Patent Publication Number: US-2023157220-A1

Title: Method for initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to or benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/281,350, filed Nov. 19, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to growing plants. More specifically, it relates to methods and apparatuses for initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Year-round provision of fresh, ready to produce nursery stock of plants has been a problem due to various factors that may influence the growth of the plants. In artificial conditions, plants may be grown in vertical agriculture modules. However, growing the plants from seeds and other propagation materials in such vertical agriculture modules is not easy but laborious, time and space consuming, and conditions of nurturing plants at their initial stages of growth generally differ from the conditions of growing mature plants. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for growing plants, the apparatus comprising:
         a first tower and a second tower located adjacent to each other and forming an outside perimeter surface, the outside perimeter surface comprising two surfaces of opposite sides of the first tower, two surfaces of opposite sides of the second tower, and bottom portions of the first and the second towers;   a tray located in the bottom of the outside perimeter surface; and   a cable system configured to pull a plurality of pods along the outside perimeter, each pod having two containers positioned parallel to each other and to the outside perimeter surface, the cable system having a deepest wheel configured to bring at least one pod of the plurality of pods in a contact with a liquid located in the tray.       

     According to an embodiment, the cable system comprises gears and a chain, the deepest wheel being one of the gears. 
     According to an embodiment, there is further a controller configured to operate a motor for pulling the cable system along the outside perimeter surface. 
     According to an embodiment, the tray has tray wheels for moving independently of the first tower and the second tower, wherein the first tower and the second tower are immovable with respect to each other. 
     According to an embodiment, there is further a controller configured to control a depth of the contact of the at least one pod with the liquid located in the tray. 
     According to an embodiment, there is further provided:
         a plurality of sensors;   a plurality of distributors configured to distribute fertilizers in response to received commands; and   a controller configured to:
           receive a sensor data from the plurality of sensors,   determine commands for a stage of growth of plants based on plant identifications and the sensor data;   transmit the commands to the distributors to deliver the fertilizers to the tray and the containers, wherein at least one of the fertilizers is distributed to the tray.   
               

     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a plant growth monitoring system comprising:
         a plurality of sensors;   a plurality of distributors configured to distribute fertilizers in response to received commands; and   a controller configured to:
           receive a sensor data from the plurality of sensors, determine commands for a stage of growth of plants;   transmit the commands to the distributors.   
               

     According to another aspect of the invention, the distributors are configured to mix fertilizer components to produce the fertilizers. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, determining commands for a stage of growth of plants is based on pot identifications related to the plants and received by the controller. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, the controller is further configured to control the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system based on the stage of growth of the plants. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit, the method comprising:
         treating frozen and/or fresh sprouts with a chemical for an initial period of time in an isolated chamber to obtain plant-ready sprouts;   planting the plant-ready sprouts in pots with soil or grow substrate and identifying the pots with pots identifications; and   placing the pots in an apparatus and adjusting plant environment conditions for the pots.       

     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit, the method to be performed in a system comprising:
         an apparatus configured to revolve pods with sprouts to periodically expose different sprouts placed in the pods to plant environment conditions,   a controller having a processor and configured to determine and request to modify the plant environment conditions,   a plurality of sensors;       

     the method comprising:
         planting plant-ready sprouts in pots with soil or grow substrate and identifying the pots with pots identifications (IDs);   placing the pots in the pods of the apparatus; and   determining by the controller and adjusting the plant environment conditions for the pots based on received pot Ds, growth state and sensor data received from the plurality of sensors.       

     According to an embodiment, there is further provided the step of, prior to planting the plant-ready sprouts, treating frozen and/or fresh sprouts with a treatment solution for an initial period of time in an isolated chamber to obtain the plant-ready sprouts. 
     According to an embodiment, adjusting the plant environmental conditions comprises temperature based on a temperature value determined by the controller. 
     According to an embodiment, adjusting the plant environmental conditions comprises adjusting lighting based on a spectrum and intensity determined by the controller. 
     According to an embodiment, adjusting the plant environmental conditions comprises adjusting humidity based on humidity value determined by the controller. 
     According to an embodiment, adjusting the plant environmental conditions comprises providing or adjust of providing fertilizers to the plants in an amount and type as determined by the controller. 
