JP7527600B2 - Watering and raising seedlings system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an irrigation seedling raising system, and in particular to an irrigation seedling raising system that irrigates seedlings arranged in a predetermined direction.

Strawberry seedlings are planted individually in cultivation pots, and the cultivation pots are arranged in a specific direction at a distance from the ground surface, and the seedlings are watered and raised.

Watering of strawberry seedlings was previously done by overhead irrigation, where growers would move in a specific direction and spray water over the seedlings, but this had to be done multiple times a day, which placed a burden on the growers.

For this reason, Patent Document 1 shows that the drip tube is extended in the direction in which the cultivation pots are arranged, watering holes are formed in the drip tube, and leaves are irrigated through the watering holes. This technology in Patent Document 1 makes it possible to reduce the labor of the grower in watering.

JP 2009-106176 A

When strawberry seedlings are being raised, if anthracnose occurs on the seedlings, it is difficult to cure them completely, and the only option is to discard the seedlings with anthracnose. Furthermore, once anthracnose occurs on one plant, it spreads to the surrounding plants. For this reason, it is extremely important to prevent the spread of anthracnose when raising strawberry seedlings.

In addition, anthracnose spreads to other seedlings through the soil. For this reason, when watering from above, water droplets that fall onto the soil from above splash down and land on other seedlings, causing anthracnose to develop in those seedlings.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems in the conventional technology, and aims to provide an irrigation seedling raising system that can reduce the labor of irrigation for strawberry seedling growers and prevent the spread of anthracnose.

(1) A seedling irrigation system for irrigating seedlings arranged in a predetermined direction, comprising:
a water supply pipe through which supply water containing at least water flows from upstream to downstream;
A tube connected to the water supply pipe, through which the supply water flows, extending in the predetermined direction, disposed at the base of the seedling, formed in a cylindrical shape, and having a through hole on an outer surface;
An irrigation seedling system that only irrigates the base of the seedlings.

According to the configuration of (1), an irrigation and raising seedlings system for irrigating seedlings arranged in a predetermined direction includes a water supply pipe and a tube.
Supply water containing at least water flows through the water supply pipe from upstream to downstream.
The tube is connected to the water supply pipe, through which the supply water flows, extends in a predetermined direction, is placed at the base of the seedling, is formed in a cylindrical shape, and has a through hole on its outer surface.
And the irrigation seedling system only irrigates the base of the seedlings.

This makes it possible to irrigate seedlings arranged in a predetermined direction with supply water that contains at least water through the through holes of the tube, and further makes it possible to irrigate only the bases of the seedlings.
Therefore, it is possible to provide an irrigation seedling raising system that can reduce the labor of the grower in irrigating and suppress the spread of anthracnose.

(2) An electromagnetic valve provided in the water supply pipe for adjusting the amount of the supply water passing through the water supply pipe;
and a control means for controlling the amount of the supply water to be irrigated to the seedlings by opening and closing the solenoid valve.
The control means
A predetermined amount of the supply water to be irrigated per one time is calculated from a unit water amount, which is the amount of the supply water to be irrigated per one seedling per day, the number of times of irrigation per day, and the number of seedlings;
The irrigation seedling raising system according to (1), wherein the solenoid valve is controlled to open and close so as to irrigate the predetermined amount of the supply water at a preset time.

According to the configuration of (2), the irrigation seedling raising system further includes an electromagnetic valve and a control means.
The solenoid valve is provided in the water supply pipe and adjusts the amount of water supplied through the water supply pipe.
The control means controls the amount of water supplied to irrigate the seedlings by opening and closing the solenoid valve.
The control means then calculates a predetermined amount, which is the amount of supply water to be irrigated per seedling per day, from the unit water volume, which is the amount of supply water to be irrigated per seedling per day, the number of times watering is performed per day, and the number of seedlings, and controls the opening and closing of the solenoid valve so as to irrigate the predetermined amount of supply water at a preset time.

This allows the amount of water to be supplied per irrigation to be calculated from the unit water volume, which is the amount of water to be supplied per seedling per day, the number of times to be irrigated per day, and the number of seedlings.Then, it becomes possible to irrigate with this calculated amount of water at a preset time.
Therefore, since the amount of water supplied can be determined according to the growth state of the seedlings, the weather, the temperature, etc., it is possible to irrigate the plants with an appropriate amount of water.

