Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1046769 -2-
The present invention relates to plantingJ and more
particularly to temporary growing devlcss and techniques ~or
planting trees or the like.
~ mong the ob~ects of the present invention is the
provi~ion of novel planting devices which are highly suited
~or inexpen~lve and ef~ective planting, especially large
9 cale planting.
Additional object3 o~ the present inv~ntion include
the provision o~ improved planting techniques that use the
~oregoing devices.
The foregoing as well a9 still further objeats of the
present invention will be more fully appreciated from the
~ollowing description o~ several o~ its exemplificatlons~
re~erenoe being made to the accompanying drawlngs in which:
Fig. 1 i9 an isometric view o~ a strlp o~ planting
pods pur~uant to the present invention;
Fi~. 2 is a top pl~n vlew Or a package of the ~trlps
o~ Flg. 1J further exempli~ylng the pre3snt invention; and
Figs. 3 and 4 are views 9 imilar to that o~ Fig. 1,
showing modi~ied strip oonstructions typical of the present
invontion.
According to the present invention there i9 provlded
a paokage of planting pod~ containing a plurality of pod
strips stacked together to provide a block~shaped a~embly
ha~$ng generally flat top and bottom surface~ as well as two
oppo~ed side surface~ that are al90 generally flat~ a wrapper
encircling the sldes o~ the blo¢k to hold the stacked strips
tog~thor, the strips being separated ~rom each other by a
growth barrier fi1m, each str~p be~ng a horizontall~ extending
row of general}y vertically extending pods whlch pods are
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connected to adJacent pod~ by readily tearable connector
portion6 having a thickness only a fraction of the pod
thicknes s,
The pods in a strip can be conne¢ted tog~ther and
shaped 90 that the spacing between ad~aoant pods in a strip
re¢eives a pod of another strip, and the strips can be nested
together in the stack. One strip can contain from about 5 to
about 20 ridges~
A feature of the present invention i9 that the bottom
and top curface~ of the blo¢k can be left uncovered, Entlre
block assemblie~ aan thus be manufactured and ~hipped to a
reforestation location where seeds can be directly inserted in
the lndividual pods of the assembled strips, either by hand or
with automatio equipment. When th0 block tops are uncovered,
1~ there i8 no need to prepare those top9 for receivlng the seeds.
If the top9 are covered for any reason, the covers can be
transparent and readily pieroed so that seed in~ertion can be
effect~ without removing such cover, A wrapped layer o~ very
thin, abou~ 1 mil thiokness~ plasticized stret¢hy polyvinyl
chloride i9 suitable for this purpose, although polyethylene
fllm can also be used ~s can other more readily bio-degradable
film9 or sheets.
Best seed germination and growth in the lndlvidual
pods is generally initiated when the pods or the entire block
are thoroughly saturated with water. This is readlly effected
as by d~recting a hosed spray of-water on the block for about
a minute or by im~er~ing the block ln a Qufficiently deep
body of water. Cold water takes longer than warm water to
; thoroughly penetrate. Incomplete penetration can slow the
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ger~ination a~ well as the growth.
Thorough wetting makes the pods relatively soft to
finger pressure and the like so that in~ertion o~ the seeds
can then be performed very easily e~en if no oponing has been
provided in the pod for receiving the seed. However the block
of pods should be oarefully handled while in ~uch soft condi-
tion inasmuch as it is easily damaged when æo~t. The retention
of at leaqt one wrapper around the block during such seeding
iq accordingly a very important help in avoiding damage.
