Plant cultivating pot

A plant cultivating pot is disclosed. The pot has top and bottom wall spaced apart by a sidewall or panel. The cross-section of the top is larger than the bottom wall so that the sidewall is inwardly sloped from the bottom wall to the top. Openings in the sidewall provide points for planting a plant in media for supporting plant growth from within the interior volume of the body of the pot. The increasing cross-section of the pot from the top to the bottom maximizes exposure of each plant to sunlight. A frusto-pyramidal shaped, non-woven geotextile material provides an optimal shape and material for the body of the pot for growing strawberries.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the increasing interest in gardening but with a limited amount of time and space to dedicate to it, container gardens have become very popular. Coincidentally, growing your own vegetables has become trendy. Traditional gardening requires time to till, prepare, plant, and nurture soil that may not contribute directly to the overall success of a plant. Traditional gardening also requires horizontal space that may not be available and the added time required to dig up the harvest. The inefficiencies of traditional gardening are also becoming more difficult to justify. For example, a large amount of soil is watered and fertilized that may not necessarily contribute to the growth and success of a plant. Controlling the growing environment and characteristics of a traditional garden, such as aeration, drainage, heat dissipation, etc., also highlights some of the added inefficiencies of traditional horizontal gardening. Direct exposure to sunlight can also be blocked by larger plants in traditional horizontal gardening. And, in limited planting spaces, unwanted shading and weeding is often a concern.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a plant cultivating pot configured to support vertical planting thereby maximizing a plants exposure to sunlight and minimizing the footprint required for the pot. Advantageously, the pot may be constructed of a non-woven geotextile that supports a balanced exchange of air and water to the environment within the pot. The pot air prunes roots for maximum mass and volume, stops root circling, aerates the root zone, drains at optimal rates and dissipates heat to provide an optimal growing environment. The pot is also collapsible and thereby easy to store and reuse.

According to one aspect of the invention, a plant cultivating pot is disclosed. The pot includes a material body with a top spaced above a bottom wall wherein the top has a smaller cross-section than the bottom wall. A collapsible sidewall extends between the top and bottom wall defining an interior volume adapted to house media for supporting plant growth. The plant cultivating pot is configurable between non-use and use configurations. In the non-use configuration, the top and bottom walls are generally coplanar, and in the use configuration the top and bottom walls are separated by the length of the sidewall. An opening is provided in the sidewall. The opening is adapted for receiving a plant. The sloped sidewall minimizes shading of the lower plants from those above.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a fabric pot for growing strawberries is disclosed. The fabric pot includes a top spaced above a bottom wall. The top has a smaller cross-section than the bottom wall. A collapsible panel extends at a slope between the top and bottom wall defining a fabric body having an interior volume adapted to house media for supporting plant growth. The collapsible panel has one or more openings adapted for a strawberry plant to be planted in the planting media housed within the pot.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method for growing plants in a fabric pot is disclosed. A collapsible fabric body is provided having a top and opposite bottom wall connected by inwardly sloping panels. Beneficially, the top has a smaller cross-section than the bottom wall. The collapsible body is expanded by separating the bottom wall from the top to access an opening in the inwardly sloping panel of the collapsible fabric body. The fabric body is filled through the top with media for supporting plant growth and plants are planted in the opening in the inwardly sloping panel. In one aspect, the fabric body is expanded into a frusto-pyramidal shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary illustrations of the present invention, namely a plant cultivating pot, are shown inFIGS. 1-6. The pot10includes a body, such as a material or fabric body. The material may be plastic, vinyl, or a non-woven geotextile. According to one aspect of the present invention, the pot10includes a fabric body12constructed from a non-woven geotextile material. The body12of the pot10includes a top14which is open but may be configured to be selectively closed. The body12also includes a bottom wall16which is closed but could be designed to be selectively openable by alterations to the material defining the bottom wall16. A sidewall18extends between the bottom wall16and the top14, connecting the top14to the bottom wall16of the body12. The sidewall18is also referred to as a panel, and therefore the body12could be described as having a panel18extending between the bottom wall16and top14. Each sidewall18is connected to another sidewall along a generally vertically extending edge or seam. The sidewall18is connected to the top14along a generally horizontal edge or seam. The bottom of the side wall18is connected to the bottom wall16along a generally horizontal edge or seam.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the body12is frusto-pyramidal in shape. An interior volume20is defined within the body12of the pot10. Access to the interior volume20is provided at least through top14where-through media for supporting plant growth is introduced into the interior volume20of the pot10. In one aspect of the invention, the pot10includes four sidewalls18sloped inwardly from the bottom wall16to the top14. The present invention contemplates that the pot10may include three sidewalls forming a frusto-triangular shape or a single continuous sidewall forming a frusto-conical shaped pot10. The shape of the pot10may also be configured in other frusto-polygonal shapes such as a frusto-quadrilateral shape, frusto-pentagonal shape, frusto-hexagonal shape, frusto-heptagonal shape, frusto-octagonal shape, etc. Accordingly, the shape of the pot10is not limited to a certain number of sidewalls18. Advantageously, the sidewalls18in the embodiments of the present invention are sloped inwardly from the bottom wall16toward the top14so that a plant30(seeFIG. 4) located closer to the bottom wall16is farther away from the center vertical plane34than a plant30located closer to the top14. In the sidewall18of the body12of the pot10is an opening22through which a plant30is planted in the media for supporting plant growth28within the interior volume20of the pot10. A series of openings22may be configured into the sidewall18extending generally in a vertical direction along the height of the sidewall18from the bottom wall16to the top14. The openings22may also be spaced in the sidewall18in a generally serpentine pattern or a zigzag pattern to provide additional spacing between each plant30. As illustrated inFIGS. 1,2, and4-6, each of the openings22includes four triangular flaps in contact with each other and co-planar in the non-use configuration.

