Support device for supporting plants

A method and device for supporting cut plants is disclosed. A flexible walled pouch is provided having a moisturized gel medium therein. The wall of the pouch is formed of a material which will resist accidental tearing or puncturing, yet enables the wall to be punctured to insert a plant material through the puncture. The material of the wall receiving the puncture can either be a nylon and polyethylene laminate or a wall panel formed of a polyurethane foam material. Both of these materials serve to seal around the plant material when the plant material is inserted through the puncture. The moisturized gel material may comprise a water and starch mixture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a support device for plants and/or a method of 
supporting plants, and in particular cut plants. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
When transporting cut plants there is a tendency for those plants to lose 
their freshness at a quick rate. Attempts have been made to enhance or 
prolong the freshness of the cut plants, for example, by providing a vial 
of water with an aperture at the mouth through which aperture the stem of 
the cut plant is positioned. The aperture may be in a membrane closing the 
mouth of the solid vial. Such a construction forms part of the disclosure 
of German patent specification 2232181. Such constructions have 
disadvantages however, for example, there can be a tendency for the 
devices to leak, particularly, in the area where the membrane is placed 
over the rigid structure. Also, the device can take up substantial space 
when the plant is packaged, and it can be awkward to insert the plant into 
the aperture, which may not be of a suitable size. Thus it is necessary 
to, in general, make the aperture somewhat smaller than the expected plant 
stem diameter. The difficulties make such a construction disadvantageous. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a support 
device for plants and/or a method of supporting plants which will go at 
least some distance towards obviating or minimizing the foregoing 
disadvantages or which will at least provide the public with a useful 
choice. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, in one aspect the invention consists in a support device for 
plants comprising a flexible walled pouch and a medium within the pouch, 
the wall of the pouch being formed of a material which will resist 
accidental tearing or puncturing, yet enable the wall to be punctured at a 
selected time for insertion of plant material through the puncture in such 
a manner that the material defining the puncture substantially seals to 
the plant material. 
In a further aspect the invention consists in a method of supporting plants 
comprising the steps of providing a flexible walled pouch with a medium 
therein, the wall of the pouch being formed of a material which will 
resist accidental tearing or puncturing, yet enable the wall to be 
punctured at a selected time, puncturing the wall of the pouch and 
inserting plant material through the puncture in a manner such that the 
material defining the puncture substantially seals to the plant material. 
To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in 
construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the 
invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the 
invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the 
descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in 
any sense limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to the drawings a support device for plants and/or a method of 
supporting plants are provided as follows. 
The support device comprises a container or pouch 1 which contains a medium 
appropriate to the purpose such as a moisturized gel. The pouch 1 in the 
disclosed form is rectangular in shape and a suitable size has been found 
to be 10 cm by 5.5 cm although clearly different sizes and shapes could be 
used. The preferred pouch is relatively flat, although of course the 
contents within the pouch will cause some bulging of the walls. The pouch 
is desirably made from an uncoated nylon/polythene laminate. The uncoated 
nylon being, for example, 15 .mu.m in thickness and the polythene being 
for example, 50 .mu.m in thickness. This material has properties which 
enables it to resist accidental tearing or puncturing whilst yet allowing 
the material to be punctured if desired at a desired time in a manner such 
that a substantially liquid and airtight seal will be formed around a 
plant stem inserted into the aperture formed by puncturing. This material 
also has properties which enable it to be heat sealed. Thus the pouch may 
be formed by folding the material substantially in half about a fold line 
2 and forming a heat sealed area 3 around the remaining three sides. 
Alternatively, the pouch may be formed by heat sealing around all four 
sides so that two panels may be connected to form the sachet. 
The moisturized gel contained within the pouch desirably is in the form of 
a liquid formed by a mix of a powder and preferably pure water such as 
deionized water. A suitable powder is sold under the trade mark AUSTRASORB 
grade 3 and is manufactured by Agrisob Pty. Limited, of 144 Riley 
Street,-East Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This material is a 
bio-degradable, non toxic, environmentally safe, super absorbent material. 
It is a starch grafted material with an organic filler added and is 
provided in the form of a white powder. The material will take up moisture 
but release it on demand to plant material in the immediate vicinity. A 
suitable mix of this powder and water is obtained by mixing at the rate of 
300 grams of powder to 180 liters of water. This forms a mixture having a 
fluid paste consistency. Each pouch desirably contains between about 15 to 
45 ml of the mixture. The grain size of the unmixed powder is about 0.5 
mm. The above is a suitable material for the medium within the pouch but 
of course other materials having suitable properties may be used. 
In the preferred embodiment, shown in the drawings, rather than requiring 
the wall of the pouch to be punctured, a puncturable insert or membrane is 
provided in the pouch, and this may best be achieved by inserting a strip 
4 of puncturable material along one edge of the sachet 1, for example by 
inserting between the sides of the sachet 1. A closed cell foam plastics 
material is preferred, such as medium density polyethylene foam such as 
that sold under the trade name JIFFYCELL. The strip 4 can be about 1 cm 
deep and about 1 cm wide at the widest point. The above material is easily 
penetrable but will close onto for example a plant stem to the desired 
degree. If the foam is too dense penetration may be difficult and if too 
light then sealing onto the plant stem may not be adequate or the insert 4 
may disintegrate in use. 
The pouch above described is used by puncturing a hole in the insert 4 
thereof, for example, by use of a suitable member such as a sharpened 
pencil. Into the hole so formed a stem 6 is then inserted and the material 
has the advantage that it will form substantially a seal around the stem 6 
where it passes through the aperture. 
The pouches can be produced on any suitable machine, for example, a TOYO 
automatic packaging machine, model M-10N, which is modified for liquid 
filling by the addition of a fluid pump and pipe work. The apparatus is 
manufactured by the Toyo Packaging Machine Manufacturing Company Limited, 
1-11, 7-Chome, Kaminhigashi, Hirono-ku, Osaka, Japan. 
The use of the invention is as follows. 
In use, plant material can be inserted through a preformed puncture as 
above described. The plant material can then be transported or 
alternatively the construction can be used, for example, for the 
propagation of plants. In this use however the insert could be open celled 
to allow air circulation. For transportation the freshness of the cut 
plant material is prolonged or enhanced because of the supply of moisture 
to the plant through the cut end 7 of the stem 6. 
Where used for propagation purposes it is desirable to add suitable 
nutrients and material such as a root growth hormone to the gel so as to 
assist the propagation of the plant material. 
Thus it can be seen that at least in the preferred form of the invention a 
supporting device for plants, and/or a method of supporting plants is 
provided which has some advantages. Because of the properties of the 
material from which the package can be formed there is little tendency for 
leakage to occur at the joint between the material defining the boundaries 
of the puncture and the stem. The tendency to leak is reduced by the fact 
that it is a gel material within the sachet. For transportation also, the 
package, because it is flexible, will tend to mold into the available 
space, which makes the pouch more easily accommodated than a rigid vial. 
The pouch is also substantially straight-forward to apply to a plant, 
requiring only a simple puncturing movement to form a hole and the pushing 
of a stem therethrough.