(3) The water supply system further includes a liquid fertilizer mixing means connected to the water supply pipe upstream of the solenoid valve and mixing liquid fertilizer into the water.
The control means adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed into the water by the liquid fertilizer mixing means to generate the supply water.

According to the configuration (3), the irrigation seedling raising system further includes a liquid fertilizer mixing means.
The liquid fertilizer mixing means is connected to the water supply pipe upstream of the solenoid valve and mixes liquid fertilizer into the water.
The control means adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed into the water by the liquid fertilizer mixing means to generate supply water.

This allows irrigation using supply water containing liquid fertilizer mixed into the water.
Furthermore, since the amount of liquid fertilizer in the supply water can be adjusted, it is possible to irrigate with supply water mixed with an amount of liquid fertilizer according to the growth status of the seedlings, etc., making it possible to irrigate with supply water mixed with an appropriate amount of liquid fertilizer.

The present invention provides an irrigation seedling raising system that can reduce the labor of irrigation required by growers when raising strawberry seedlings and can suppress the spread of anthracnose.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an irrigation seedling raising system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between seedlings and tubes in an irrigation seedling raising system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an irrigation seedling raising system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of irrigation control processing by the irrigation seedling raising system in one embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention will be described in more detail below using preferred embodiments. However, the following embodiments are merely examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[Configuration of irrigation seedling raising system]
First, the configuration of an irrigation seedling raising system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an irrigation seedling raising system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The irrigation seedling raising system 1 of this embodiment shown in Figure 1 is used for raising strawberry seedlings. As shown in Figure 1, raising strawberry seedlings is carried out using trays T in which multiple rows of pots P in which strawberry seedlings are planted are arranged in a predetermined direction, in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction.

The irrigation seedling system 1 includes a water supply pipe 2, a tube 3, and from the upstream side of the water supply pipe 2, a liquid fertilizer mixer 10, a primary solenoid valve 20, a two-way single-system solenoid valve 30, a two-way second-system solenoid valve 40, and a control unit 50.

The water supply pipe 2 carries water that contains at least water from an upstream location connected to a water source (e.g., a well or a water supply) to a downstream location connected to the tube 3.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between seedlings and tubes in an irrigation seedling raising system according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The tube 3 is connected to the downstream side of the water supply pipe 2 as shown in Fig. 1, the supply water flows through it, it extends in a predetermined direction (the direction of the row of the pots P in which the strawberry seedlings are planted), it is placed at the base of the seedlings as shown in Fig. 2, it is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a plurality of through holes 3a are provided on the outer surface at any predetermined interval (for example, 5 cm interval). The predetermined interval of the through holes 3a may be the same as the pitch of the pots P (seedlings) in the tray T.

2, the through holes 3a of the tubes 3 are formed facing downwards. This makes it possible to prevent the irrigation water from splashing on the soil surface, and even if it does splash, the splashed water can be blocked by the tubes 3. This makes it possible to prevent the irrigation water from splashing on the soil surface and adhering to the leaves of the seedlings, etc., and thus preventing the spread of anthracnose.
The through-holes 3a of the tubes 3 may be formed at any position on the outer surface, for example, facing sideways or upward. In this case, the water pressure of the supply water in the tubes 3 is preferably such that the supply water coming out of the through-holes 3a runs down the outer surface of the tubes 3 and falls downward. In this way, it is possible to water only the base of the seedlings.

Returning to Figure 1, the liquid fertilizer mixer 10 is an example of a liquid fertilizer mixing means, is connected to the water supply pipe 2, and is equipped with a liquid fertilizer storage section 101 that stores liquid fertilizer, and a pump section 102 controlled by the control section 50.
Under the control of the control unit 50, the liquid fertilizer mixer 10 supplies liquid fertilizer (undiluted liquid) stored in the liquid fertilizer storage unit 101 to the water supply pipe 2 by the pump unit 102. As a result, the supply water flowing through the water supply pipe 2 is water from the water source mixed with liquid fertilizer.

A strainer S may be provided in the water supply pipe 2 downstream of the part where the liquid fertilizer mixer 10 is connected. For example, if the water source is well water, dust from the well water may get into the water supply pipe 2. Also, for example, when liquid fertilizer is poured into the liquid fertilizer storage section 101, dust may get into the liquid fertilizer storage section 101. However, by providing a strainer S, dust that was circulating in the water supply pipe 2 along with the supply water can be removed by the strainer S.