     According to an embodiment, there is further provided the step of distributing fertilizers in response to received commands from the controller. 
     According to an embodiment, the controller determines the plant environment conditions by using convolutional neural networks (CNN). 
     According to an embodiment, there is further provided the step of adjusting a pod revolving speed in response to received commands from the controller. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an apparatus, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of a body of the apparatus with a monitoring system, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3 A  is a front view of the apparatus of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3 B  is a side view of the apparatus of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4 A  is a front view of a body of the apparatus of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4 B  is a side view of the body of the apparatus of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4 C  is an enlarged portion the apparatus of  FIG.  4 B ; 
         FIG.  5 A  is an enlarged portion of the apparatus depicted in Hg.  1  depicting a tray; 
         FIG.  5 B  is an enlarged portion of the body depicted in  FIG.  4 B  depicting the tray; 
         FIG.  5 C  is an enlarged portion of  FIG.  5 B ; 
         FIG.  5 D  depicts a top view of a pod of the apparatus of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic diagram depicting a monitoring system in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    schematically illustrates a growth cycle and transmission of the sensor data and requirements in time, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a joint greenhouse having a first greenhouse building and a second greenhouse building, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9 A  illustrates a pallet with sprouts, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9 B  illustrates a pot with the sprout, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  10    illustrates a method of initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  11    illustrates a method of initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various aspects of the present disclosure generally address one or more of the problems of growing plants at the initial stages of their growth. The apparatus and a monitoring system as described herein provides a solution to a problem of growing plants year-round by addressing the main physiological requirements of the plants continuously during initial stages of the plant growth. 
     Referring now to the drawings,  FIG.  1    shows an example of an apparatus  100  (also referred to herein as “cradle  100 ”) for plant growth. The apparatus  100  comprises a body  105  (depicted also in  FIGS.  2 ,  4 A,  4 B ) and plant pods  200 . As illustrated in  FIGS.  2 ,  3 B and  4 B , the body  105  has two towers  102   a ,  102   b  and a cable system  106 . 
     The cable system  106  comprises a cable  110  and pulling wheels  112  (which may be also referred to as a “system of pulling wheels”) connected to a motor  114  schematically depicted in  FIG.  2   . The cable  110  may be implemented as a chain, and the pulling wheels  112  may be implemented as gears. The gears  430  are illustrated in  FIG.  4 C , and a gear  530  is depicted, for example, in  FIG.  5 C . The motor  114  is configured to rotate at least one of the pulling wheels  112  such that the cable  110  is pulled from one pulling wheel  112  to another pulling wheel  112 . The motor  114  may be connected to one of the pulling wheels  112  (gears  430 ,  530 ) as illustrated in  FIG.  2   . In at least one embodiment, the motor  114  and controller  310  illustrated in  FIG.  2    may be attached to one of columns  120  of one of towers  102   a ,  102   b  and the motor  114  may rotate the upper pulling wheel(s)  112   a  as illustrated in  FIGS.  4 A and  4 B . 
     Plant pods  200  may be organized in pod sets  220  which are attached to the cable system  106  such that the pod sets  220  are moved (displaced) along with the displacement of the cable  110  in the apparatus  100 . Referring to  FIGS.  1 - 3 B , the pod sets  220  are displaced first from the bottom of a first tower  102   a  towards the top of the first tower  102   a , then towards the bottom of the first tower  102   a  on an opposite side of the first tower  102   a , and then towards the top of a second tower  102   b , and then towards the bottom of the second tower  102   b  on an opposite side of the second tower  102   b . Similarly, the pot sets  220  may be moved in the opposite direction, as illustrated with arrows  270 . 
     When the pod set  220  has reached the bottom of the second tower  102   b , the bottom wheel  116   b  of the cable system  106  located on the second tower  102   b  leads the cable  110  and the pod set  220  attached thereto underneath the second tower  102   b  to a bottom section  130  of the apparatus  100 . The bottom section  130  of the apparatus  100  hosts a portion of the cable  110  extended between two extreme sides  135   a ,  135   b  of the apparatus  100 , and a tray  140 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  5 A- 5 C , in operation, the pods  200  attached to, and pulled by the cable  110 , pass by the tray  140  in such a way that when the tray  140  has a liquid  145 , a portion of the pod  200  dips into the liquid  145  thus providing watering to the plant roots growing in the pods  200 . In other terms, the pods  200  form an irrigation cradle that permits to provide submersive watering and root treatments to the plants located and growing inside the pods  200 . 
