The present invention relates to a self watering bottle planter insert that allows a regular bottle to be transformed into a hydroponic planter. The self watering bottle planter is insertable into a bottle and removes the need for a separate source of nutrients. The planter uses composite media with an enriched substrate layered beneath a more standard hydroponic growth media.
A common cause of plants dying is a lack of attention and watering. Plants kept in small pots with soil do not retain significant volumes of water, and often require watering at least once per day. For busy people this constant maintenance requirement can be burdensome. A common method of addressing the need for regular watering is to use the hydroponic method for growing plants. The hydroponic method or soil-less growth of plants, comprises the cultivation of plants by placing the roots in a nutrient solution or water rather than soil. In some instances a light soil or similar material (e.g. peat moss, coco coir, rock wool, or even some man-made materials) are used to accommodate the seed and seedling, but as the plant matures its roots grow into the water.
A water tight container such as that described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,207 will not only prevent water from leaking out of the container, but it will also prevent air from entering the container. The root systems of plants require oxygen to survive, and in an oxygen deprived environment the plant will not flourish.
Existing hydroponic devices including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,918,207 and 7,587,859 include a component that performs the common function of holding the plant and/or plant substrate. In the case of U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,207 this component is referred to as the “planter unit”, and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,587,859 “plant receiving depressions”. Holes in the bottom of both devices perform a similar function; allowing the entry or water into the component such that it may be utilized by the roots of the plant. However, these components also lack an important functionality—being the ability to allow the roots of the plant to extrude outside of the component. The roots of the plant are therefore constrained in a very small area, leading to a high likelihood of the plant becoming root-bound.
Existing hydroponic devices including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,918,207 and 7,587,859 require containers or water reservoirs of specific dimensions. These are not common household items, and rather need to be ordered from a specialist manufacturer. This involves significant packaging, transport and wastage. When hydroponic system require the use of many specialized components, environmental benefits are compromised.
Existing hydroponic devices call for the use of a container or reservoir made of glass, acrylic, plastic or other materials to hold the water or nutrient solution. Common embodiments of glass, acrylic and plastic are clear. Clear glass, acrylic or plastic allows the full spectrum of light to pass through it to the water. Water containing even a small amount of nutrients, as hydroponic water typically does, will grow algae. The algae which will grow in the water could be expected to turn the water green, and deplete the water of oxygen, having an adverse impact on the health of the plant.
U.S. Patent Publication No. US2005/0257424 discloses a hydroponic system that relies on the preparation of nutrient solution by adding liquid or powdered nutrients to water.
U.S. Patent Publication No. US2016/0316640 discloses an even distribution of nutrient in soil. U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,009 discloses a leach resistant nutrient mixture. Both of these discuss nutrient enriched plant growing substrates with a focus on soil based growing.
Hydroponic growth media is known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,803 discloses small tufts of mineral wool. U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,749 discloses soil mixture particles distributed throughout a body of spongy polymer fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,217 discloses a sterile, low water retention linear foam plastic. None of these hydroponic growth media are enriched with sufficient nutrients to support the entire life cycle of a plant.
One hydroponic technique is disclosed in the literature. Kratky, B. A. 2009. Three Non-Circulating Hydroponic Methods for Growing Lettuce, Acta. Hort. 843:65-72. The Kratky method is generally known to be the simplest of all hydroponic techniques. It involves the roots of a plant dangling in a body of water below. The plant roots suck up water and nutrients, keeping the plant alive. The Kratky method of hydroponics has many different form factors and potential reservoirs—including a pond, bucket, or specially made plastic reservoir. This system is commercially available at: https://www.modsprout.com/collections/herb-kits/products/garden-jar-three-pack-herb-essentials and https://www.homedepot.com/p/Viagrow-Black-Bucket-Deep-Water-Culture-Hydroponic-System-V1DWC/203548975. This method has never used a bottle as a reservoir.
Previous hydroponic grow chambers form a water or air tight seal at the mouth or opening of the vessel in which it resides, thereby preventing the flow of oxygen to the roots of the plant.
