SUBSTRAT SERVANT A LA CULTURE DE VEGETAUX

CULTURE SOIL FOR RAISING PLANTS

Abrégé français

Divulgation concernant un sol pour la culture des plantes, renfermant des grains de laine minérale et de la mousse de tourbe comme principaux constituants, mélangés avec de la pierre ponce granulaire et (ou) de la vermiculite granulaire, ou facultativement les deux ensemble, et un ajusteur de pH. Ce sol pour culture est excellent tant du point de vue de la rétention d'eau que de la perméabilité à l'air. De plus, ce sol permet d'éviter tout excès d'humidité et sa valeur de pH reste dans une plage appropriée pour la croissance des plantes.

Abrégé anglais

A culture soil for raising plants comprising rockwool
granulates and peat-moss as the major components wherein
granular pumice and/or granular vermiculite, optionally
together with a pH-adjustor, are blended is disclosed. This
culture soil is excellent in both of water holding property and
air permeability. Further, it is effective in preventing
excess moisture and the pH value thereof is maintained within
a range suitable for the growth of plants.

Revendications

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A culture soil for raising plants comprising:
rockwool granulates: 20-60% by volume,
peat-moss: 20-70% by volume, and
granular pumice and/or vermiculite: 10-40% by volume,
wherein the rockwool granulates are small sized
granulates of water repellent rockwool.
2. The culture soil for raising plants of claim 1, wherein
the small sized granulates are those where 50 to 100% of
grains can pass through 2.38 mm to 4.75 mm of meshes of a
shaking sieve of JIS Z8801 and 50 to 0% of the grains in the
residue are larger than 4.75 mm in size.
3. A culture soil for raising plants comprising:
rockwool granulates: 20-60% by volume,
peat-moss: 20-70% by volume, and
granular pumice and/or vermiculite: 10-40% by volume,
wherein the rockwool granulates comprise small sized
granulates of hydrophilic rockwool and small sized
granulates of water repellent rockwool.
4. The culture soil for raising plants of claim 3, wherein
the small sized granulates are those where 50 to 100% of
grains can pass through 2.38 mm to 4.75 mm of meshes of a
shaking sieve of JIS Z8801 and 50 to 0% of the grains in the
residue are larger than 4.75 mm in size.
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5. The culture soil for raising plants of any one of
claims 1 to 4, which further comprises a pH adjustor.
6. The culture soil for raising plants of claim 5, wherein
the pH-adjustor is present in the culture soil in an amount
of 0.05 to 0.2% by volume.
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Description

-i 20387~ 9
CULlT~JRE SOIL FOR R~ISING PLANTS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a culture soil for raising
plants. More particularly, it relates to an improved culture
soil for raising plants which comprises rockwool granulates and
peat-moss as the major components.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There has been proposed a culture soil which is obtained
by mixing rockwool granulates and peat-moss as the major
components. This culture soil has been put into practical use
as an artificial culture soil for raising plants.
In the above-mentioned mixed culture soil, the high
porosity of the rock wool is efficiently utilized so as to
achieve a good water holding property. As a result, the
frequency of watering can be cut down, which considerably saves
the labor. In addition, the mixed culture soil is highly
air-permeable and the rock wool, which is the major component
thereof, is sterile. Thus the culture soil is scarcely
contaminated with harmful bacteria as the whole. Furthermore,
the peat-moss used therein, which is a natural leaf mould,
continuously controls the pH value of the culture soil within
a range suitable for the growth of plants and makes the
properties of the culture soil to resemble those of natural
soil. Therefore, the mixed culture soil can be used in nursery
beds, plastic greenhouses, planters and pots, similar to
natural soil. The apparent specific gravity of the mixed