     The configuration of the apparatus  100  with two towers  102   a ,  102   b  permits all plants to be revolved and be exposed to the light and water evenly and periodically. The light is a combination of a daylight (sun light during the day) and a supplementary artificial light provided by a supplemental light system  252  ( FIG.  2   ). The apparatus  100  permits conditioning the roots of plants while pots or pods, in which the plants are planted, revolve (are in motion) and thus offers adequate initiation or priming for subsequent plant production. In addition, such a configuration may permit achieving uniform growth and a synchronized delivery of multiples of thousands of plants (sprouts grown to plants). The system and the method described herein may allow: a) 24-hour monitoring of plant physiological processes, b) provision of ideal growth conditions, c) proper nutrition, and d) cultural practices for proper maintenance of plants at their initial growth stages. In other terms, the system and method described herein provide means for nurturing the plant sprouts in order to deliver them to vertical agriculture modules for further vegetative growth and producing harvest. 
     In some embodiments, the plants are strawberry plants. The plants may be, for example: strawberry plug plants, bare root plants and strawberry seeds. The plants, when they are located and nurtured by the cradle  100  as described herein may also be sprouts of the plants or, in other terms, plants in their initial stage of growth following the seed stage, when growth of roots is important. 
       FIG.  6    depicts the monitoring system  300 , in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The monitoring system  300  comprises a controller  310  and a plurality of sensors  315 . In at least one embodiment, the sensors  315  may be installed at various locations of the apparatus  100  and in a close vicinity of the apparatus  100 . For example, some sensors may be installed in a ceiling above the apparatus  100 . 
     Sensors  315  may be, for example: light spectrometer, hyperspectral and thermal imaging cameras, photosynthesis and stomatal conductance meters, soilcamera-rootbox for high throughput root phenotyping, multispectral sensors for determining leaf nitrogen, mobile data acquisition platform for plant canopy measurements and treatments. The monitoring sensors  315  may also be, for example: environmental scanning sensors for air and substrate humidity, air speed, electric conductivity sensors, pH monitors, oxygen sensors, temperature sensors for air and substrate, drainage and irrigation water sensors, spore detectors, and air exchange counter. 
     In at least one embodiment, growth stages of the plants are characterized by measurement of any one or any combination of stomatal activation, leaf thermoregulation, carbon assimilation, cell elongation, resource allocation (such as, for example: estimated and/or measured surface or volume or mass of different plant parts such as leaves, stem, roots, flowers, fruit), respiration, guttation, root oxygenation, stress response, and by deep learning applied on the newly acquired data based on a training performed on past data. 
     The controller  310  is connected to distributors  320  which distribute various substances for growth of the plants. The distributors  320  are configured to provide, on demand as received from the controller  310 , the following substances to the pods  200 : microbial cultures, chemical or biological fertilizers, algal extracts, microbial fertilizers, biopesticides, beneficial insects/microbes and/or Plant Growth Promotion Rhizobacteria (PGPRs) that may be included either in the irrigation system for the pods  200  or may be delivered through tubing which transports water-based solution containing these substances, extending towards the plant location for dripping. 
     The controller  310  is also connected to a climate system  330  such as, for example, a CO 2 , heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) (illustrated as HVAC  330  in the drawings) for maintaining humidity in the air according to the physiological stage, air speed (for example, around 0.5 and 2 m/s), environment temperature, and lighting condition. For example, a vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in the HVAC  330  may be determined based on the following equation: VPD=LEAFSVP−(AIRSVP×AIR % RH), where RH is relative humidity, and LEAFSVP and AIRSVP is the sensor data of leaves and air, respectively. For example, the vapor pressure deficit may be approximately 5 g/m 3  during light hours and approximately 0.5-1.0 g/m 3  at dark. In at least one embodiment, the controller  310  is configured to control the HVAC based on the stage of growth of plants. 