It is an object of the present invention to create a hydroponic planter that is insertable into a bottle and which removes the need for separate source nutrients as is typically required in hydroponic plant production. The planter uses composite media with an enriched substrate layered beneath a more standard hydroponic growth media. Water in the bottle provides a supply of water to the plant.
It is a further object of the present invention to create a hydroponic growth chamber that does not constrain the growth of the plant roots downward into the container. Vertical slits or apertures in the walls of the support frame of the invention allow the plant roots to extend freely into the container. This is far less likely to result in the plant becoming root bound.
A purpose of this invention is to provide an easy and low-maintenance method for keeping plants alive. The self watering bottle insert planter can be used for growing a plant, such as herbs, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants, out of the top of a bottle which can be glass, plastic, or some other material. All that is required is water in the bottle. The nutrients in the bottle insert support the plant for the life cycle of the plant.
A preferred embodiment of the invention includes a substrate enriched with nutrients within a support frame with an open framework of vertical legs. The use of this invention, when combined with a bottle filled with water creates a highly favorable environment for growing plants hydroponically. The nutrients from the substrate leach into the water providing nutrients for the plant during its life cycle.
An embodiment of the invention is a bottle insert containing a plant substrate, where the insert is adapted to be inserted into a neck of a bottle, for facilitating growth of a plant and plant roots. The bottle insert includes a support frame with a top retainer ring, an open framework of vertical legs having upper frame segments and lower frame segments, and a base coupling terminal portions of the vertical legs. The plant substrate is encased in the open framework and adapted to support the plant root. The substrate defines a wick adapted to vertically draw up liquid from the bottle to the seed or plant. The support frame is adapted to be inserted into the neck of the bottle and retained atop the bottle by the top retainer ring.
Embodiments of the invention also include a bottle insert for facilitating the growth of plants comprising a support frame with a top retainer ring, an open framework of vertical legs having upper frame segments and lower frame segments, and a base coupling terminal portions of the vertical legs. The substrate is encased in the open framework and adapted to support a plant root system. The substrate defines a wick adapted to vertically draw up liquid from a bottle container. There is at least one vertical aperture, wherein the apertures may be continuously vertically open or the at least one vertical aperture may have periodic lateral support segments to assure vertical stability. The support frame is inserted into a neck of a bottle and retained atop the bottle by the top retainer ring.
The invention may also include a bottle insert having a form factor adapted to fit within a bottle neck having an inner diameter no larger than 22 mm and no smaller than 18 mm. The support frame may have a length no greater than 130 mm.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention can be found in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The description that follows is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way; rather it is intended to provide a convenient illustration for implementing various embodiments of the invention. As will become apparent, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described in these embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. It should be appreciated that the description herein may be adapted to be employed having different shape bases, covers, and insert portions and the like and still fall within the scope of the present invention. Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for the purpose of illustration only and not of limitation.
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One preferred embodiment of the invention of self watering bottle planter comprises: a plant substrate framework unit, wherein the plant substrate serves as both a medium to support the plant seed, seedling and root, as well as performing a wicking function via capillary action. A plastic tube, with a flange at one end, serves the purpose of holding the substrate unit in place at the top, mouth or neck of the container or bottle. When a seed or seedling is placed in the substrate, it is kept moist via the capillary action of the substrate itself. The plant substrate as its bottom end in communication with the water in the bottle. As the seedling grows, its roots extend downward through the substrate toward the water or nutrient solution below. The roots of the small plant will soon outgrow the substrate itself, and via the slits or channels in the preferred embodiment are able to grow uninhibited into the container.
At the same time as the roots are growing down into the bottle container, the small seedling grows toward its light source (commonly upward). Unlike U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,207, the invention does not form a water or air tight seal at the mouth or opening of the vessel in which it resides, thereby allowing the flow of oxygen to the roots of the plant. Unlike U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,918,207 and 7,587,859 which also include a component that serves the function of supporting the plant and substrate, an important difference with the present invention is that the invention does not constrain the growth of the plant roots downward into the container. Vertical slits in the walls of the plastic tube or open framework allow the plant roots to extend freely into the container. This invention is far less likely to result in the plant becoming root bound. Although the preferred embodiment includes a plastic tube open framework, with a flange or retaining ring at one end, the invention can be constructed as otherwise disclosed and explained herein.
