Bottle Garden Grow Insert

thingiverse

Edit 1/24/2020: Day Four. See new cover image. Unqualified success for now. At least, until it all goes wrong. If you slap a sticker on top (which you probably should), it creates a mini greenhouse effect. But once you see the seed sprout up, pop the top. You wouldn't want to yank your sprout out with the sticker, would you? Edit 1/21/2020: This is an experiment. I'm not sure of all the answers, but please feel free to ask questions and I'll help as I can. I'll try to post more pictures as the sprouting and growing happen (or don't happen!) over time. This is my first attempt at creating a "vase" in Fusion 360. I think it was a success. Well, except for the holes. Should a vase have holes? This isn't exactly a vase - it's a small bud vase...with holes. You're probably wondering: "But how will it stand up on its own?" It's not supposed to! You put it inside a bottle, fill the bottle with water and nutrients, stick some seeds in the top, and watch it grow. What type of growing medium? I'm trying coconut coir - it's biodegradable and safe. Try something like that instead of "rockwool." Don't use rockwool - it's bad for the environment. What nutrients do you need? You can get some generic hydroponic nutrients on Amazon, just like I did. What seeds should you choose? Pick something small, or go all bonsai and trim it every day. That'd be cool! I used 12 seeds from a Home Depot packet - now I've got 1,000 assorted seeds left. One of them will work for this experiment, right? What type of bottle do you use? In my picture, I'm using a Blenheim Ginger Ale bottle because it was lying around. Don't use clear glass bottles! They mess with the red and green light in the water, creating algae or something. This is my first time - I'm throwing caution to the wind and using two clear bottles, but don't try that at home. Drink some beer in brown or green glass bottles, wash them out, and use those instead. The first iteration didn't have holes and looked like a sex toy (pervert!). Then I added 2mm holes for water to get in and the growing medium to stay put. The whole thing is around 5 inches (120mm) because that's what the pros do. These are all guesses - if you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments below! I love improving my design and keeping my Fusion 360 skills fresh. Please share makes and remixes - I love seeing comments and likes here. The first iteration is around 17mm thick at its widest point. The little cup is supposed to stay above the top of the bottle for some reason (maybe it keeps in greenhouse gases?). Use a clear sticker on top, like the pros do - just pull it after the seed germinates (2-5 days or so?). On a side note, I have no idea how PLA reacts to water long-term. And ABS has toxic chemicals that might leech into the water...think about those things before you eat your homegrown herbs! Me? I'm starting with ornamental stuff, then maybe herbs and larger bottles for tomatoes. There's a chance this will be a 100% fail - but on the "plastic sex toy" side of things, I've succeeded regardless. Winning!