     The apparatus  100  is connected to a supplemental light system  252  implemented, for example, with light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which may be, for example, LED based water-cooled lights. In addition, during the daylight, the apparatus  100  receives day light and sun light provided through transparent or semi-transparent roof and walls of the greenhouse building. The apparatus  100  may have a light sensor that is configured to determine current lighting (both spectrum and intensity), and regulate a supplemental lighting regime of the supplemental light system  252 . 
     Based on the current conditions (current growth stage of the sprout, kind of the plant of the sprout), the controller  310  may consult the database  325  and determine optimal or advantageous conditions to be applied to the pods (and pots) for root growth of the sprouts. 
     The controller  310  is configured to request, receive and collect data periodically from the sensors  315  and thus monitor various parameters of the plants. Sensor data  316  from the sensors  315  is collected at each pre-determined data collection time period. For example, the controller  310  may receive and store the data in a database  325  after the expiry of a data collection period. For example, the data collection period may be several days, for example, 3 days. 
     By collecting the data, the controller  310  may receive information about the following parameters of the plants&#39; physiological processes: Phyllochron development (for example, expressed as ° C. day{circumflex over ( )}−1 leaf{circumflex over ( )}−1, or in other terms, ° C. per day per leaf or (° C./(day×leaf))); root system development (total root length (cm), surface area (cm 2 ) and root volume (cm 3 ); leaf mineral content; petiole length, petiole color, leaf color, leaf form, leaf area index. 
     Collected sensor data  316  is analyzed, at the controller  310 , for mean square errors followed by deep analysis using convolutional neural networks (CNN), Other agricultural artificial intelligence (AI) and plant intelligence (PI) based approaches may be used. 
     The controller  310  has a processor  322  and is connected to a database  325 . The controller  310  has a software and a hardware that are configured to receive sensor data  316  from the sensors  315 , store sensor data  316  and other data in the database  325 , process the data to determine adjustments (requirements) which are then transmitted to climate system  330 , supplemental light system  252 , and the distributors  320 . 
     The controller  310  considers growth stages of the growth cycle of the sprout. For each growth stage, the controller  310  determines the adjustments (requirements) that are then transmitted to the distributors  320  and to the supplemental light system  252  and climate system  330  and requests to adjust the plant environment conditions. The plant environment conditions may be, for example, light, temperature, humidity, watering, application of fertilizers, and speed of the revolving pods  200 . 
     The controller  310  adjusts the operation of the supplemental light system  252  (both spectrum and intensity). The supplemental light system  252 , which may be supplemental in comparison with daylight which may be transmitted into the area where the plants are grown (e.g., in a greenhouse inner area or the like) emits light with the spectrum and intensity adjusted to match the optimal spectrum and intensity determined and requested by the controller  310 . The spectrum and intensity for the supplemental light system  252  is determined by the controller  310  based on a current growth stage of the sprout, kind of the plant of the sprout, in order to prioritize root growth in growing plants. Thus, the spectrum and intensity of the light emitted by the supplemental light system  252  varies in time, based on the requests transmitted by the controller  310 . 
     The controller  310  also determines an appropriate temperature for the growth stage and appropriate humidity. In addition, the controller  310  determines advantageous temperature and humidity conditions for each kind or the variety of the sprout (i.e. the variety of the plant which is being nurtured), and, based on pot IDs  832  of the pots  830  located in a cradle  100 , transmits requests to the climate system  330 . The climate system  330  may be configured to maintain different conditions (such as temperature and humidity) for each cradle  100  located in the greenhouse building  801 . 
     The distributors  320  provide various substances to the pods  200  based on the requests received from the controller  310 . For example, one of the distributors  320  may be a liquid fertilizer distributor  320   a  which adds a fertilizer (for example, one of fertilizers described above) requested by the controller  310  to the liquid  145  that is located in the tray  140 . 