The seeding can be accomplished before, during or
after the thorough wetting, and the wetting need not be
thorough, but durlng germination and growth the seeded and wet
block should be kept moist, as by standing it in a very
shallow body of water, about 1/2 to about 1 in¢h deep for
example~ This promotes good germination and growth Or roots
downwardly in each pod toward the water layer. A9 a result~
very ~ew roots tend to gro~ laterally toward the adjoining
pods, The growth barrier film between adjacent strips
effectively confine the roots to one strlp,
~hen the growth has reached the stage that calls
for planting~ the strip assemblies can be disassembled and the
strlps planted. ~o this end the indlvidual pods are readily
broken away from their strip~ by hand, and inserted in holes
punohed in the ground~ The breaking off of a pod ~s seldom
~ound to be accompanied by the tearing of roots that have
grown into the pod-connection zones! Where such root damage
does tak~ place lt ls usuall~ because the root growth ~or
that particular seedling has been highly proli~erated, and
in ~uch circum~tances the damage ls to an inconsequential
proportlon of the entire root structure
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Turning now to the particular ¢onstruction
illustrated in the drawings~ Fig. 1 show3 a strip 10 o~ pods
20, 21 etc. that are ridges of generally triangular cross-
section. In one desirable exemplification these triangular
ridges project about 1 1/4 inches from the opposing flat face
30 of the strip, their triangular cross-section iq generally
equilateral~ the thickness of the strip sheet between ridges
3/16 inch, the ridges 5 incheg long~.and each strip had ten
ridges giving it an o~erall size of 5 by 12 1/2 inches~ Those
9trips were molded from a fibrous mixture of, by weight:
15 parts wood pulp
75 parts peat
10 parts Vermiculite
,25 partq fertilizer, such as dried
~5 manure, and
.025 parts wetting agent
dispersed in forty times its weight of water, Other
compositions can also be used~ such as those described in
U~ S~ Patent 3,524,279 and the patent it refers to, a3 well
a~ in U. S~ Patents 3,534,497, 2,785,969, 1,988,307 and
1,446,113, and Canadian Patent 760,162. These compositions
are readily molded to the de~ired ¢on~iguration from an
aqueous slurry using automatic molding equipment quch as that
described in U. S. Patent 3~567,575. During the molding
operation they can be pierced to provide seed wells 40 which
need only be about 1/2 inch deep and about 1/4 inch wide~
although these are not es~ential. When the seed~ are to be
introduced by automatic equipment, such equipment can punch
the seed into the seed pod even when there is no pre~iously
prepared seed well7 On the other hand when the pod strips
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o~ the present invention are to be used for recelving
seedling~, it is desirable to have receiving wells~ and to
have them generally deeper and wider than indicated above.
It is also helpful to sterilize the strips during
5 their molding, as for example by drying them at temperatures
of 200F or higher. Thorough drying, iOe. to 5% of less
moisture based on the total weight after 4 to 8 hours at 190
to 250F, is another de~irable aspect~ particularly if the
strips are not to be put to immediate use, inasmuch as it
reduce~ the development of undesired growths such as mold and
weeds.
Promptly after molding~ the strips can be stacked
into packages such as lllustrated in Fig. 2, In the interest
of improved compactness the rldges are shaped so that tho e
1~ on one strip internest with those of another and pairs of
strips arc readily fitted together in ridge-to-ridge engage-
ment.
Fig. 2 shows a package in the form of a block o~
10 stacked strips 51 through 60. Between adjacent strips
there are inserted growth barrier films 71 through 79 which
can be inexpensive polyethyleneJ polyvinyl chloride or
polystyrene or ~heets of the more bio degradable compositions
including lightly waxed paper~ Those ~ilms or sheets inserted
between internested ridges can be precorrugated to simplify
the stacking operation. The even number of strips in the
block leaves the long sides 81, 82 of the block with flat
sur~aces. The block is then wrapped in a retaining sheet
wrapper 88 which only encircle~ sides 81, 82 and the
remaining 3idss 33~ 84. ~ wrapper 88 whose outer end can be
heat~sealed in placeJ or whlch can be slipped on and shrunk
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in place, i~ pQrticularl~ desirable inasmuch as it dispGn~es
with the need for an adhe~ive securing tape or encircling
twine. The retaining wrapper n~ed not be very sturdy inasmuch
as the strips are not heavy and ten of them can welght a total
of less than two pounds. A 1 mil thiok sheet of stretchy
plasticized pol~inyl chloride such a~ used ~or wrapping me~ts
is quite suitable. It iæ prererred to wrap the strip~ together
tightly 90 that they are not ~ree to rub against ad~acent
~trips and abrade their generally ~riable sur~aces.
The sides ~3~ 84 of the wrapped block are ~haped
by the proiecting ends o~ alternate strips and it is undesir-
able to pile up the blocks so that those ~ides face down
unless the wrapper 88 i8 suf~iciently strong to pre~ent damage
to the strip ends that would then support the piled blooks.
However~ there is no problem piling them up in any other
orientation, all other sur~aces being genarally flat.
