JPH0458829A - Growth controller of plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the subject device controlling growth of plant with a small electric power without fear of electric shock by installing electrodes in the vicinity of a top end of root and in a growing side and providing a device controlling a culturing solution and a device monitoring growth. CONSTITUTION:A plant 13 is set in a culturing solution tank 11 and a first electrode 14 is installed in the vicinity of a top end of root 13a, then a second electrode 15 is installed in a growing side of the root 13a. A probe 24 measuring electric voltage of the surface is provided in the culturing solution tank 11 and further a monitoring camera 31 is provided in outside of the tank 11. Then, a fixed electric current is flowed between the first electrode 14 and the second electrode 15 from an electric source 32 for applying outside electric field to control growth of the plant with controlling pH of the culturing solution, electric conductivity and water temperature, etc., by a controller 36.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a plant growth control device that controls plant growth by electrical means.

[Prior Art and Problems] Conventionally, methods for controlling plant growth using electrical energy include passing electricity directly into the plant, or applying a high voltage to the entire plant as shown in Figure 6, for example. method is known. In addition, Figure 6 shows the case where electricity is passed through onion 1, 2 is a metal plate, 3 is a high voltage power supply (15KV),
L is 15+m, L2 is 10 to 205 m, and the relationship between suppression and promotion of germination by the electric field is as shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Source: Science Asahi, August 1985. pH 8-122 By the way, the roots of plants are important organs for growth, and their functions are: - Absorbing water and nutrients from the nutrient solution and supplying them to the leaves and stems; - Collecting starch photosynthesized in the leaves to the roots. It has the function of using oxygen to convert it into energy and redistributing it to various parts, making it an ideal target for control, but until now there has been no control technology that focuses on the roots.

In addition, in the conventional method using high voltage, a 15KV electric field is discharged to the plants and the culture solution, which requires large equipment, and in an environment where hydroponic cultivation is performed, it is difficult to stably generate high voltage in a fixed position. It is difficult. Furthermore, since hydroponic cultivation uses an electrolytic solution of a conductor as the culture solution, there is a high risk of electric shock.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and by locally applying an ionic current to acidify the cell membrane near the growth point of a plant, it eliminates the need for large-scale equipment as in the conventional high voltage application method. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plant growth control device capable of controlling plant growth with small electric power without the risk of electric shock.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, a first electrode is provided near the tip of a root of a plant set in a culture solution tank, and a second electrode is provided on a growth side of the root of the plant. , a power source for applying an external electric field that flows a current between the first and second electrodes, a growth monitoring device that monitors the growth of plant roots, and a growth monitoring device that controls the characteristics of the culture solution such as PL, electrical conductivity, and water temperature. This is a plant growth control device characterized by comprising a culture solution control device.

[Function] In the present invention, a plant root is composed of four parts as shown in FIG. If you think about it, the seventh
As shown in the figure, a potential distribution occurs near the growing point of the plant. Here, in FIG. 7, (a) shows the potential distribution, (b) shows the potential distribution when the current flows in the positive direction, and (c) shows the potential distribution when the current flows in the negative direction. Moreover, FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the time of applying an external electric field in the positive and negative directions and the growth rate of roots. From FIGS. 7 and 8, it is clear that when current is passed in the positive direction, growth is promoted, and when current is passed in the negative direction, growth is suppressed.

In addition, Figure 9 is a characteristic diagram showing the change in root growth rate that occurs when the external electric field is manipulated and the current speed is changed.From this figure, root growth can be controlled by changing the current density. It shows that it is possible.

As described above, the experimental results show that root growth can be controlled by applying an external electric field near the growth point, causing a current to flow, and controlling the amount of the current. Also, the seventh
From the figures and FIG. 8, it is possible to monitor the degree of plant growth by measuring the potential near the growth point of the plant's roots.

FIG. 10 corresponds to FIG. 7 and is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between distance from the root crown and pH.

[Example 1] An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

11 in the figure is a culture solution tank containing culture solution I2.

A plant 13 is set in this culture solution tank 11.

Inside the culture solution tank 11, a first electrode (moving electrode) 14 is provided.
is provided near the growth point of the tip of the root 11a of the plant 13,
Further, the second electrode (fixing electrode) 15 is connected to the root 13a of the plant 13.
It is located on the growing side. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the moving electrode 14 has an attachment attached to a part I6,
It is composed of a container 18 having a plurality of holes J7, an agar solution 19 housed in this container 18, an external electric field generating electrode part 20 provided in this agar solution 19, and a lead wire 21. ing. On the other hand, the fixing electrode 15 is composed of a container 22 with an open top, an agar solution I9, an external electric field generating electrode section 20, and a lead wire 21, as shown in FIG.

The fixed electrode 14 can be moved up and down by an electrode moving device 23. A plurality of probes 24 for measuring the surface potential of the roots 13a of the plants 13 are provided in the culture solution tank 11. Here, the probe 24 has a glass tube opening (sensing part) 25, as shown in FIG.
A glass tube 27 containing agar solution 26 and Ag-AgC
It is composed of a p-line 28 and a covered lead wire 29.

