APPARATUS AND METHOD OF WATER CULTURE AND PLANT HANDLING METHOD

摘要

A water culture apparatus wherein air space sections are formed between plant containers and a nutrient solution when rafts are floated in a water culture tank filled with the nutrient solution. The plant containers are inserted in vertically oriented channels provided in the raft. The air space sections are formed in order that the plant containers do not get submerged in the nutrient solution. The plants are cultivated by: gradually moving the raft from one end to another end of the water culture tank, movement of the raft corresponding to a state of growth of the plants so that the plants supported by the plant containers reach the other end by the time the plants have grown as a result of having absorbed nutrients from the nutrient solution; and harvesting the plants when each of the rafts reaches the other end of the water culture tank. The plants are handled by: sowing several seeds into each of the plant containers, the seeds in each of the plant containers corresponding in number to a shipping unit of the plants; and preparing the plant containers along with the plants contained therein for shipping once the plants have grown.