PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PLANTING PLANTLETS

摘要

The invention relates to the automated planting of plantlets from a bare-root, cutting or tissue culture condition into a nursery container. The invention creates a continuous supply of v-notches (34) or open "sandwiches" or "books" of potting substrate, into which plantlets are placed, which then are closed around the plant roots or stem prior to automatic transplantation into a nursery container (46). The invention especially enables plantlets with small roots to be quickly and efficiently planted by an operator by "sandwiching" roots without injury or transplant shock. It is contemplated that this manual planting could be satisfactorily automated. The invention is useful for small plantlets or early stage germinants that have both root and shoot (such as tissue culture material derived from either micropropagation or somatic embryogenesis), but can also be used with rooted or unrooted cuttings, true or synthetic seed or naked embryos.