The probe 24 is supported by a probe moving device 30. Roots 1 of plants 13 are placed outside the culture solution tank 11.
A monitoring camera 31 is provided to search the vicinity of the growth point at the tip of 3a. Note that the reason why the external electric field generating electrode section 20 is surrounded by the agar solution 19 as described above is to shield impurity ions.

The moving electrode 14. An external electric field applying power source 32 is connected between the fixing electrodes 15, a potential distribution monitor 33 whose one end is connected to the power source 32 is connected to the probe 24, and a growth monitoring monitor 34 is connected to the monitoring camera 31. These members are connected to form a plant growth control device 35. Further, the culture solution 12 in the culture solution tank 11 is provided with a culture solution control device 36 that controls the characteristics of the culture solution 12 such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and water temperature.

Next, the operation of the plant growth control device having such a configuration will be explained.

First, the mobile electrode! 4. A constant current is passed between the fixed poles 15 from an external electrolytic application power source 32. This causes the current to flow to the moving electrode 14. The current flows through the culture solution 12 forming a loop with the fixed electrode 15, and by changing the potential distribution near the growth point of the plant 14, the growth of the plant roots is promoted or suppressed depending on the direction of the current X. . Here, since the tip of the plant grows and moves, the vicinity of the growth point of the tip of the root is searched using the surveillance camera 31, etc., and the electrode is automatically moved relative to it by the electrode moving device 23 based on this information. . The moving electrode 14. The control current between the fixed electrodes 15 is controlled by monitoring the potential distribution with a plurality of probes 24 supported by the probe moving device 30, and feeding back this to control the current under conditions optimal for growth. Further, the pH, EC, water temperature, etc. of the plant culture solution are controlled by a separate culture solution control device 36 independently of the main electric current.

The plant growth control device according to the above embodiment includes a culture solution tank 11
A moving electrode ■4 provided near the tip of the root 13a of the plant 13 set inside and wrapped in an agar solution 19;
A fixing electrode 15 provided on the growth side of the root 13a of the plant 13 and surrounded by an agar solution 19, and the electrode 14
．． A power source 32 for applying an external electric field that applies a current between the plants 15, a surveillance camera 31 that monitors the growth of the roots 13a of the plants 13, a culture solution control device 36 that controls the pH, electrical conductivity, water temperature, etc. of the plant culture solution, etc. Since the method is comprised of the following, plant growth can be controlled with a small amount of electric power without requiring large-scale equipment or risking electric shock as in conventional high voltage application methods. In other words, an external electric field is applied to the plant culture solution 12 to change the direction and the ionic current density of the plant 13.
By changing the potential distribution near the growth point of the root 13a, the growth of the plant is promoted or suppressed depending on the direction of the current, and the monitoring camera 31 searches the vicinity of the growth point at the tip of the root 13a of the plant 13. Then, based on this information, the electrode moving device 23 automatically moves the electrode relative to the electrode 1.
The potential distribution of the control current between 4.15 and 4.15 is monitored by the probe 24, and this is fed back to control the current under the optimum conditions for growth. In addition, pi (, EC,
Water temperature and the like are controlled by a culture solution control device 36.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the case where the external electric field generating electrode part of the moving electrode or the fixed electrode is wrapped in agar solution is described, but this is not limited to this. The part to be installed may be separated by an agar block, an ion exchange membrane, etc. to block impurity ions.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, by locally applying an ionic current to acidify the cell membrane near the growing point of a plant, it is possible to eliminate the need for large-scale equipment as in the conventional high voltage application method. It is possible to provide a plant growth control device that can control plant growth with a small amount of electric power without the need for electric shock or the risk of electric shock.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a plant growth control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a measurement probe of the same device, and FIG.
Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the movable electrode of the same device, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the stationary electrode of the same device, Figure 5 is a diagram of the structure of plant roots, and Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional high electric field application method. , Fig. 7 is a potential distribution diagram near the growth point of plant roots, Fig. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the application time of an external electric field and changes in the growth rate of plant roots, and Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the application time of an external electric field and changes in the growth rate of plant roots. A characteristic diagram showing the relationship between current density and the growth rate of plant roots, and FIG. 10 is a pH distribution diagram in the vicinity of the growth point of plant roots. 11... Culture solution tank, 12... Plant culture solution, 13...
・Plant, 14... 1st electrode (moving electrode), 15...
Second electrode (fixed electrode), 31... Surveillance camera, 32
- Power source for external electric field application, 36...Culture solution control device. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 4 Positive direction of current Figure Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first electrode provided near the tip of the root of the plant set in the culture solution tank, and a second electrode provided on the growth side of the root of the plant.
an electrode, a power source for applying an external electric field that flows a current between the first and second electrodes, a growth monitoring device that monitors the growth of plant roots, and controls the characteristics of the culture solution such as pH, electrical conductivity, and water temperature. 1. A plant growth control device comprising: a culture solution control device.