DEVICE FOR CULTIVATING PLANTS WITH AUTOMATIC WATERING OF THE SOIL

摘要

The invention relates to devices for cultivating plants with automatic watering of the soil and can be used for cultivating decorative plants in homes or work areas, as well as hothouses. The aim of the invention is to ensure that a constant optimal level of moisture is maintained in the soil in one plant container or simultaneously in more than one plant container during the entire cultivation period. This is achieved with the aid of the proposed novel device for cultivating plants incorporating automatic watering of the soil (figs. 1, 2). This device comprises one or more plant containers (1) with drainage openings (2), a sealed water tank (3) provided with an overflow aperture (7) in which a stopper (8) fits tightly, and one or more (depending on the number of plant containers) wicks (4) made of a capillary-porous material; the lower end of the wick is in contact with the bottom of the water tank. The water tank is provided with one or more sealed tubes (6) whose upper ends communicate with the atmosphere, while the lower ends extend down into the tank and terminate 5-10 mm from the tank bottom. The wicks (4) run through the tubes (6) and their upper ends pass through the drainage openings (2) in the plant containers (1). In addition, in order to simplify maintenance, the wick (4) in the device (fig. 3) is designed as two detachable sections in contact with each other. The upper section (4-1) is secured in the drainage opening (2) of the plant container (1) and the lower section (4-2) extends down through the tube. By using the claimed device the soil moisture can be maintained automatically at a constant optimal level in several plant containers simultaneously during the entire period of cultivation.