Hydroponic plant grow cabinet

Abstract

Present invention relates to a hydroponic plant grow cabinet, comprising a housing, said housing comprising main plant growing chamber and a pre-growing chamber for seeds/seedlings, main tank and auxiliary tanks for a nutrient solution and pH level regulating solutions, pumps and tubing, lighting means, ventilating means, control means, sensors, display means, loudspeaker and user input means, network communication means, connection to electric main, connections to water mains and sewage.

1 . A hydroponic plant grow cabinet comprising
 A housing, said housing comprising a main plant growing chamber; and   At least one module of plant growing pod stands placed in the main chamber of the housing, wherein each stand comprises in vertical direction a multitude of plant grow pods;   A main tank comprising a nutrient growing solution;   wherein the nutrient solution is fed from the main tank to said plant growing pod stands at the top of the main chamber into the top most growing pod, and   wherein each growing pod comprises an aperture arranged so that the aperture of each of the pods but the bottommost is above an upper end of a pod below it.   
     
     
         2 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein the aperture of each pod is located at its bottom and wherein the nutrient solution fed into the top-most pod is fed through bottom apertures of pods from pods above to pods below. 
     
     
         3 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , further comprising a pre-growing chamber configured to house seeds and/or seedlings and comprising a holder module for receiving several seed and/or seedling growing cups. 
     
     
         4 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 3 , wherein the nutrient solution exiting from the lower most pod is configured to be collected to a collecting pan to be fed further into the pre-growing chamber. 
     
     
         5 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 4 , wherein the nutrient solution fed into the pre-growing chamber is configured to be collected onto a solution pan and the excess solution is configured to be fed into the main tank. 
     
     
         6 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , further comprising a network communication component configured to communicate with a user device and wherein the hydroponic plant grow cabinet is configured to send through the network communication component status and alarm messages to the user device. 
     
     
         7 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to maintain suitable conditions for growing plants. 
     
     
         8 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to adjust at least one of plant watering, temperature, humidity, air circulation and lighting based on user input. 
     
     
         9 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 6 , further configured to communicate to a user the need to connect the hydroponic plant grow cabinet to water supply and/or sewage by displaying a corresponding message on a display component and/or by sending a message to the user via the network communication component. 
     
     
         10 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein the dimensions of the hydroponic plant grow cabinet approximately correspond to a refrigerator. 
     
     
         11 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , further comprising a loudspeaker configured for at least one of playing alarms, messages and playing music to plants. 
     
     
         12 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein ambient conditions within the cabinet are programmable separately for daytime and night-time and/or for seasonal cycles. 
     
     
         13 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein the plant grow pods are arranged on each stand in an angularly offset configuration so as to align the aperture of each upper pod with a top opening of each subsequent lower pod. 
     
     
         14 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein the plant grow pods are arranged in a spiral pattern on each stand, wherein each lower pod is arranged with a an angular offset with respect to its predecessor, said angular offset lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the stand, said offsets of all the pods arranged on one stand tracing at least a half circle on the said perpendicular plane. 
     
     
         15 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein the aperture is at the bottom of each pod and wherein the lower part of each pod above the aperture is funnel-shaped. 
     
     
         16 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein each plant growing pod comprises an opening in its top surface and wherein the diameter of the aperture is smaller than the diameter of the opening of the pod. 
     
     
         17 . The hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 16 , wherein the subsequent pods are arranged on each stand so as to align the aperture of the top pod with the opening of the lower pod. 
     
     
         18 . A method for hydroponically growing plants, the method comprising
 Providing a hydroponic plant grow cabinet comprising a housing with a main plant growing chamber;   Placing at least one module of plant growing pod stands into the main chamber so that each stand comprises in vertical direction multitude of plant grow pods arranged at least in part one above the other;   Placing a nutrient growing solution into a main tank of the hydroponic plant grow cabinet;   Feeding the nutrient solution from the main tank to the plant growing pod stands at the top of the main chamber into the top most growing pod;   The nutrient solution flowing from the top most growing pod to each subsequent growing pod via an aperture at the bottom of each growing pod.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , further comprising collecting the exiting nutrient solution from the lower most pod to a collecting pan and feeding it further into a pre-growing chamber of the hydroponic plant growth cabinet, said pre-growing chamber configured to receive seeds and/or seedlings. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 18 , further comprising the hydroponic plant grow cabinet communicating with a user device, said communication relating to at least one of
 Providing status of the hydroponic plant grow cabinet and/or status of its individual components;
 Providing status of the plants growing in the hydroponic plant growth cabinet; 
 Requesting to perform a maintenance action on the hydroponic plant grow cabinet. 
   
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 18  further comprising the hydroponic plant grow cabinet adjusting at least one of plant growing parameters in response to input via a user device. 
     
     
         22 . A system for hydroponically growing plants, the system comprising
 A hydroponic plant grow cabinet according to  claim 1 ; and   A user device;   Wherein the hydroponic plant grow cabinet is configured to communicate with the user device via a network communication component.   
     
     
         23 . The system according to  claim 22 , wherein the hydroponic plant grow cabinet is further configured to send information to the user device, said information relating to at least one of
 Status of the hydroponic plant grow cabinet and/or status of its individual components;   Status of the plants growing in the hydroponic plant growth cabinet;   Request to perform a maintenance action on the hydroponic plant grow cabinet.   
     
     
         24 . The system according to  claim 22 , wherein the hydroponic plant grow cabinet is further configured to adjust at least one of plant growing parameters in response to input via the user device.