The primary solenoid valve 20, the two-way single-system solenoid valve 30, and the two-way double-system solenoid valve 40 are provided in the water supply pipe 2, and the amount of water supplied through the water supply pipe 2 is adjusted by opening and closing the valves under the control of the control unit 50.

The primary solenoid valve 20 is provided in the water supply pipe 2 downstream of the liquid fertilizer mixer 10 and the strainer S.
The water supply pipe 2 is branched into a plurality of systems (a first system and a second system in the example shown in FIG. 1) in accordance with a seedling cultivation plan, etc., downstream of the primary solenoid valve 20. The water supply pipe 2 is further branched into a plurality of branch pipes for each of the plurality of systems.

The two-stage, one-system solenoid valves 30 are provided in the multiple branch pipes of the first system, respectively.
The two-stage two-system solenoid valves 40 are provided in the multiple branch pipes of the second system, respectively.
A tube 3 is connected to each branch pipe via a two-way single-system solenoid valve 30 or a two-way dual-system solenoid valve 40, respectively.

By providing the solenoid valves in this manner, when the primary solenoid valve 20 is closed, the supply of supply water to the first and second systems can be stopped, and when the primary solenoid valve 20 is opened, the supply of supply water to the first and second systems can be started.
In addition, when the two-way single-system solenoid valve 30 is closed, the supply of supply water to only the first system can be stopped, and when the two-way single-system solenoid valve 30 is opened, the supply of supply water to only the first system can be started.
In addition, when the two-way two-system solenoid valve 40 is closed, the supply of supply water to only the second system can be stopped, and when the two-way two-system solenoid valve 40 is opened, the supply of supply water to only the second system can be started.

This allows the first and second systems to have different amounts of water for irrigation. For example, when the area where the tubes 3 of the first system are located and the area where the tubes 3 of the second system are located have different environments such as exposure to sunlight, it is possible to adjust the amounts of water for irrigation in the first and second systems to appropriate values. It is also possible to properly manage watering of the parent tree and the child trees by placing the tubes 3 of the first system at the base of the parent tree and the tubes 3 of the second system at the base of the child trees growing out from the parent tree.

The number of systems is not limited to two systems, and may be one system or three or more systems depending on the seedling cultivation plan, etc. In addition, in this embodiment, a solenoid valve is provided in each of the multiple branch pipes in each system, but a solenoid valve may be provided for each system.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the irrigation seedling raising system in one embodiment of the present invention.
The control unit 50 includes a liquid fertilizer mixing adjustment means 51, a receiving means 52, a calculation means 53, and an electromagnetic valve control means 54.

The liquid fertilizer mixing adjustment means 51 adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed into water by the liquid fertilizer mixer 10 based on the liquid fertilizer information indicating the required amount of liquid fertilizer received by the receiving means 52, and generates supply water. In detail, the liquid fertilizer mixing adjustment means 51 sets the dilution factor (value obtained by dividing the total amount by the amount of liquid fertilizer (undiluted)) of the liquid fertilizer (undiluted) stored in the liquid fertilizer storage section 101 based on the liquid fertilizer information. Then, the liquid fertilizer mixing adjustment means 51 controls the pump section 102 to supply the amount of liquid fertilizer (undiluted) based on the setting to the water supply pipe 2 during irrigation.

The reception means 52 receives operations from a manager of the irrigation and raising seedlings system 1 (e.g., a person raising strawberry seedlings, etc.). The reception means 52 receives, for example, liquid fertilizer information indicating the required amount of liquid fertilizer, information regarding the amount of liquid fertilizer to be supplied in one watering, information regarding the amount of water supplied to be irrigated per seedling per day, information regarding the number of times irrigation is performed per day, information regarding the time of irrigation, information regarding the number of seedlings, etc.

The calculation means 53 calculates a predetermined amount of water supply water to be irrigated per time from the unit water volume, which is the amount of water supply water to be irrigated per seedling per day, the number of times watering is performed per day, and the number of seedlings, based on the information received by the reception means 52.

The calculation means 53 may also acquire information on the climate and temperature, and information on the growth status of the seedlings, calculate the amount of water to be supplied per seedling per day, and determine the number of times to water the seedlings per day.

