plant straightener

The idea of this contraption is to straighten out my living room lemon tree which has been growing funny after it started growing into the top of the window frame.

I made this very quickly in my lunch break so its not perfect. To use it, place the bent plant stem carefully through the hooks and then use string to pull the bent part of the stem towards the hole. secure each end of the string by just wrapping it round the capstans. No need for knots. As the bend corrects, unwrap the string from one capstan, pull tighter and re-wrap. Just like a visit to the orthodontist. 

In practice, I needed a couple of adjustments:

1. The print bends the plant even more so I hot glued it to a dowel I found

2. Had to use more string to stop the stem falling out the hook

If I was doing this again I would:

• Make the whole thing thinner and lighter - even at 5% infill it makes the plant fall over

• Add a hole for a dowel - although hot glue worked very nicely

• Add a hook to the bottom of each section too, so the plant cant escape as easy

But having said that, seems to work fine and I only have one bent plant so far.