System for separating bulk-supplied plant-bulbs and method for transporting and spacing plant-bulbs

A system for separating bulk-supplied plant-bulbs into a single-file stream of spaced plant-bulbs, the system comprising:

• a bulk-conveyor for conveying a plurality of plant-bulbs as a bulk mass;
• a single-file vibration-trough downstream of the bulk-conveyor, arranged to receive plant-bulbs from the bulk-conveyor and to further convey received plant-bulbs in single-file;
• a single-file conveyor downstream of the single-file vibration-trough, arranged to receive plant-bulbs from the single-file vibration-trough;
• wherein the bulk-conveyor has a discharge edge and the single-file vibration-trough is longitudinally aligned substantially parallel to the discharge edge, and wherein the plant-bulbs are provided by the discharge edge to the single-file vibration-trough substantially laterally to the single-file vibration-trough;
• wherein the single-file vibration-trough is configured to progress the plant-bulbs at a first speed,
• wherein the single-file conveyor is configured to progress the plant-bulbs at a second speed, and
• wherein the second speed is higher than the first speed whereby during use plant-bulbs transferring from the single-file vibration-trough to the single-file conveyor are spaced on the single-file conveyor.