Loading patent…
AssigneeCultivation Systems B.V.
InventorsMaurice Cornelis Antonius Van Der Knaap, Christiaan Silvester Noordam
Estimating the term…
Method for the floating cultivation of a plant, in which, in a first stage of growth, the roots of the plant are kept at a distance from a water supply situated underneath the plant. The supply of moisture to the plant can be effected via the intermediate space between the float for the plant and the water supply and from the top side of the plant. As the plant develops further, the root system grows in the direction of the water supply and, in a second stage of growth, the vast majority of the water requirement is satisfied directly by the water supply. This is achieved by way of a panel which floats on the water supply and is provided with holes for accommodating the plant. This panel may be provided with recesses which are closed at their top sides and reduce the area of contact with the water and provide closed chambers.
1-14. (canceled)
A method for the floating cultivation of a number of plants, comprising providing a carrier with apertures for said plants and providing a water supply, wherein said carrier is provided on said water supply in a floating manner and wherein the roots of said plant or the precursor thereof with a small amount of substrate are placed in an air-containing intermediate space in the apertures in said carrier at such a distance from said water supply that said roots of said plant or the precursor thereof are situated at a vertical distance from said water supply, wherein, in a first stage of growth of said plant or the precursor thereof, at least a significant part of the requirement for moisture of said plant or the precursor thereof is satisfied by said intermediate space between said carrier and said water supply and/or by said carrier and the plants are sprinkled from above, wherein the height of said intermediate space corresponds at least with the length of the root of said plant at the end of said first stage of growth, and wherein, in a second, further stage of growth of said plant, at least 90% of the moisture requirement of said plant is satisfied directly by said water supply, and said first stage of growth comprises at least a few days.
A system comprising a basin filled with water, a carrier provided in said basin and floating on said water, said carrier comprising a number of continuous holes, in which a plant with roots or a precursor thereof is placed with a small amount of substrate, said plant being arranged in such a manner in said holes that the bottom end of said plant is situated at a distance from the surface of said water near said hole.
A panel-shaped carrier having buoyancy for the floating cultivation of a number of plants or its precursors comprising at least several continuous holes each for accommodating plants, wherein, inside the outer periphery of said carrier, when the plant to be cultivated is present, at least 50% of the surface area of the water side of said carrier in the floating position on the water, is not in contact with said water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.