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The lower open segment 4 is composed of vertical legs 5 and open slits or apertures 11. There are typically 3-4 vertical legs 5 in a bottle insert 7. The lower open frame segments 4 allow the roots 10 of the plant 26 to grow through and out of the bottle insert 7 and into the cavity of the bottle. Alternative embodiments may include a pin or small rod passing through the substrate 8 and residing in a similar location as the flange 6 shown in the preferred embodiment.
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The self watering bottle insert 7 may be used in any common household bottles 24, such as empty glass bottles 24. In 2013 Americans generated 254 million tons of trash. Reuse of common bottles 24 as planters would help reduce trash. Optionally, the self watering bottle insert 7 may utilize a specially made vessel or container for the purpose of holding water or nutrient solution. The self watering bottle insert 7 planter uses a bottle 24 or container that might have otherwise been thrown away. In one embodiment, a glass wine bottle 24 is used as a container of vessel for holding the water or nutrient solution. Wine bottles 24 are often green or brown and are particularly well suited for the function of container or reservoir owing to their light filtering properties. Tinted or colored materials block colors other than their own. For example when one looks through rose colored glasses the world appears pink; owing to the fact that blue, green and yellow light has been blocked from passing. Similarly, a green or brown wine bottle will only allow the green or brown spectrum of light to pass through.
Although plants and algae are capable of using the full spectrum of light for the purpose of photosynthesis, they derive most of their light energy from the blue and red frequencies of light. This is why hydroponic grow lights often appear pink/purple in color. The green light which will pass through a green bottle 24 is largely unusable to the algae which might otherwise form were a clear bottle 24 to be used. Since green light is largely invisible to plants and algae their growth can be inhibited. Thus, use of a green or brown bottle 24 will inhibit algae growth.
In an alternate embodiment, the support frame 1 may be eliminated. The suspension of the substrate 8 or growing medium could also be achieved via a simple flange 6 at the top of the bottle, some pins or small rods passing through the substrate 8, or even by simply relying on friction via a snug fit within the neck 21 of the bottle.
The substrate 8, 50 and 53 may be hydroponic growth medium composed of one more of the following: rock wool, perlite, vermiculite, common potting mix, sphagnum peat moss, pine bark, a combinatory amalgamation of peat moss and pine bark. In the preferred embodiment, the first plant substrate 50 is a stabilized mixture of organics, such as sphagnum peat moss, pine bark. By way of example, the first plant substrate 50 can be ORIGINAL FORMULA™ by International Horticultural Technologies. In the preferred embodiment, the second plant substrate 53 is a stabilized spagnum peat moss plug that is enriched with nutrients. By way of example, the second plant substrate 53 can be G-MIX™ by International Horticultural Technologies, which is enriched by soaking it in nutrient solution and dried. A wide variety of nutrients can be used to enrich the substrate 8, including but not limited to, inorganic hydroponic nutrients, organic hydroponic nutrients and pH buffers.
When the self watering bottle insert 7 planter includes substrates 8 enriched with nutrients, a single plant 26 can be grown hydroponically without the use of external nutrients for the life of a plant 26. When inserted in a water reservoir or bottle filled with water, these highly leachable nutrient salts (>90% leach), dissolve into the water to create hydroponic nutrient solution. These nutrients can support a plant for its life cycle.
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Alternate embodiments can include various other substrates 8. Other substrates 8 might include common hydroponic grow-mediums such as rock wool, perlite, vermiculite or any one of a number of other materials. Common potting mix could also be an option. The main considerations are that the substrate 8 be suitable for supporting the seed and young plant, and that it not fall inside the bottle when wet. The ability to wick water up is desirable, but not essential. Alternate embodiments could also include nutrients being added directly to the water as opposed to being in the substrate.
The claims appended hereto are meant to cover modifications and changes within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/892,807, filed Feb. 9, 2018, which claims priority to provisional application No. 62/457,072 filed on Feb. 9, 2017, the contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62457072 | Feb 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15892807 | Feb 2018 | US |
Child | 16952663 | US |