Abstract: A planter is provided which automatically deposits equally-spaced, sprout-bearing plugs of specially prepared nutriet soil into the ground. The planter can also be equipped with a supply tank and pipe for adding a measured quantity of gel containing water and seeds with the sprout-bearing plugs. The planter is also equipped with a melting member or piston which is heated. The piston is mounted on a counterweighted arm and moves up and down by means of a solenoid. The piston, which is suitably internally heated by an air-fuel mixture, contacts and melts an oblong hole in plastic sheeting when such sheetings was laid down on a field when it was prepared for planting. The plugs are then planted through these holes.

Abstract: This invention consists of a tractor drawn planter which automatically deposits equally spaced sprout bearing plugs of specially prepared nutrient soil, into the ground. It is made of a rectangular framework having two rear wheels upon which it rides and a flexible hitch for attachment to the tractor. A tank equipped with an agitator, a plug size measuring device, and a discharge tube, contains the plug mixture. The discharge tube is provided inside with doors which allow the passage of the plugs at predetermined equal intervals. These doors are controlled by a spring-loaded solenoid which is, in turn, controlled by electrical make-and-break contact points powered by the tractor battery. A floating shoe digs a furrow into which the plugs are dropped, and two spring-loaded converging wheels in the rear of the frame cover and tamp down the seeded furrow.