3D Printed Pyramid Plant Starter
Tools & Materials
Project Description
How can we designed a starter planter where any excessive water filters from one pod to the next?
With the planting season underway, I was searching for a planter that would be great for starting plants. Rather than purchasing one and having it shipped to me, I set a goal to design one with a unique watering feature. The idea was to design the planter so that water can filter from the highest point down to the lowest point and provide enough water for every seed to grow.
Using a software called Rhinoceros, I developed a 3D model with simple commands including line, copy, move, offset, and extrude. I drew a shape that was comprised of multiple squares, offset the perimeter lines inward to provide thickness, and used the extrude command to create a thin wall. I extruded the outermost perimeter shape, which became the floor of the planter. I repeated these steps for the next two layers to create a pyramid comprised of pyramids.
The final product includes a drip tray where the excess water can leak out of holes at the bottom cubes of the pyramid and into the tray. This ensures that the soil isn’t over saturated and that the seeds won’t receive too much water. After a week, I saw some of the seeds sprouting and after a month, the baby plants were in the ground!
