Covering seeds with three layered, permeable material - based on thin, laminar particles of vermiculite or hydro-mica

摘要

Process for coating, pelleting and granulating seeds uses the 3-layred, laminating materials vermiculite or hydromica as the basis of a fine-grained, reversibly swellable prod., which rapidly takes up and releases water. The lamellar particles are mainly in the form of very thin, uniformly smooth plates (pref. representing 75% of the total surface) with thickness 0.5-10 mu, surface area equiv. to diam. 10-200 mu and the thickness: equiv. diam. ratio =1:10. These particles are hydrophilic on the smooth surfaces and when dried from an aq. mass form layers of high cohesive and adhesive strengths. The 3-layered material shows excellent plasticity at 35-65 wt.% (dry wt.) based on total wt. of the moist compsns., and is permeable to gas and liq. in layers up to 5 mm thick. These covering materials have improved adhesion and excellent permeability, so germination is quick and uniform.