Growing Tomato Plant

A little raised bed, 14 cm square, with a crank on the side. At the start only the soil and a bamboo cane are in sight. Each turn of the crank the plant comes 28 mm further up: first the young top, then two leaves, then a leaf and a truss of yellow flowers, then two trusses of red tomatoes, and at the fifth turn the last two leaves. Then the crank stops. Turn it back and the plant sinks into the soil again, leaves folding up as they go. Under the bed you can watch how it works: a pair of bevel gears turns a Geneva drive, which moves one step per crank turn and locks in between, and the Geneva wheel turns a tube with two spiral slots that screws the stem up, like a lipstick. The leaves hang on filament pins and fall open under their own weight as soon as they clear the soil. Made as a Sinterklaas surprise, but it works just as well as a gift for anyone who grows tomatoes.

• 36printed parts
• 14 × 17 × 33 cmassembled (L × W × H)
• ≈ 0.7 kgfilament in total
• 170 mmheight for the sleeve, which prints standing; the legs and planter need a 145 × 140 mm bed

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Take it apart in 3D · Parts · How to build it