An exemplary configuration of a plant cultivating pot10of the present invention may include a bottom wall having edges equal distance in length (e.g., 12 inches in length). The distance between the bottom wall16and the top14could be in between a foot and a foot and a half. Using these or similar dimensions, the interior volume20of the pot10may be configured to hold three to four gallons of media for supporting plant growth28(e.g., roughly one16quart bag of potting soil). In this embodiment, the sidewall18could include four openings22spaced equal distances between the bottom wall16and the top14. Where the body12of the pot10is a frusto-pyramidal shape, 16 openings22may be provided on the collective four sidewalls18. An additional couple of plants may also be planted in the top14of the body12bringing the total number of plants to 18. Beneficially, the body12of the above-exemplary embodiment only requires a one square foot footprint for the 18 plants. Conversely, in a traditional horizontal garden, 18 plants might occupy 63 square feet of space based upon a plant spacing of roughly one and a half feet apart. Although specific dimensions and volumes are provided, the above embodiment is but one example of a plant cultivating pot of the present invention. The pot may be configured to have dimensions and a volume different from those provided above by way of example only.

The present invention contemplates that the number of openings, the size of the sidewall, the footprint of the bottom wall, and the slope of the sidewall may be changed to accommodate any number of plants within reason. The slope of the sidewall18may be altered to accommodate the various size of plants30to be planted in the pot10based on the size and growth of the foliage to prevent plants30positioned closer to the top14from casting a shadow on plants30closer to the bottom. The greater the slope or the taper of the sidewall18, the less chance there is of the upper positioned plants30casting a shadow on the lower positioned plants as the sun (seeFIG. 4) moves across the sky. Beneficially, the sloped sidewall18of the pot10allows each of the plants30to receive sunlight36from the sun38as the sun moves across the sky. Even, for example, when the sun38is directly above the pot10, the sunlight36is able to reach generally all the plants30planted in the sidewall18of the pot10. This is not the case in a pot where the sidewall is vertical as the upper positioned plants would cast a shadow on any lower positioned plants thereby limiting the sunlight exposure of the lower positioned plants. Therefore, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a pot10that includes a top14having a smaller cross-section than the bottom wall16which defines a degree of tapering or sloping for the sidewall18extending between the bottom wall16and the top14. The difference in the cross-sectional size of the top14and the bottom wall16generally defines the slope of the sidewall18extending between the bottom wall16and top14.

In use, the pot10is configurable between a use configuration24as best illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 4and a non-use configuration26as best illustrated inFIG. 6. The pot10may be shipped and stored, for example, in the non-use configuration26. In the non-use configuration26, the top14is generally coplanar with the bottom wall16. Thus, the top14and the sidewall(s)18rest on the bottom wall16. The use of a material, such as a geotextile material, for the body12allows the pot10to be folded up, rolled up, or otherwise stored when not in use. To configure the pot10in the use configuration24, shown for example inFIGS. 1 and 4, the top14is separated from the bottom wall16whereby the sidewalls18are taunt and define an open, interior volume20. Media for supporting plant growth28is placed inside the interior volume20of the pot10through the top14. The media for supporting plant growth28supports each of the sidewalls18, the top14, and the bottom wall16in the use configuration24. A plant30is inserted in an opening22in the sidewall18. The roots32are supported by the plant growth media in the pot10and the plant foliage extends through the opening22and along or away from the sidewall18of the pot10. Although not illustrated inFIG. 4, additional plants may be planted in the top14to expand the plant holding/carrying capacity of the pot10. Beneficially, a geotextile material used for the body12of the pot10allows for free passage of air and water through the sidewall(s)18aiding in fibrous root development of the plant30. The sloped sidewall18maximizes the plants exposure to sunlight36. Using a non-woven geotextile material for the body12of the pot10, the plants30may be watered through the top14and/or by application of water onto/through the material body12of the pot10.

Upon completion of the growing season, the media for supporting plant growth28within the interior volume20of the pot10may be removed by emptying the media through the top14. The sidewall18, top14, or bottom wall16of the body12may include one or more handles for gripping the body12of the pot10for handling, for transporting and moving the pot about.

The pot10is adapted to grow various types of plants. Advantageously, the pot10is configured to grow strawberries. In another embodiment, the pot10is configured to grow herbs, perennials, vining plants, and annual plants. The pot10may also be configured to grow other subterranean plants such as potatoes, beets, etc. Upon emptying the media for supporting plant growth28from the interior volume20the body12of the pot10may be reconfigured to the non-use configuration26shown inFIG. 6from the use configuration shown, for example, inFIG. 4. For harvesting subterranean plants, the media for supporting plant growth28is emptied from the interior of volume20along with the vegetable or other plant growth. For example, in the case of growing strawberries, the fruit may be easily harvested from the plants30. Depending on the type of the material used, the pot10may be cleaned, such as for example, by washing and then stored for the next growing season. Beneficially, a non-woven geotextile material, after the media for supporting plant growth28has been removed from the interior volume20, may be easily cleaned, such as for example by washing, before storing in the non-use configuration26shown inFIG. 6. The use of one or more handles positioned on the sidewall18, top14or bottom wall16of the pot10allows the pot10to be moved to a desired location depending on the exposure to sun, the exterior temperature, exposure to precipitation, etc.

Embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the drawings and in the specification and although specific terms are employed, these are used in the generically descriptive sense only and are not used for the purpose of limitation. Changes in the form proportion of the parts as well as substitution of equivalence are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or are rendered expedient without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as further defined in the following claims.