COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to systems and methods for growing plants, including stationary and/or portable systems for hydro-cultural growing of plants in aeroponic and hydroponic environments.

2. Prior Art

The term “aeroponics” refers to the growing of plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or another aggregate medium. The basic principle of aeroponic growing is to suspend plants on a plant support structure and grow the suspended plants in a closed or semi-closed environment by spraying the plant's dangling roots and lower stem with, nutrient-rich water solution. The leaves and crown of the plant, often called the canopy, extend above the plant support structure and the roots of the plant extend below the plant support structure. Ideally, the environment is kept free from pests and disease so that the plants may grow healthier and more quickly than plants grown in a medium.

Various aeroponic and hydroponic growing systems and methods are known in the prior art. With regard to aeroponic systems, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,533,992 and 8,782,948 describe aeroponic systems that exemplify the prior art. The term “hydroponic” refers to the growing of plants using mineral nutrient solutions, typically in water, without soil. Plants may be grown with their roots directly exposed to the mineral solution only, or exposed to solution combined with an inert medium, such as perlite, rock wool or gravel, volcanic rocks and the like.

Aeroponic and hydroponic techniques have proved very successful in carefully controlled laboratory environments, for example, in environments relating to the study of plant physiology. However, due to challenges in the art, aeroponic and hydroponic techniques have yet to be considered feasible for mainstream production of crops or for adaptation on a wide, commercial scale. Moreover, such systems do not provide for the control and management of different sections of a single plant, which in turn provides for more effective control of productivity and growth efficiency relating to single plants and therefore crops overall. Still further, such prior art systems are typically stationary and not amenable to portability and the advantages that derive from portability, including new market models for growing, distribution and selling of a given crop or plant product.

Challenges in the relevant art include providing scalable growing systems that may be readily adapted to the requirements of different plants and which may provide for increased control and management of a single plant and therefore increase the production (yield), improve the product assortment available from plants, and increase the useful productive life of plants.

Other challenges in the relevant art include providing growing systems that are efficient and productive such that the energy costs associated with operation are justified by the output produced.

Yet another challenge in the art is to provide systems that offer diverse and highly tailored control over plant growth and which are easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, install, operate and maintain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, a growing system includes a number of modular growing chambers each of the grow chambers being adapted to interconnect with one another to form a grow chamber stack. Each grow chamber is also adapted to at least partially enclose and provide a controlled growth environment for a respective section of a plant when the grow chamber is positioned in the grow chamber stack, and each grow chamber is adapted to permit selective removal from the grow chamber stack. As used herein, the term “adapted to” means that a component includes structure which enables the component to achieve a stated function, such as interconnecting with another component.