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culture soil corresponds tQ approximately 1/3 of that of
natural soil, which facilitates procedures including soil
transportation, ploughing~ fertilization and shifting of
seedlings.
Although the mixed culture soil comprising rockwool
granulates and peat-moss has a number of advantages as
described above, it is disadvantageous in the water holding
property. That is to say, it would hold a large amount of
water, which would sometimes cause excess moisture.
In order to inhibit the above-mentioned excess moisture,
attempts have been made to control the water holding property
by using a mixture of water repellent granulates and
hydrophilic granulates as the rockwool granulates. However it
is difficult to necessarily inhibit the excess moisture
thereby.
Furthermore, the mixed culture soil comprising rockwool
granulates and peat-moss is disadvantageous in that the water
absorption property thereof is deteriorated once dried. This
problem is brought about mainly by the properties of the
peat-moss.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
useful culture soil for raising plants whereby the
above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional culture soil
comprising rockwool granulates and peat-moss as the major
components, including the excess moisture and the deterioration

~ ~ 3 8 7 ~ ~
in the water absorption property after drying, can be solved
at once.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the
present invention provides a culture soil for raising plants
comprising rockwool granulates and peat-moss as the major
components wherein granular pumice and/or granular
vermiculite are blended.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a culture
soil for raising plants comprising rockwool granulates and
peat-moss as the major components wherein granular pumice
and/or granular vermiculite and a pH-adjustor are b~ended.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a
culture soil for raising plants comprising: rockwool
granulates: 20-60% by volume, peat-moss: 20-70% by volume,
and granular pumice and/or vermiculite: 10-40% by volume,
wherein the rockwool granulates are small sized granulates
of water repellent rockwool.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a
culture soil for raising plants comprising: rockwool
granulates: 20-60% by volume, peat-moss: 20-70% by volume,
and granular pumice and/or vermiculite: 10-40% by volume,
wherein the rockwool granulates comprise small sized
granulates of hydrophilic rockwool and small sized
granulates of water repellent rockwool.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the culture soil for raising plants of the above-
mentioned composition, the granular pumice or granular

vermiculite controls the amount of water hold in the culture
soil so as to prevent the excess moisture. Further, the
deterioration in the water absorption property once dried
can be improved thereby.
Furthermore, the addition of the pH-adjustor makes it
possible to control the pH value of the culture soil within
a range suitable for the growth of plants.
As the rockwool granulates which is one of the major
components of the culture soil for raising plants of the
present invention, surface-treated hydrophilic small sized
granulates, surface-treated hydrophilic fine sized
granulates, small sized granulates of low water repellency
and water
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repellent small sized granul,ates treated with silicone may be
used.
It is preferable that the above-mentioned small sized
granulates is the one wherein 50 to 100 % of grains can pass
through 2.38 mm to 4.75 mm of meshes of a shaking sieve (JIS
Z8801~987) and 50 to 0 9~ of the grains in the residue are larger
than 4.75 mm in size. On the other hand, it is preferable that
the above-mentioned fine-sized granulates is the one wherein 50
to 100 ~ of grains can pass through 0.5 mm to 2.38 mm of meshes
of a shaking sieve (JIS Z8801l987) and 50 to 0 % of the grains
in the residue are larger than 2.38 mm in size.
As the peat-moss (pH 3 to 4) which is another major
component of the culture soil for raising plants of the present
invention, ground sphagnum sediment may be used.
The pumice to be mixed with the major components (namely,
rockwool granulates and peat-moss pieces) is preferably
divided into small grains (having average grain diameter of
from 4 to 8 mm) and medium grains (having average grain
diameter of from 8 to 12 mm). The ratio of the small grains to
the medium grains is preferably 50:50. The vermiculite No. 2
(which has grain diameter of 2.5 to 0.6 mm as defined in JIS
A5009l972) may be used in the manner almost the same as that of
the pumice for the purposes of adjusting the water holding
property in the culture soil (i.e., preventing the excess
moisture) and improving the water absorption property after
dried.