No covering is needed for the top9 or bottom9 of
the ~trips ln a blook, and no ~rapping iB needed around the
tops or bottoms o~ the blocks where wrapper 88 is adequate to
securely hold the block together, An additional wrapper can
be used to cover the top and bottom o~ a block, but in such
event it is best to have such additional wrapper independent
Or wrapper 88 so that the additional or outer wrapper can be
removed without undoing wrapper 88. The seed introduction
and germination can then be conducted after the outer wrapper
i5 remo~ed, although soed insertion canJ i~ desiredJ be
accomplished through a wrapping film that is readily punched
through.
Where the ~inal plantings are to have the
individual plants relatively closely spaced ln a row, an
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entire ~trip can be inserted into a groove in the ground
without breaking its individual pods apart. For this type
of planting, the strips can be manu~actured with their individual
pods spaced the distance desired between the final plantings.
A particularly desirable aspect of the present
invention is that it sharply reduces the amount of handling
as well as the space requirements for the use of temporary
growing devices. A block of 100 pods can be seeded in one
automated sweep of a 100-head seed planting machine such as
th9 ad~ustable 96-head seeder shown on page 36 of catalog 10
by Al Saf~er & Co., Inc., New York, N~Y. 10001. After seeding
the blook is easily stored in very little space where it can
be readily subjected to automatic watering. At planting time
the strips can be manually unbundled by simply removlng
wrapper 88, and, if desired~ can have thelr pod~ automatically
planted by ~eeding them endwise into a planting machine that
severs the individual pods, digs holes in the ground for them,
and $nserts each pod into a hole,
Figs. 3 and 4 show alternative shapes for the pod
strips of the present lnvention. Strip 110 has its pod ridges,
120, 121 etc. shaped with rounded contours 80 that in cross-
sectlon the row of ridge outlines form a sinuous curve. No
seed wells are shown in this embodiment, and there are twelve
pods per strip. The general dimension of strip 110 can be
s$milar to those of strip 10, with the ridges standing about
1 to about 3 inches high measured from the flat face of the
strip, the ridge peaks about the same distance apart, and the
strip thickness between ridges about l/4 to about 1/10 the
total ridge height.
Strip 210 o~ Fig. 4 has ridges 220, 221 etc. that
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have generally rlat tops and are spaced rro~ each other by
mating channels 237. This arrangement keeps ad~acsnt ridgeq
somewha~ further apart and i9 particularly suited for plant~
ings that are to be that ~ar apart and are planted by inserting
5 an entire strip in the ground, ~he construction of Fig 4 i8
also more suited for starting seedllngs, to which end its
ridges can ha~e relatively large wells 240.
Additionally a block of stacked strip3 210 has its
edge 230 shaped to better resist damage when stood on that
edge, ~s for example after stacking in bloGks,
The embodiments of Figs. l and 3 are highly
desirable for germinating tree seeds in a mechanized reforesta-
tion program. For this purpose the pods can be relatively
small in overall bulk, the seeds generally don~t occupy much
space and their growth is predominantly in the vertical
direction. ~hus a 5 inch depth ~or a pod works out very
nicely. The pod depth can, however, be shortened to 4 inches
or even less~ except where deep root penetration take~ plaoe
on sprouting and it i~ desired to avoid the growth of the
roots laterally into ad~oining pods.
It is not absolutely nece~sary to have one surface
of the strip~ absolutely flat like surface 30 o~ Fig. 1. That
surface can, if desired~ be provided with protuberances
opposite the ridges~ and indeed such protuberances can be
25 shaped much like the ridges themselves. It is preferred,
however, that such protuberances have flat peaks as at 235
qo they provide a generally flat engagement face even
though there are interruptions in the flatness. Both the
protuberan¢es and the ridges can then have ~lat peaks and
strips of this kind can be stacked without internesting.
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1046769
Odd or even numbors o~ s~ch strip~ can be qtacked to fo~m an
assembly and there is no need to stack them in nested pairs
nor is there any need to have the growth-blocking ~ilms
corrugated for such an arrangement.
Obviously many modi~icatlons and variations of the
present invention are possible ln the light o~ the above
teachin~s. It is, therefore~ to be under~tood that within
the scope o~ the appended claim~ the invention may be
practiced otherwise than as specifically de~cribed.
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