JPH0253006B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a mineral fiber pine useful as an artificial culture medium for plants, especially vegetables. To provide a mineral fiber pine for plant cultivation that can retain water and air in a well-balanced manner by containing mineral fiber granular cotton dispersed therein.

B. Prior Art Mineral fiber pine has excellent water retention, air permeability, shape retention, etc., and is corrosion resistant, so it is preferably used as an artificial medium for long-term cultivation of plants.

Mineral fiber pine is made by melting mineral and inorganic raw materials such as rocks and slag, and blowing them away using centrifugal force or steam to create fibers, and then using a spray adhesive (mainly thermosetting resin adhesives such as phenolic resins are used). ), the fibers are stacked and collected on a net conveyor, and then heat-treated to dry and harden the adhesive. Therefore, the fibers that make up the mat are oriented parallel to the mat surface, and the fibers are separated from each other. is partially glued to retain its shape. This mineral fiber mat is 30~200
It is produced in densities of Kg/ ^m3 .

By the way, if this mineral fiber pine is used as an artificial culture medium, since the mineral fiber is hydrophobic, water permeability is low and it is difficult to absorb water uniformly, resulting in insufficient and uneven water absorption of the pine. If used as a nursery bed for easy sowing, undesirable results such as uneven germination and inhibited root growth will occur, and this will also have an adverse effect on long-term cultivation.

In order to solve this drawback, anionic or nonionic surfactants are sprayed and added during the production of mineral fiber mats to impart water absorption properties.

C. Problems to be Solved by the Invention When a conventional water-absorbing mineral fiber mat to which a surfactant is evenly adhered is used as a medium, water easily penetrates into the mat; There was a problem that the water content in the lower part tended to be too high and the air content to be too low, making it easy for root rot to occur during long-term cultivation.

Therefore, it has been proposed to use blended wool, which is a blend of mineral fiber wool that has been treated with a surfactant to make it hydrophilic and mineral fiber wool that has been treated with a water repellent agent, as an artificial medium. In addition to being troublesome, the constituent fibers of the blended wool are not bonded to each other, so there is little mechanical strength or shape retention, making it difficult to handle.During the cultivation period, it is compressed by the weight of the above-ground parts and maintains the desired amount of air. It is rarely put into practical use due to drawbacks such as the inability to use it.

D. Means for solving the problems In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides the following:
The following measures were adopted.

That is, when producing a water-absorbing mineral fiber mat by a normal production method, granular cotton of mineral fibers treated with a water repellent is contained in the mat,
By drying and curing the adhesive, a mat for an artificial culture medium is obtained in which water-repellent mineral fiber granular cotton 2 is dispersed in a main water-absorbing mineral fiber mat 1 as shown in the cross-sectional view shown in FIG.

The mineral fibers used in the present invention include rock wool, slag wool, glass wool, and the like.

Anionic surfactants or nonionic surfactants are mainly used as hydrophilic agents for obtaining water-absorbing mats.

Examples of anionic surfactants include fatty acid salts, alkyl sulfate ester salts, alkylbenzene sulfonates, alkylnaphthalene sulfonates, alkyl sulfosuccinates, alkyl phosphate ester salts, polyoxyethylene alkyl sulfate ester salts, and naphthalene sulfonic acid. Condensates, lignosulfonates, etc. are preferred.

Suitable nonionic surfactants include polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkyl phenol ether, sorbitan fatty acid ester, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester, glycerin fatty acid ester, and block polymers of oxyethylene oxypropylene. .

These anionic and nonionic surfactants may be used alone or in combination, or anionic and nonionic surfactants may be used in combination.

Although various adhesives can be used to bond the mineral fibers, thermosetting resin adhesives such as phenolic resin and urea resin are suitable.

Water-repellent mineral fiber granular cotton is made by adding a small amount of water repellent (mineral oil, wax, fat, metal soap, fatty acid, silicone resin, etc.) to the adhesive solution when manufacturing ordinary mineral fiber mat. It is industrially advantageous to mechanically defibrate pine fibers with a water-repellent film formed on the fiber surface into agglomerates with a diameter of about 5 to 20 mm, but of course other methods can also be used. Mineral fibers may be made into granular cotton and treated with a water repellent by a method.

Next, an example of the method for manufacturing the mineral fiber pine for plant cultivation of the present invention will be described.

Raw materials such as rocks and slag are melted in the Cuyupora,
The molten metal is made to flow down onto the high-speed rotating surface of the spinner wheel, and a high-speed air stream is blown from the side to form fibers, and the adhesive containing a surfactant is similarly sprayed from the center of rotation of the spinner wheel.
It is attached to the fiber surface in the air flow and falls onto the net conveyor surface. By jetting and mixing mineral fiber granular cotton treated with a water repellent into the fiber falling path, a piled laminate in which hydrophilic fibers and water-repellent granular cotton are uniformly mixed is formed on the net conveyor. The mineral fiber mat of the present invention can be obtained by heat treating and drying.

This mineral fiber mat usually has a porosity of 95% or more,
It has a density of 50 to 120 Kg/m ³ and a thickness of 50 to 150 mm, and is cut into appropriate dimensions to make an artificial culture medium.

Although the above-mentioned water-repellent mineral fiber granular cotton has a porosity of 95% or more, the adhesion between the fibers itself is incomplete or there is no bonding at all, and the mechanical strength is extremely weak. If more than % by weight is mixed, the shape retention of the pine will decrease, and the tendency of the pine to compress and deform during cultivation will increase, which is undesirable.
Further, if the amount is less than 5% by weight, sufficient effects cannot be obtained.