The solenoid valve control means 54 opens and closes the primary solenoid valve 20, the two-way first-system solenoid valve 30, and the two-way second-system solenoid valve 40 to irrigate the seedlings with a predetermined amount of supply water at a preset time based on the information received by the reception means 52 and the calculation results of the calculation means 53.

The solenoid valve control means 54 may control the primary solenoid valve 20, the two-way single-system solenoid valve 30, and the two-way second-system solenoid valve 40 as a whole, or may control each individually. The solenoid valve control means 54 may also control the two-way single-system solenoid valve 30 and the two-way second-system solenoid valve 40 for each system, or for each solenoid valve in each system. By controlling each solenoid valve in each system, the amount of water for irrigation can be controlled for each system, and further, the amount of water for irrigation can be controlled for each branch pipe in each system, so that even if a large number of seedlings are grown at the same time, more appropriate irrigation according to the location of the seedlings is possible.

The control unit 50 includes a processor, memory, storage, and communication unit (not shown), which are connected by a bus. The processor is, for example, configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and performs various processes by reading and executing various programs stored in the memory. The memory stores the programs executed by the CPU, and is, for example, configured with a ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory).

Next, the irrigation control process in the control unit 50 of the irrigation seedling raising system 1 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an irrigation control process by the irrigation seedling raising system in one embodiment of the present invention.

In step S1, the reception means 52 receives information on the amount of liquid fertilizer supplied during one watering, information on the amount of water supplied per seedling per day, information on the number of times watering is performed per day, information on the time of watering, information on the number of seedlings, etc., based on the operation of the administrator of the irrigation seedling raising system 1.

In step S2, the calculation means 53 calculates a predetermined amount of water supply water to be irrigated per time from the unit water volume, which is the amount of water supply water to be irrigated per seedling per day, the number of times watering is performed per day, and the number of seedlings, based on the information received by the reception means 52 in step S1.

In step S3, the solenoid valve control means 54 opens and closes the primary solenoid valve 20, the two-way first-system solenoid valve 30, and the two-way second-system solenoid valve 40 to irrigate the seedlings with a predetermined amount of supply water at a preset time based on the information received by the reception means 52 in step S1 and the calculation results of the calculation means 53 in step S2, thereby controlling the amount of supply water to irrigate the seedlings. Also, the liquid fertilizer mixing adjustment means 51 controls the pump unit 102 to supply the amount of liquid fertilizer (undiluted liquid) based on the information received by the reception means 52 in step S1 to the water supply pipe 2.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and any modifications or improvements that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention.

Reference Signs List 1 Irrigation seedling raising system 2 Water supply pipe 3 Tube 3a Through hole 10 Liquid fertilizer mixer 20 Primary solenoid valve 30 Two-way single-system solenoid valve 40 Two-way double-system solenoid valve 50 Control unit 51 Liquid fertilizer mixing adjustment means 52 Reception means 53 Calculation means 54 Solenoid valve control means 101 Liquid fertilizer storage unit 102 Pump unit

Claims (2)

A seedling irrigation system for irrigating seedlings arranged in a predetermined direction,
a water supply pipe through which supply water containing at least water flows from upstream to downstream;
A tube connected to the water supply pipe, through which the supply water flows, extending in the predetermined direction, disposed at the base of the seedling, formed in a cylindrical shape, and having a through hole on an outer surface;
The water coming out of the through holes runs down the outer surface of the tube, watering only the base of the seedlings .
an electromagnetic valve provided in the water supply pipe for adjusting the amount of the supply water passing through the water supply pipe;
and a control means for controlling the amount of the supply water to be irrigated to the seedlings by opening and closing the solenoid valve.
The control means
a receiving means for receiving information on the amount of water to be supplied per seedling per day, information on the number of times to water per day, and information on the number of seedlings, by operation of an administrator;
a calculation means for calculating a predetermined amount of the supply water to be irrigated per one time from a unit water amount, which is an amount of the supply water to be irrigated per one seedling per day, the number of times of irrigation per day, and the number of seedlings, based on the information received by the reception means;
An irrigation and raising seedlings system that controls the opening and closing of the solenoid valve so as to irrigate the predetermined amount of the supply water at a preset time . The water supply system further includes a liquid fertilizer mixing means connected to the water supply pipe upstream of the solenoid valve and mixing liquid fertilizer into the water.
The irrigation seedling raising system according to claim 1 , wherein the control means adjusts the amount of liquid fertilizer mixed into the water by the liquid fertilizer mixing means to generate the supply water.

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