The system for growing nursery stock includes a conduit for supplying water; a module, and a tapping section ("T" pieces and hose connections) connecting the water conduit to the water inlet in the module.
The module includes: (1) a module body formed by injection moulding defining a plurality of cavities for receiving growing medium; each cavity has slits or ribs in the inner walls of the cells to prevent root coiling, and a large hole at the base for drainage and to allow air pruning of the roots; (2) a channel within the module body , inverted-U shaped and sealed at the bottom by a strip of plastic material by welding or gluing; this channel has a plurality of openings communicating with the cavities; (3) four water inlet sleeves to the channel, in the corner of the module, providing water (and fertilizers) from the main conduit to the cells.
Water flows from the conduit to the inlet, into the channel and then drips from the channel through said openings to the cells.
The main advantage of this system is a considerable (up to 50%) reduction of water (and fertilizers) consumption compared to conventional (both mobile and fixed) irrigation systems. Unlike conventional systems which use sprinklers or nozzles that waste a lot of water, particularly when the crop has large leaf area, this system supplies water (and fertilizers) directly to the growing medium of each cavity. In addition, as leaves and shoots are not wet from the direct application of water, this system allows a better control of foliage diseases, whose infections are associated with wet foliage.
Key words: nursery techniques, cell-grown seedlings, modular tray design.