METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING PLANT MATERIAL

Apparatus for separating plant material comprises a set of blades (16) protruding upwardly from a circular base plate (12), and a set of dividing rods (20) projecting downwardly from a supporting ring (18). In use, a container of plantlets is placed on a dish (9) between the base plate (12) and the ring (18), and the ring (18) is moved downwardly, carrying the rods (20) downwardly into the plant material, and forcing the blades (16) upwardly into the plant material. The ring (18) is then rotated relative to the base plate (12), the spacing and positioning of the rods (20) and blades (16) being such that the rods and blades interpenetrate and pass between each other during the rotation. The rotary movement effects separating of the plant material by a combined action of teasing apart, splitting and cutting, of the plant material.