     For example, the controller  310  may determine, for a specific growth stage, a nutrient recipe for the fertilizer having various fertilizer components, such as, for example: low nitrogen, low potassium and high calcium recipe (for example, pH 5.8 EC 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 during first, second and third week). In some embodiments, the controller  310  determines that that a compost tea needs to be applied, microbe-based fertilizers, yeast, and/or algal extract. In addition, the controller  310  may determine that the substrate moisture needs to be maintained at 2-3 kPa during the day and ˜3-5 kPa during the dark. It should be understood that the fertilizer may have all or several or one of the fertilizer components described herein. 
     For example, the controller  310  may determine that, at a current growth stage, the plants need to be treated with one or more of the following fertilizer components which need to be distributed, and, in some embodiments, mixed by one or more distributors  320 : vegetative nutrient media (vegetal mafter or substrate), along with algal extract, microbial fertilizer, PGPRs, mychorrizhae (80, 12, 5, 2.5 and 0.25%) as root treatment, Foliar treatment with 1% hydrogen peroxide, 2% seaweed extract, canola oil, microbes ( Bacillus, Streptomyces, Trychoderma, Gliocladium  and  Beauveria  species). For each growth stage, the controller  310  transmits to the distributors  320  a request to distribute, and, in some embodiments, mix the determined kind and quantity of each fertilizer component (treatment). 
     In some embodiments, all or some of the distributors  320  are configured to distribute the fertilizer(s) to the liquid  145  in the tray  140 . In some embodiments, direct tubing may be used to provide the fertilizer(s) to the liquid (liquid drip) which drips into the pods  200 . In at least one embodiment, the controller  310  is configured to receive the sensor data  316  from the sensors  315 , to determine commands  318  based on the stage of growth of the plants as provided by the sensor data  316 , and transmit the commands  318  to the distributors. The distributors  320  may be configured to mix the fertilizer components as provided by and in response to receiving command(s)  318  in order to produce the fertilizer(s). 
     The controller  310  also, depending on the growth stage of the plants, may transmit a request to an insect distributor  320   b  which may be one of distributors  320  which distributes insects that may improve the growth of the plants.  FIG.  7    schematically illustrates a growth cycle and transmission of the sensor data and requests in time, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Upon appearing of the first open flowers of the plant in a pot  830 , detected by one type of the sensors (e.g., camera), the controller  310  displays or otherwise makes noticeable a notification to the operator that the growth cycle of the sprout has ended and the plant in the pot  830  needs to be transported to the vertical agriculture module  870  (also referred to herein as a “vertical farm unit  870 ”). For example, the root colonization may be achieved in 14 days, followed by leaf growth. For example, the notification may be sent when a pre-determined number of leaves are grown (for example, 2 or 3 leaves). In another example, the notification may be sent when the first truss in a strawberry plant appears. 
       FIGS.  5 A- 5 C  depict a bottom section  130  of the apparatus  100  in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Each pod  200  has at least two containers  510  arranged parallel (or approximately parallel) to each other, as schematically depicted in  FIG.  5 D . In some embodiments, the containers  510  have bottoms positioned at an angle to the ground and a top surface of the soil  512  positioned at an angle to the ground, such that the light could reach most of the plants (sprouts) located in the container  510 . At the bottom of the containers  510 , there are heels  515 . 
     The heel(s)  515  improve placement of the container  510  on a shelf (not shown) by helping to maintain the bottom of the containers  510  and the top surface of the soil  512  at the angle to the ground when the containers are placed on the shelves (not shown) after the plants have been grown in the apparatus  100 . The heel  515  may be a protrusion at the bottom of the container  510 . The containers  510  are attached to the cable  110  via a container holder  532  and screw(s)  534 . 
     A portion of the container  510  that is dipped in the liquid  145  is defined by a dipping depth  544 , which is the distance between the lowest corner of the container  510  and the surface of the liquid  525 . By controlling a liquid&#39;s depth  540  in the tray  140 , the dipping depth  544  may be also controlled and adjusted by the controller  310 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  8   , and according to an embodiment of the disclosure, a joint greenhouse  800  comprises a first greenhouse building  801  and a second greenhouse building  802  (referred to collectively as “greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802 ”) which may have one mutual wall. Pallets  810  (illustrated in  FIG.  9 A  not proportionally with the greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802 ) with frozen sprouts  812  (in other terms, small plants that may be used for planting) are received and are placed in a chemical chamber  815 . The sprouts are kept at temperatures equal to or lower than 0 Degree Celsius to simulate the winter conditions. Such simulation of winter conditions imitates real-life conditions, when the plants are planted in autumn, and wake up and resume growth during the springtime. 
