Thermal plant treatment and a machine to apply the treatment
AssigneeRichard Stephen Griffith
InventorsMartin Fischer, Art Dawson
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method of impacting the fruit production of a plant or crop by applying short-duration thermal shock streams of hot air to the plant periodically to impact the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway mechanisms in a plant thereby improving its fruit. The method includes the steps of (1) passing by the plant in a row at a speed in an improved Thermal Plant Treatment (TPT) machine, (2) ejecting from the TPT machine at least one hot stream of air in the direction of the unit plant area, (3) optionally measuring the thermal shock profile that the plant is subjected with thermal sensors, and (4) repeating the thermal shock profile treatment steps (1) and (2) at pre-determined regular intervals over at least a fraction of the crop year.
Claims20
A method of treating a plant with heat to improve crop yield and crop quality, the method comprising:
- applying a first series of heat treatments to a plant area of a target plant based on a first stage of plant growth of the target plant to induce a biochemical reaction in the target plant and cause the target plant to provide an improved plant-output measure in the plant area, wherein each one of the first series of heat treatments comprise:
- increasing a temperature of air in the plant area from a first temperature to a second temperature over a first time duration and with a heated air stream, the first temperature being an ambient temperature;
- maintaining the temperature of air at least at the second temperature for a second time duration, the second time duration being longer than the first time duration;
- and
- allowing the temperature of air to decay from the second temperature to the first temperature over a third time duration, the third time duration being longer than the second time duration.
A method of treating a plant to improve a plant-output measure of the plant, the method comprising:
- applying a series of heat treatments to a plant area of a target plant based on a stage of plant growth of the target plant to induce a biochemical reaction in the target plant and cause the target plant to provide an improved plant-output measure in the plant area, wherein each one of the series of heat treatments comprise:
- generating a stream of air and heating the stream of air to generate a stream of heated air;
- ejecting the stream of heated air from a nozzle and onto the plant area of the target plant such that the stream of heated air impinges on the target plant in the plant area to increase a temperature of the plant area of the target plant to a first temperature greater than an ambient temperature;
- removing the stream of heated air from the target plant after a first time duration;
- and
- allowing the temperature of the plant to decay from the first temperature to the ambient temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.