Functional ribbed flower pot with drainage and tray

🌿 Functional ribbed flower pot with drainage  and tray

I designed this pot in FreeCAD from scratch with a parametric workflow, so you can scale it up or down without breaking the geometry. The main goal was a sturdy pot that doesn’t bow under wet soil and drains well to keep roots healthy.

The vertical ribs aren’t just for looks: they act as stiffeners and prevent wall deflection when the pot is full. The drainage tray matches the pot perfectly, so no water leaks onto your furniture.

💡 Scaling tip: Scale both parts equally in your slicer.

📐 Specs (at 100% scale)

Flower Pot

• Volume: ~2.67 L (inner geometry, 4 mm wall thickness accounted for)

• Height: 130 mm (5.12 in)

• Top diameter: 210 mm (8.27 in)

• Base diameter: 126 mm (4.96 in)

• Wall thickness: 4 mm

• Stiffening ribs: 3 mm wide, 1.5 mm radius, run along the full curved profile

• Drainage: 7 holes (1 central + 6 elevated peripheral)

Drainage Tray

• Height: 20 mm (0.79 in)

• Top (max) diameter: 163.8 mm (6,45 in)

• Outer base diameter: ~139.5 mm (5,49 in)

• Inner placement diameter: ~131.5 mm (5,18 in) — perfectly clears the 126 mm pot base

🖨 Print Settings (tested on my printer)

• Nozzle: 0.4 mm

• Layer height: 0.2–0.28 mm

• Material: PETG, ASA, or ABS are best for durability. PLA isn’t ideal here because it’s in constant contact with moisture, soil, and liquid fertilizers, which can degrade it over time.

• Walls: 3–5 perimeters. This is important for strength when the pot holds wet soil.

• Infill: 15–20%. I used Archimedean Chords because I liked how it looks and how it distributes stress on the bottom layer, but any standard pattern works fine.

• Supports: Only needed for the 7 drainage holes. The straight drainage channels print as clean bridges without supports.
  💡 Pro tip: Use “Paint-on supports” or custom support enforcers just on the holes. This keeps the rest of the channels clean and makes post-processing much easier. The tray prints completely supportless.

🌱 Status: I just printed this model myself (Anycubic PETG in “Forest Green”) and it’s ready for its first plant! I’d love to hear how yours holds up in real life — please share a make and let me know if you notice any weak spots or improvements. Let’s test it together! 😊

If you print this, share a make! I’d love to see your color choices and how it fits into your space.