     It should be noted that a sprout  812  may also be referred to as a stalk. For example, for a strawberry plant, a sprout  812  may also be referred to as a stalk or a runner. 
     The chemical chamber  805  is located in the greenhouse building  801 . After the sprouts  812  are placed in the chemical chamber  815 , the chemical chamber  815  is hermetically isolated (airtight) from the environment outside of the first greenhouse building  801  and from the atmosphere inside the first greenhouse building  801 . A treatment solution with cleaning chemicals is provided to the chemical chamber  815 , such that the sprouts  812  are subjected, during a pre-determined chemical treatment time period (also referred to herein as an initial period of time), to these chemicals to kill insects and to kill any microbes that may cause development of diseases in sprouts and later in the plants. The chemicals used in the chemical chamber  815  may be, for example: Oxidate 2.0 hydrogen peroxide and peroxyacetic acid, Milstop potassium bicarbonate foliar fungicide, Actinovate™ SP fungicide  Streptomyces lydicus  strain WYEC108, OxiDate™ 2.0, hydrogen peroxide, Actinovate™ SP, Milstop, and/or RootShield™ Plus. 
     The sprouts  812  may also be subjected to differential humidity, temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen levels in order to disinfect/clean the sprouts  812 . 
     For example, before and/or after exposing the sprouts  812  to chemicals, the sprouts  812  may be screened for infections to select the sprouts  812  for the next stage of the process. 
     After the sprouts  812  have been treated in the chemical chamber  815 , the isolation between the chemical chamber  815  and the outside environment of the first greenhouse building  801  is opened and the chemicals are evacuated outside of the first greenhouse building  801  while observing the material safety requirements and time periods. The sprouts  812  are then transported from the chemical chamber  815  to a potting station  820  which is neighboring a soil/substrate distributor  825 . 
     The soil/substrate distributor  825  ( FIG.  8   ) is configured to distribute a substrate, such as a silicon-based substrate or another commercial substrate, which is placed into the pods  200  at the potting station  820 . The silicon-based substrate may be, for example, a silicon-based substrate with 45% perlite, 45% peat moss and 10% wood chunks. A commercial substrate may be used, such as, for example, Sungrow S4. In at least one embodiment, the controller  310  may generate and transmit requests to the soil/substrate distributor  825  to provide a specific substrate, Such request may be generated, for example, based on the kind of the plants/sprouts being potted. In addition, the controller  310  may transmit a request to the soil/substrate distributor  825  or directly to the potting station  820  to distribute additional substances in the pods  200 , such as those described with reference to distributors  320  above. In some embodiments, the distributors  320  may provide the substances to the potting station  820  (and/or soil/substrate distributor  825 ) on the request of the controller  310 . 
     Each sprout  812  is positioned inside a pot  830  and soil is added to the pot  830  by the soil distributor  825 . The pots  830  are then transported, by a conveyor  835  to cradles  100 , Cradles  100  are located in the first greenhouse building  801 . 
     For example, as illustrated in  FIG.  5 D , four plants  812  may be planted in one container  510  (directly or with an additional pot  830 ) of 6 liters with a substrate (bottom) of the container  510  arranged at angle of, for example, 45-degree outwards from the vertical of the pod  200 . As illustrated in  FIG.  5 D , the pots  830  may be placed in containers  510 , each container  510  may have two or more pots  830 . Each container  510  may have several pots  830  with sprouts  812  planted therein as described below. Alternatively, several sprouts  812  may be planted in one container  510  directly. In such an embodiment, the pots  830  are the same as containers  510  in the description herein. Planting may be done at 20% substrate humidity level while maintaining 0.8-1.2 EC and 5.6-6.0 pH at grow media level. 