~ 2038719
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Examples of the pH-adjustor include slaked lime and
organic lime.
In addition, the culture soil may further contain nitrogen
fertilizers, phosphatic fertilizers and potassium fertilizers,
either as a straight fertilizer or a compound one, depending on
the purpose. Further, BM calcium phosphate may be used as one
of fertilizer components.
Furthermore, the culture soil for raising plants of the
present invention may contain grains of an organic synthetic
foamed material (for example, hard urethane) in order to
improve the air permeability.
When the above-mentioned peat-moss is used in a
hydrophilic state, an activator may be added.
The above-mentioned rockwool granulates and peat-moss
(i.e., the major components) may be blended with the pumice (or
vermiculite), pH-adjustor and fertilizer at an optimum ratio,
depending on the purpose and culture method, to thereby give
the culture soil. It is preferable to use 20 to 60 % by volume
of the rockwool granulates, 20 to 70 % by volume of the
peat-moss, 10 to 40 % by volume of the pumice (or vermiculite),
0.05 to 0.2 % by volume of the pH-adjustor and 0.1 to 2.0 % by
volume of the fertilizer.
When hydrophilic small sized granulates and water
repellent small sized granulates are used as the rockwool
granulates in the above-mentioned culture soil, the water
holding property of the culture soil can be widely varied.

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When hydrophilic fine-sized granulates of a small grain size is
employed, the sedimentation of seeds can be effectively
prevented. The pumice (or vermiculite) contained in the
culture soil is effective not only for maintaining the culture
soil highly air-permeable but also for absorbing the moisture
in the culture soil to thereby prevent excess moisture. A
mixture merely comprising the rockwool granulates and peat-moss
suffers from a decrease in water absorptivity once dried, which
is broucht about mainly by the properties of the peat-moss. In
contrast, a culture soil comprising pumice never suffers from
such a problem as described above, since the pumice can absorb
the moisture.
The pH-adjustor used in the culture soil is effective for
controlling the pH value of the culture soil to a level which
is seem ngly suitable for the growth of many plants (i.e., pH
5.5 to 6.5) or around it and, furthermore, for making the
propert es and nutrients of the culture soil to resemble those
of natu-al soil as far as possible.
The fertilizer to be added to the culture soil is not
particularly restricted, though BM calcium phosphate is
effective on root taking.
The following table summarizes examples of the embodiment
of the present invention in the cultivation of cyclamen.

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Component Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 3 Ex. 4
small-sized grains of
surface-treated
hydrophilic rock wool 480 1 480 1 240 1240 1
fine-sized grains of
hydrophilic rockwool
small-sized grains of
water repellent rock-
wool (low water repellency) - - 240 1 240 1
small-sized grains of
silicone-treated water
repellent rockwool - - 120 1 120 1
small pieces of peat moss
(pH 3 to 4, sphagnum sediment) 420 1420 1 420 1 420 1
small grains (4 to 8 mm) of
pumice 75 1 75 1 60 1 60 1
medium grains (8 to 12 mm) of
pumice 75 1 75 1 60 1 60 1
vermiculite No. 2
BM calcium phosphate
(i.e., calcium phos-
phate containing 400 g 400 g400 g 400 g
boron, manganese
and magnesium)
(granular)
organic lime (powder) 700 g 700 g700 g 700 g
slow-acting
fertilizer - 3000 g - 3000 g
fast-acting
fertilizer
Total volume 1050 1 1050 11140 1 1140 1

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",,, -
Component Ex. 5
small-sized grains of
surface-treated
hydrophilic rockwool
fine-sized grains of
hydrophilic rockwool 450 1
small-sized grains of
water repellent rock-
wool (low water repellency)
small-sized grains of
silicone-treated water
repellent rockwool
small pieces of peat moss
(pH 3 to 4, sphagnum sediment) 560 1
small grains (4 to 8 mm) of
pumice
medium grains (8 to 12 mm) of
pumice
vermiculite No. 2 280 1
BM calcium phosphate
(i.e., calcium phos-
phate containing 400 g
boron, manganese
and magnesium)
(granular)
organic lime (powder) 700 g
slow-acting
fertilizer
fast-acting
fertilizer 1200 g
Total volume 1290 1

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As described above, the culture soil for raising plants of
the present invention, wherein rockwool granulates and
peat-moss are used as the major components together with
granular pumice and/or granular vermiculite and a pH-adjustor,
is excellent in both of water holding property and air
permeability. Further, it is effective in preventinq excess
moisture and the pH value thereof is maintained within a range
suitable for the growth of plants. Thus it is an excellent
artificial culture soil from a practical viewpoint.