is suited for hobby gardening, commercial cultivation in green houses as well as cultivation on relatively large land areas. As a growth substrate for growing house plants, a common and ready-mixed flower soil can be used. In stores are found a multitude of factory-mixed soils which have additives of well-balanced amounts of nutrients. These soils usually contain clay, sand, peat-moss, composted soil and leaf-soil in different proportions in accordance with their sort. The pH-levels of such soils have been adjusted to optimal levels and are fairly porous. In order to accomplish adequate porosity, the soil can be mixed with small white plastic balls that provide for ample air volume.

The usual name for commercial soil mixtures is standard soil. Another type is cactus soil which is a very porous soil mixture and has been shown to be very suitable for not only cactus plants but also for several other house plants. When cultivating on land, nutrients can even be added to such soil and the natural composition can also be modified to meet needs. Sandy-soil can be made more nutrient rich by the addition of clay, topsoil, bark, sludge and plant peat whilst sand can of course be added to clay-soil in order to make it more porous. Another characteristic feature of the invention is that the cultivation sheet (or other comparable material) through biological processes breaks-down (decomposes) and thereby makes it easier for the roots of the plant to push deeper into the growth substrate. The decomposed material can of course even provide certain nutrients for the plant. Within the scope of the invention, an automatic control of the water supplied can be accomplished by measuring the moisture content of the growth substrate. As mentioned earlier, the water can contain nutrients and biocides. By measuring the substrate's and the plant's ability to absorb liquid, a relatively quick measurement of the water needed is obtained. The measured values can be registered with the aid of a sensor. Water can be applied by way of one or more nozzles that can for example be set on a cart which runs along the edge of the cultivated surface.

A more direct measurement of growth is accomplished by use of an apparatus and instrument that provides for units of measurement in parts of the metric system or other system of measurement. In its simplest form, measurement can be carried out manually with the aid of a straight ruler or folding rule. By using optic measurement, as for example a laser, more exact measurements are obtained and furthermore the measurements can be automatically performed as well as registered.

When utilizing the invention several advantages are obtained. Thanks to the invention few workers are needed to run a facility, which still shows a high production capacity. The high growth rate has surprisingly not resulted in plants of low quality. Especially surprising is the extreme uniformity of size obtained among plants, irrespective of the type of plant.

An important advantage with the procedure according to the invention is that consumption of water can be dramatically reduced since water can not be absorbed by soil that lies outside of the biodegradable material. Another advantage is the fact that the material decomposes and thereby does not need to be removed from the cultivation. In addition the decomposed material functions as an added nutrient.

Claims

1. Arrangement used during the cultivation of seeds alternatively seedlings, cuttings or embryos at which the growth substrate's lowest part rests on a water-repelling biodegradable material characterized by that the material contains refined wood fibers in a homogeneous mixture with wax.

2. Biodegradable material for carrying out the procedure according to claim 1 characterized by that the material contains peat fiber.

3. Biodegradable material for carrying out the procedure according to claim 1 and/or claim 2 characterized by that the material includes a textile material.

4. Biodegradable material according to claim 3 characterized by that the biodegradable material's outer edges are folded so that they form a box or pot.