     The containers  510  are then placed into the plant pod  200  as discussed above and depicted in  FIG.  5 D . Each pot  830  (or a container  510  if the sprouts are planted directly into the containers  510 ) is assigned a pot identification (ID)  832  schematically depicted in  FIG.  9 B . Each pot ID  832  is recorded along with the information about a kind of sprout(s) it has (for example, if the sprout  812  is for a strawberry, then the kind of sprout may correspond to a strawberry variety of the sprout), the time of planting, and other initial sprout-related information which is now assigned to each pot  830 . The initial pot information is transmitted to the controller  310  and recorded into the database  325 . A pot database  327  may be, for example, a part of the database  325  described above. For example, a sprout  812  may have a tag attached to it with a bar code at the arrival to the first greenhouse building  801 . Later, the same bar code or a different one may be used to identify the pot  830  (or container  510 ) where the sprout(s) is(are) planted. 
     Referring again to  FIG.  8   , the second greenhouse building  802  has the same installations as the installations described above for the first greenhouse building  801  except for HVAC  330 , which is one for both greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802 . The electric box  850  is also one for both greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802 . Two greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802  are operating asynchronously with a 12-hour delay. That is, when one of the greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802  operates in daytime conditions, the second building of the greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802  operates in the nighttime conditions. Such delay of operation of two greenhouse buildings results in a constant consumption of energy which at every given time provides daytime conditions to one of the greenhouse buildings  801 ,  802 , and nighttime conditions to another building. 
     The daytime conditions and nighttime conditions as referred to herein are determined by lighting (spectrum and intensity), temperature and humidity. The daytime refers to a 12-hour period that would be between approximately the sunrise and sunset. The nighttime refers to a 12-hour period that would correspond to a time period between approximately the sunset and sunrise. The daytime and nighttime conditions arranged in the greenhouse for the sprouts located in the cradles  100  are simulated based on determination, using deep learning methods, of advantageous growth conditions for roots of the sprouts  812 . The duration of the daylight condition may vary to reflect the natural variation, but the overall energy is likely to be approximately the same over that period, such that stretching the daily daylight duration spreads the energy over time and the addition of energy consumption at a given time by the  2  different alternate rooms is mostly constant over time during a given 24-hour period. 
     Referring also to  FIG.  6   , the controller  310  controls all plant environment conditions that are applied to each particular pot  830  (alternatively, to a pod  200 ). 
     Referring again to  FIG.  6    and  FIG.  8   , each cradle  100  has one or more corresponding units of the supplemental light system  252 ® for example, located above the cradle  100 , which are operated and controlled by the controller  310  based on the sensor data  316  and the data about each one of the sprouts  812  located in the cradle  100 . 
     The controller  310  optimizes the plant environment conditions. The plant environment conditions are, for example, lighting, temperature, humidity, fertilizers. The plant environment conditions are adjusted by the controller  310  as a function of time and growth stage of the sprout/plant, in order to prioritize growth of roots of the plants from the sprouts. Only after the root system has been developed, the plant environment conditions may be adjusted to prioritize growth of the leaves. 
     In some embodiments, the monitoring system  300  may have root sensors (for example, installed at the bottom of the pot  830  or inside the pod  200 ) configured to determine whether the roots of the plant have sufficiently grown. Alternatively, an operator may mechanically check bottoms of each pot  830  (or container  510 ) to visually determine whether the roots have grown enough to place the pot  830  or the container  510  or the whole corresponding pod  200  to a vertical agriculture module  870  (illustrated in  FIG.  8   ). In at least one embodiment, each container  510  is attached to the pod  200  such that the bottom of the container  510  is exposed and thus the roots are visible on the bottom surface of the container  510  even when the container  510  is attached to the pod  200  and the pod is attached to the cradle  100 . As described above, the container  510  may be placed on the shelves of the vertical agriculture module  870  using the heels  515  that are placed on the shelves and ensure the inclination of the top surface of the soil  512 . 
     The vertical agriculture module  870  is configured for the plants that already have grown roots and leaves. The grown plant conditions (such as temperature, humidity, fertilizers, etc.) inside the vertical agriculture module  870  is different from the conditions (such as temperature, humidity, fertilizers, etc.) provided for the cradles  100 . 
     In at least one embodiment, the first greenhouse building  801  may also comprise a first greenhouse section  881 , and the second greenhouse building  802  may also comprise a second greenhouse section  882 . 
