February Release: Plant-a-dur Modular Plant Tower Trellis (Patreon)

To round out February we wanted to do something for the plant loving nerds in the group and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lord of the Rings films!

Meet Plant-a-dur: a modular, support free plant tower inspired by a very ominous dark tower in a certain trilogy. It is designed as a fantasy trellis that lets your vines climb toward ultimate power.

One of the things we love most about this design is the theme behind it. You start with a stark, imposing dark tower. Over time your plant climbs up, wraps around it, and slowly buries it in leaves and vines. It becomes a little story on your shelf about nature taking back something that was once ominous. By the time your plant has grown in, the whole piece looks less like an evil fortress and more like a forgotten ruin swallowed by the forest.

The tower is split into a top, modular middle sections, and a base so you can build it to whatever height your plant needs. As your plant grows, you can simply add more sections and let the tower rise with it.

Inside the tower is a central channel that:

Works as a path for your vine stems

Can also hold a moss pole or stake to help maintain moisture and provide extra support

The whole system uses a no glue, snap together peg design. Fitted pegs hold the pieces firmly in place but can still be pulled apart when you want to add more height.

Best of all, the entire tower is 100 percent support free. You might see a little drooping on some of the sharper overhangs, but those can be easily smoothed by hand with a tiny bit of heat from a heat gun or hair dryer.

What is included

You receive:

Plant-a-dur Top

Modular Middle section

Print as many as you want to reach your desired height

Base piece with soil prongs

Designed to press into the soil in your planter for stability. These have some flexibilty in height so feel free to adjust the z-height if the prongs are too deep for your planter while keeping the x and y proportions the same.

Separate printable pegs

Used to connect the base to the first middle section

You will need 3 pegs per tower

The default layout is sized for standard 220 mm x 220 mm build plates, but the model can be scaled down for smaller printers (for example to fit an A1 mini at 180 mm x 180 mm) or scaled up if you want a truly imposing tower.

Files for this month are provided to active Drake and Ancient Dragon patrons through Google Drive during the release month. Once the models are available on MyMiniFactory, you will receive a reward link so you can add them to your MyMiniFactory library.

Google Drive link for this month's release:

Files are now hosted on MyMiniFactory! If you're missing the files, please reach out and we can resend the invite!

Printing notes

This model is designed for FDM printing and prints entirely support free.

General recommendations:

Printer type: FDM

Build plate: works on 220 mm x 220 mm at default scale

Material: PLA or PETG

Nozzle size: 0.4 mm

Layer height: around 0.2 mm

Infill: 10 to 20 percent gyroid or your preferred pattern

Brim: If you're unsure about your bed adhesion you may want to consider adding a brim while printing the middle section to increase print bed surface area.

There are no required supports. Some overhangs may show minor drooping depending on your cooling and material. If you want a cleaner look you can carefully smooth these with a small amount of heat from a heat gun or hair dryer.

Assembly overview

Print the base, top, as many middle sections as you like, and at least 3 pegs

Use the printed pegs to connect the base to the first middle section

Stack additional middle sections on top. The built in joints snap together without glue

Finish with the top section

Optionally, slide a moss pole or stake through the central channel before stacking so your plant has something to wrap around inside the tower

Once assembled, guide your vine stems through windows and around the structure so they can climb and drape down like corrupted ivy around a dark fortress.

Tier access and usage

Drake tier: Receives the Plant-a-dur modular tower trellis for personal use as part of the February pack.

Ancient Dragon tier: Receives the same files plus the right to sell physical 3D prints of this model under the merchant license terms in our Patreon introduction post.

STL file resale or sharing is not permitted. Credit to Curations By Kira is appreciated when you share photos of your prints.

Thank you again for supporting our Patreon and for all the feedback on the poll this month. We cannot wait to see your own versions of Plant-a-dur, especially once your plants have started to conquer the tower.