Apparatus and process for the cultivation of plants

Claim 2

A propagator for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment comprising upper and lower elongate containers having a common perforated wall, a plurality of plant seeds supported in spaced relation by or adjacent the common wall, means for injecting liquid in the form of vapour or droplets into an end of each of the elongate containers and means for maintaining a pressure in the elongate containers greater than atmospheric pressure.

Claim 3

2 . A propagator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper container comprises a tube of flexible substantially transparent material.

Claim 4

A propagator as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the lower container comprises a tube of flexible substantially opaque material.

Claim 5

A propagator as claimed in any preceding claims wherein the common wall between the upper and lower containers comprises a sheet of flexible, substantially opaque material.

Claim 6

A propagator as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the upper container, the lower container and the common wall are all formed from a synthetic plastics material seam welded together to form two substantially separate containers.

Claim 7

A propagator as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the plant seeds are carried in an elongate web which is suspended within the lower container beneath the common wall.

Claim 8

A propagator as claimed in claim 6, wherein the elongate web comprises two layers of open mesh material, the plant seeds being sandwiched between the two layers.

Claim 9

A propagator as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the common wall is formed with a series of apertures to allow for the growth of each plant upwardly through the common wall and into the upper containers.

Claim 10

A propagator as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the elongate web includes two vertically aligned layers forming a series of pockets, each of which contains a plant seed, each pocket having upwardly and downwardly facing openings to allow for foliage and root growth respectively.

Claim 11

A propagator as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the upper container is formed with a plurality of slits spaced along the length of the container for access to the interior of the container.

Claim 12

A propagator as claimed in claim 10, wherein the slits are normally covered by a hinged flap attached to the inside surface of the upper container and held adjacent the wall of the container by the internal pressure of the container to normally seal the slits.

Claim 13

A propagator as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the means for injecting droplets into each elongate container comprises a nozzle and means for feeding liquid and air to the nozzle at a pressure sufficient to inject fine droplets of liquid into an end of the elongate container and maintain a pressure within the container above atmospheric.

Claim 14

Apparatus for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment comprising a plurality of propagators as claimed in any preceding claim extedning horizontally in side-by-side relationship, upper and lower common inlet tubes in communication with the inlet ends of the upper containers and the lower containers respectively, an upper nozzle in communication with the upper inlet tube and a lower nozzle in communication with the lower inlet tube and upper and lower outlet tubes in communication with the outlet ends of the upper and lower containers respectively.

Claim 15

A process for the cultivation of plants comprising the steps of: providing a propagator comprising an inflatable substantially elongate lower container adjacent an inflatable substantially elongate upper container, a common perforated wall between the upper and lower containers and a plurality of plant seeds supported by or adjacent the common wall; maintaining a pressure sufficiently greater than atmospheric pressure in the upper and lower containers to inflate the container and maintain the containers in an inflated condition; and injecting liquid in the form of airborne droplets into the upper and lower containers under sufficient pressure to propel the liquid droplets down the containers.

Claim 16

A process for the cultivation of plants comprising the steps of: providing a propagator comprising an inflatable substantially elongate lower container adjacent an inflatable substantially elongate upper container, a common perforated wall between the upper and lower containers and a plurality of plant seeds supported by or adjacent the common wall; maintaining a pressure sufficiently greater than atmospheric pressure in the upper and lower containers to inflate the container and maintain the containers in an inflated condition; and injecting liquid in the form of airborne droplets into the upper and lower containers under sufficient pressure to propel the liquid droplets down the containers.

Claim 17

A process as claimed in claim 14 wherein the lower container is substantially opaque and the upper container is substantially transparent.

Claim 18

A process as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the upper and lower containers are tubular and formed from a flexible material and including the further step of: periodically increasing pressure in the containers to inflate and expand them further to allow for the foliage and root growth of the plants.

Claim 19

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 16 including the further step of: adding nutrients to the liquid injected into the lower container.

Claim 20

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 17 including the further step of: oppositely charging the liquid droplets and the plants to increase the deposition of liquid droplets on the root and foliage growth of the plants.

Claim 21

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 18 incouding the further step of: collecting and recirculating liquid passing through the containers.

Claim 22

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 19 wherein the liquid is injected into the containers at a pressure of approximately 500 psi.

Claim 23

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 20 wherein the size of the liquid droplets is approximately 10 microns.

Claim 24

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 21 wherein the pressure within the upper and lower containers is maintained within the range of 10 to 40 lbs psi, and preferably 30 lbs psi.

Claim 25

A process as claimed in any of claims 14 to 22 wherein the liquid is injected into the upper and lower containers intermittently while maintaining a substantially constant pressure within the containers.

Claim 26

A propagator for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Claim 27

A propagator for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Claim 28

A process for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Claim 29

A process for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.