The stack of chambers may surround a growing plant within, with each growing chamber surrounding a corresponding portion of the plant, such as a root mass, plant produce, plant stalk, plant canopy, etc. The grow chambers may be selectively added or removed during plant growth, with little to no disruption to the plant, such that different sections of the growing plant may be influenced differently by respective surrounding grow chambers and the aeroponic and/or hydroponic features housed therein. The grow chamber configurations may thus be utilized to manage and control plant growth, productivity, harvesting and prolong the productive life of the plant, thus enabling unique growing and harvesting methods and processes.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a number of unique processes for growing and harvesting a crop are facilitated by the modular grow chamber features of the grow systems. According to these unique processes, the grow chamber stack may be modified during plant growth by adding or removing grow chambers to accommodate and influence plant growth and production. According to one of these unique processes, referred to herein as a process for producing assorted product from a single plant for simultaneous harvest, the grow chamber stack is modified, as the plant grows, such that the system produces an assortment of produce of different sizes, all of which may be harvested at the same time. For tubular cultivars, such as potatoes, the modular chamber features may be used advantageously to facilitate the simultaneous harvest of different sized, different maturity vegetables, which may include tubers (i.e., potato starts), small sized potatoes, medium-sized potatoes, baker-sized potatoes and king baker sized potatoes, from a single plant. Thus, the modular chamber structure permits an assortment of produce sizes and types (i.e., tubers and potatoes) to be harvested from a single grow chamber stack simultaneously.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, the modular grow chambers facilitate a unique process for producing an extended harvest of a desired size product from a single plant. According to this aspect, the modular chamber features provide for the harvest of a desired size or type of produce, i.e., king baker sized potatoes, from a single plant, for an extended period of time compared to the prior art. According to this aspect, the grow system is first developed by adding grow chambers and modifying the plant such that respective number of different grow chambers having different maturity desired size product are developed. When product in a first chamber (bottom chamber for tubular crops such as potatoes) reaches a desired maturity level, the desired size product is harvested from the first chamber. That chamber is removed and the product in the next higher chamber is allowed to mature for a period of time until it reaches the desired size/maturity. Then, that chamber is harvested. According to this aspect, the plant's production cycle for a given size of produce may be extended by a number of weeks, months or years. In this regard, the grow system is utilized to influence or otherwise manipulate and/or control plant production to achieve appropriate quantities and timing for market demand.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, the modular chamber structure may be used to facilitate a process for extending the productive life of a plant and provide for multiple, continued, and perpetual harvest. This method allows for the plant to continue to grow and produce for a time that is significantly beyond what is typically attainable in the prior art, and, in the case of tubular cultivars such as potatoes, without the need to begin with a new seed, clone, cutting or tuber and the like. This process may involve the removal of a chamber from the grow chamber stack. This allows the plant to continue to grow its natural way and keep any harvest schedule desired. For example, if one wanted to harvest just baker-sized potatoes using this process, after the desired baker size is attained in the lowest chamber, the chamber is removed. Next, the plant portion continues to grow and then another chamber is added over the plant. The lid is then installed on the top chamber. As an example, the plant leaves below the lid are cut, leaving the leaf stem in place to stimulate and promote root growth and to maintain the two distinct growing environments. After the lower chamber has the desired baker size, the process is repeated. Using this process, the productive life of the plant for a given size product (or for assorted size products), may be extended.

According to another aspect, particular configurations of modular grow chambers are provided to enhance the effectiveness of aeroponic and hydroponic growing techniques.

According to another aspect, lifting or conveying features and support features for the grow chambers are provided to enable an operator to add grow chambers to the grow chamber stack and to remove grow chambers from the grow chamber stack.

According to another aspect, the modular growing chambers may include nesting or interlocking features to enable successively stacked chambers to be stacked relative to one another and provide structural stability to the grow system.

According to another aspect, the modular grow chambers may include integrated water and nutrient delivery systems, such as spray heads or nozzles and water delivery tubes being integrated into or within the chamber walls. Quick connect fittings may provide for easy attachment of the water and nutrient delivery system features of each chamber. Additionally, other past, present or future plant growth enhancement/manipulation treatments or techniques can be delivered via the grow chamber support structure and quick connect fittings both dependently and independently to any chamber and plant section for particular crops or even as a given plant enters different stages of growth. Examples are carbon dioxide, minerals, flavorings and the like.

The grow cabinet may be provided with portability features, such as wheels provided on portions thereof. In conjunction with the quick connect and disconnect features, the grow cabinet may be easily transported to different locations. Thus, harvesting from the grow cabinet may occur “on the fly” where the grow cabinet remains in a given location and potatoes are harvested from the chamber/cabinet periodically (monthly, weekly or daily), or harvesting may occur at a remote location, such as a harvesting station, where the entire cabinet is moved to a new location where produce is harvested. Or it can be temporarily removed for harvesting and subsequently returned to a grow station for continue production of a desired crop. Or it could be temporarily removed for harvesting to a harvest station where selective product harvesting can occur, with subsequent plug-in at the original or different grow location. Portability also enables unique marketing features, such as allowing the plant to mature in one location and then moved to a marketplace environment, such as a supermarket, where customers may select and harvest produce from the plant itself. Or, the systems could be installed in supermarkets, prisons, restaurants, commercial residential buildings or anywhere desired by the reseller/user.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, the grow system may be provided as a portable unit that may be readily moved, for example, from a grow area to a harvest area. The interlocking structure of the modular chambers provides stability in the grow system. The grow system water, nutrient, mineral, carbon dioxide, flavoring, or any other past, present or future plant manipulation/enhancing factor connections can be established or disconnected. Wheels and a carriage structure may be provided to enable a user to readily move the grow cabinet from one place to another, such as from a grow room where energy sources are provided, to a harvesting station, or to a sterilization and/or cleaning and maintenance area, or the like.

