| 摘要 |
A tower planter growth arrangement comprising towers (2) allowing plant/crop production to be commercially competitive with commonly-used field cultivation for selected crops and ornamental plants. It has risers (12) of different lengths that permit a variable number of growing pots (4) in stacked array on a center support pipe (6), a new pot (4) design configured for improved drainage and reduced shipping damage, modified tower rotation plates (8) adapted to accommodate the new pot (4) drainage design, optional protective sleeves (20) for pots (4) that extend their useful life, an optional ground pot (18) that can collect excess water/nutrient drip for growing bonus plants/crops, an optional weighted support pot (52), an optional overhead nutrient distribution system (24), optional internal ground supports/stakes (14), optional support plates (10), and optional use of a nutrient distribution pot (22) above the top growing pot (4) in each tower (2). Applications include, but are not limited to, home and commercial use for growing a wide variety of crops and ornamental plants. |
| 主权项 |
1. A high tower planter growth arrangement in combination with growing media and apparatus providing drip-to-excess water and nutrient to the growing media, that employs less water, less nutrient, and less acreage per plant than in-ground field cultivation and can be used in commercial applications to grow plants and crops in an elevated position above the ground with yields of some plants and crops that are commercially competitive with those obtained via in-ground field cultivation thereof, said high tower planter growth arrangement characterized by;
a plurality of strong, rigid, and vertically-extending tower support pipes each having a diameter dimension, a top end, and a bottom end, each said tower support pipes also having a multiple-part swaged construction; a plurality of strong and lightweight growing pots each made from high-density expanded foam having a minimum material density of approximately 2.7 pounds per cubic foot and also having minimum wall and bottom thickness dimensions of approximately three-fourths-inches, each of said growing pots also having a square top configuration with four top corners and a large square top opening, a tapering top-to-bottom configuration, a bottom surface with a central hole approximately one-fourth-inch larger than said diameter dimension of said tower support pipe, eight drain holes arranged in an octagonal pattern around said center hole for promoting water and nutrient distribution into said four top corners for enhanced root growth, said drain holes also each positioned between said center hole and a perimeter of said bottom surface with its spaced-apart distance from said center hole at least twice that of its spaced-apart distance from a side of the perimeter closest to said drain hole for promoting additional assist in water and nutrient distribution into said four top corners, said drain holes each also having a minimum diameter dimension of approximately one-fourth-of-an-inch and said drain holes that are adjacent to a same side of the perimeter of said bottom surface having a spaced-apart distance from one another of approximately one-inch, each of said growing pot also having a smooth interior surface configured to reduce root penetration from crops and plants grown therein, a beveled top edge configured to reduce plant stem breakage, four tapered grooves each centrally cut into said beveled top edge between a different pair of said four top corners, and a square bottom configuration with bottom corners each shaped and dimensioned for securely positioning within one of said centrally located tapered grooves of a lower one of said growing pots in a vertically-stacked arrangement, wherein said vertically-stacked arrangement has a maximum of approximately twelve of said growing pots one stacked upon another with all of their center holes aligned and adjacent ones of said growing pots rotated approximately 45-degrees from one another, and each of said growing pots also having side indentations configured to assist seedling growth in the lower one of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement; wherein one of said tower support pipes inserted through all said aligned center holes; a plurality of rotation plates each having an octagonal perimeter configuration that is smaller in width dimension than that of said octagonal pattern of said drain holes in each of said growing pots and a central hole approximately one-fourth-inch larger than said diameter dimension of said tower support pipe, with at least one of said rotation plates selected and positioned beneath a bottommost pot of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement so as not to block said drain holes in said bottommost growing pot, said central hole in each of said selected rotation plates aligned with said center holes in said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement, with said tower support pipe also inserted through said central hole in each of said selected rotation plates; an inner support associated with each of said tower support pipes both above and below ground level; a plurality of strong and rigid risers collectively having various length dimensions and each having an inside diameter dimension larger than said diameter dimension of said tower support pipes, said risers also each having an upper end and a lower end, with one of said risers selected for use with one of said tower support pipes and inserted over said tower support pipe in said vertically-stacked arrangement, wherein each of said risers having a length dimension complementary to a number of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement so that a topmost pot of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement becomes positioned at a pre-selected height below said top end of said tower support pipe, said selected riser positioned around a portion of said tower support pipe under said rotation plate, with said rotation plate remaining in close association with said upper end of said riser; and a plurality of ground pots configured for growing bonus plants and crops under said vertically-stacked arrangement, with a selected one of said ground pots associated with each of said tower support pipes, each of said ground pots also having a center bottom hole approximately one-fourth-inch larger than said diameter dimension of said tower support pipes, and said bottom end of each of said tower support pipes positioned below said ground pot selected for use therewith, wherein drip-to-excess water and nutrient applied to the growing media placed in each of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement promptly flows from said drain holes in an upper one of said growing pots into the growing media in said top corners of a lower one of said growing pots until the growing media in all of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement become fluid-saturated with little or no water and nutrient flowing into the next lower one of said growing pots via said center holes, wherein excess water and nutrient flows into said associated ground pot from said drain holes in the bottommost one of said growing pots in said vertically-stacked arrangement. |