     Elements in the environment may be optimized to ensure proper material flow of the plants and equipment, in view of the rotation of the plants in and out of the vertical agriculture module  870 . For example, dedicated paths of transport may be installed inside the facility (first greenhouse building  801  and/or greenhouse buildings  802 ). Machinery may be used to put soil or grow substrate in the pot  830  to receive the unfrozen plant. Additional conveyors (such as, and in addition to the conveyor  835 ) may be used to bring a volume of plants in pots toward the cradles, where a rack, which may have wheels in rails, and with an inclined surface thereon, may be used to receive pots from the conveyor for rapid redistribution onto the cradles  100 . A similar path may be used for removal from the cradles  100  and displacement and introduction of the pods  200  and/or containers  510  into the vertical agriculture module  870 . 
     Referring again to  FIGS.  1 - 3 B , the apparatus  100  for growing plants comprises: a first tower  102   a  and a second tower  102   b  located adjacent to each other and forming an outside perimeter surface  170 , the outside perimeter surface comprising two surfaces of opposite sides of the first tower  102   a , two surfaces of opposite sides of the second tower  102   b , and bottom portions of the first tower  102   a  and the second tower  102   b ; a tray  140  located in the bottom of the outside perimeter surface  170 ; and a cable system  106  configured to pull a plurality of pods  200  along the outside perimeter, each pod  200  having two containers  510  positioned parallel to each other and to the outside perimeter surface  170 , the cable system  106  having a deepest wheel  530  configured to bring at least one pod  200  of the plurality of pods in a contact with a liquid  145  located in the tray  140 . 
     Referring to  FIG.  6   , the plant growth monitoring system  300  comprises: a plurality of sensors; a plurality of distributors configured to distribute fertilizers in response to the received commands; and a controller configured to: receive a sensor data from the plurality of sensors, determine commands for a stage of growth of plants; transmit the commands to the distributors. 
     Referring to  FIG.  10   , a method  1000  of initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit, as described herein, comprises: at step  1010 , treating frozen sprouts with a treatment solution (comprising chemicals) for a first period of time in an isolated chamber  815  to obtain plant-ready sprouts; at step  1012 , planting the plant-ready sprouts in pots  830  with soil or grow substrate and identifying the pots with pots IDs  832 ; and, at step  1014 , placing the pots in an apparatus and adjusting plant environment conditions for the pots. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  11   , and with reference also to  FIGS.  2  to  6   , a method  1100  of initiating a plant in preparation of its introduction into a vertical farm unit  870 , the method to be performed in a system comprising: an apparatus  100  configured to rotate pods  200  with sprouts  812  to periodically expose different sprouts placed in the pods  200  to plant environment conditions, a controller  310  having a processor and configured to determine and request to modify the plant environment conditions, a plurality of sensors  315 ; the method as described herein comprises: planting plant-ready sprouts in pots with soil or grow substrate and identifying the pots with pots identifications (IDs)  832 ; placing the pots  830  in the pods  200  of the apparatus  100  and adjusting plant environment conditions for the pots  830  based on received pot IDs  832 , growth state and sensor data  316  received from the plurality of sensors  315 . As described above, prior to planting the plant-ready sprouts, frozen sprouts may be conditioned and/or treated with a chemical for an initial period of time in an isolated chamber  815  to obtain the plant-ready sprouts. Adjusting the plant environmental conditions may comprise temperature based on a temperature value determined by the controller  310 . Adjusting the plant environmental conditions may comprise adjusting lighting based on a spectrum and intensity determined by the controller  310 . Adjusting the plant environmental conditions may comprise adjusting humidity based on humidity value determined by the controller  310 . Adjusting the plant environmental conditions may comprise providing or adjust of providing fertilizers to the plants in an amount and type as determined by the controller  310 . Adjusting the plant environmental conditions may comprise adjusting a speed of revolving pods  200  (also referred to herein as a pod revolving speed). The pod revolving speed may be adjusted in response to received commands from the controller  310 . The method  1100  may further comprise distributing fertilizers in response to received commands from the controller  310 . In at least one embodiment, the controller  310  determines the plant environment conditions by using convolutional neural networks (CNN).