Abstract: A vessel for growing a plant, comprising: a base material 11 in the from of a vessel which is capable of accommodating therein at least a part of a plant; and a hydrogel-forming polymer 12 having a crosslinked structure disposed in the inside of the vessel-form base material 11. When such a vessel is used, the transferring operation for the plant can be automated, and the transferring damage to the plant can be reduced at the time of the transferring operation for the plant.

Abstract: A vessel for growing a plant, comprising: a base material 11 in the form of a vessel which is capable of accommodating therein at least a part of a plant; and a hydrogel-forming polymer 12 having a crosslinked structure disposed inside of the vessel-form base material 11 is disclosed. When such a vessel is used, a transfer operation for the plant can be automated, and any damage caused by transferring the plant can be reduced.

Abstract: A plant is grown or regenerated while suppressing the propagation of bacteria and fungi, by use of a carrier comprising a culture medium and a polymer constituting a network structure wherein the culture medium is substantially absorbed into and retained by the network structure in a proportion of 10% to 100% of the equilibrium culture medium absorption of the polymer constituting the network structure. The propagation of bacteria and fungi is much faster, and the metabolic rate thereof is much larger, than those of a plant. Therefore, the necessity of providing a nutrient (such as water and saccharide) from the culture medium to the bacteria and fungi is much greater than that in the plant tissue. Unlike a liquid medium, the culture medium which has been absorbed in the network structure comprising the polymer is hardly available to the bacteria and fungi, which have high metabolic activity.