My Jade plant kept leaning towards the window, so I decided to do something about it. I made a solar powered rotating plant stand out of K’nex. Since it is solar powered, it only rotates when the sun is completely out; I am hoping that this still helps the plant not lean. It has only been rotating for a day, so I don’t have any results to share yet. Check the video out below of it in action:
Edit: I let this rotate for a week, but then it started squeaking from the plastic pieces rubbing on each other, so I stopped it. The picture below the plants are leaning to the left, but after the one week time period they were straight up and down.
May 26, 2008 at 6:54 pm |
Hi Adam, thats really awesome, I see what you mean when you say that you got a lot of k-enex (I know I spelled that wrong). I like the gear ratios.
David
July 18, 2008 at 8:00 am |
Adam,
That is a great idea for a really common problem. I hate it when my plants lean into the sun, it’s hard enough for me to remember to water them, let alone turn them occasionally to prevent this. A great simple and elegant solution.
December 13, 2008 at 5:45 am |
Cool idea. On the squeaking you could use bicycle chain lube (the type that has teflon in it).
December 18, 2008 at 1:02 pm |
Yes, I think that would be a great idea. It’s winter here in Minnesota and there isn’t enough light to run the plant stand. This coming summer I’ll try the teflon lubrication spray.
March 13, 2009 at 10:16 am |
hi ada its your cousin David. Right now in school we are doing a thing on knex for learning from doing. I was wondering if you could email me a picture if you have it of the knex tower you guys made.
David
March 13, 2009 at 10:16 am |
sorry about spelling errors in a rush very busy
David
March 13, 2009 at 11:11 am |
Hey David. I have the Big Ball Factory, Trampoline Tower, or the Space Tower. See the link below for a picture of the Big Ball Factory. I’ll have to check out my manuals this evening to find a good picture of the others.
Click the view larger button on the following page:
http://sciencelabs.com/Simple_Machines_Deluxe_Set.asp