Therefore, the mixing rate of water-repellent granular cotton in the mat is 5
-30% by weight, preferably 10-25% by weight.

E. Function As described above, the mineral fiber pine for plant cultivation of the present invention has a water-absorbing mineral fiber pine main component whose constituent fibers are bonded to each other and has shape-retaining properties, and water-repellent mineral fiber granular cotton is dispersed therein. Therefore, water and nutrient solution flowing down from the top surface of the pine or supplied by suction from the bottom surface of the pine easily permeates and distributes into the water-absorbing pine portion, but does not penetrate into the inside of the water-repellent granular cotton. , air is always retained in that part.

Usually, 5 to 5
An air content of 30% by weight is desirable, and with conventional mineral fiber pine, the amount of watering must be constantly controlled, but with the present invention, even if excessive watering is performed, the appropriate air content range can be maintained. Since the air content does not fall below a predetermined level, particularly in the lower layer of the pine, where excess moisture has conventionally been apt to occur, root rot, which has often occurred in the past, can be completely prevented.

In the mineral fiber pine of the present invention, the constituent fibers of the main pine are oriented parallel to the pine surface, so if it is flattened and used as a culture medium, the pine will be compressed in the case of a plant with a large weight above the ground. In such cases, the mineral fiber pine may be bent and folded into a continuous wave shape, or the pine may be cut so that the cut surfaces are on the top and bottom. Therefore, it is desirable to provide compression resistance by orienting the fibers in the vertical direction.

F. Example When manufacturing rock wool mat using a normal multi-rotor type fiber manufacturing equipment, an aqueous solution containing phenolic resin and sodium alkylbenzenesulfonate of 5% by weight based on the phenolic resin was added to the rock wool by 2% by weight of the phenolic resin. % during the fiberization blowing process, and in the flow path until the fibers fall onto the net conveyor, separately prepared water-repellent rock wool granular cotton with a particle size of 5 to 20 mm is applied to the product mat. The phenolic resin was dispersed and blown into the resin at a ratio of 10% by weight, and the phenolic resin was stacked on a net conveyor in a uniformly mixed state, and the phenolic resin was cured by hot air treatment to obtain the product of the present invention.

The above-mentioned water-repellent rock wool granular cotton is made into a phenolic resin aqueous solution during the fiberization process using a separate rock wool manufacturing equipment.
Marlex so that the amount of mineral oil is 0.1% by weight.
69 (manufactured by Nippon Oil Co., Ltd., oil emulsion, product name)
A treatment solution containing 2% by weight of phenol resin is sprayed on the rock wool to form rock wool mats, which are heat-cured and molded.The mats are finely divided by a fibrillator and then granulated into approximately spherical shapes. The bonds between its constituent fibers are almost completely destroyed during the decomposition and granulation process, and its shape retention is extremely low, but its porosity is relatively high.

By the above manufacturing method, the density is 80Kg/ ^m3 and the thickness is 50, 75,
Four types of products of 100 and 150 mm were obtained.

Furthermore, the amount of water-repellent rock wool granular cotton added was increased to 5%.
A product of the present invention with a concentration of 20% by weight and a product without additive (conventional product) were manufactured by the same manufacturing method as above.

Place each of these products on a perforated plate,
Set the perforated plate so that the top surface is located at the water surface,
Figure 2 shows the results of measuring the air content based on the weight increase after natural water absorption.

From the above results, the hydrophilic rock wool mat without adding water repellent rock wool granular cotton has a thickness of 10
mm or less, the air content was less than 5%, whereas the product of the present invention containing water-repellent Rockwool granular cotton had an air content of 5% to 30% even if the thickness decreased as the amount added increased. % range can be maintained.

Next, the above water-repellent rock wool granular cotton content 10
% by weight product and a control product without additives were each made into blocks of 75 mm in thickness and 100 mm in length and width, and the surrounding sides were slightly tightened with black polyethylene resin film to form a pot for raising seedlings. Then, prepare 20 of each, and 1 Kiyuuri seed for each.
When seeds were sown and seedlings were raised by constant drip irrigation, the plants of the present invention had particularly taller plants and larger leaf widths than the control plants, and there were no differences in leaf number, leaf color, and leaf length. .

When the height of all 40 seedlings exceeds 30cm, the seedling mats are 75mm thick, 300mm wide, and 910mm long.
When placed on a regular culture medium made of rock wool pine and grown using a circulating irrigation method, all 20 plants of the invention grew well, while 2 plants of the control plant grew well due to over-humidity. causes root rot,
The remaining 18 samples were also inferior to those of the present invention.

G. Effects of the Invention As explained above, the mineral fiber pine for plant cultivation of the present invention can maintain good air content over a long period of time in addition to water retention, air permeability, and shape retention. It has extremely favorable effects as an artificial culture medium for cultivation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a mineral fiber pine for plant cultivation according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of a natural water absorption test between an example product of the present invention and a conventional product. 1...Main body: water-absorbing mineral fiber matte, 2: water-repellent mineral fiber granular cotton.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 The main body is water-absorbing mineral fiber mat whose component fibers are partially bonded with an adhesive and a surfactant is added to the fiber surface, and water-repellent mineral fiber granular cotton is dispersed within the main body. A mineral fiber pine for plant cultivation characterized by containing the mineral fiber pine.