Configurable Self watering pot insert

thingiverse

I had a lot of seedlings and wanted medium sized containers to let them mature before planting outside. I wanted them to be reasonably cheap, easy to make, mess free, and self watering. I also went through a few iterations to make sure they would be easy to store between seasons (stack-able). I thought about trying to print water tight containers but ultimately that would have taken a lot longer and a lot more material. I happen to have a lot of medium sized food containers which I used in this design. I would be willing to bet someone near you is using something similar to sell salsa, soup, sour cream, curry, or something similar. If you can't find a similar container the FreeCAD file is parameterized measure the diameter at about a cm from the bottom. Measure the slope of the wall, and decide/measure how tall you want the insert. Edit the param spreadsheet, recreate and export meshes. I used starter plugs like [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078GZYQ9F?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=stephenlofgre-20&linkId=75c9c3405192ad8fcf755934c6464af9&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl) to wick water from or drain water into the bottom The design files include two inserts of different heights and a funnel to help get water directly into the bottom. The funnel is especially useful if you print the insert taller than the container.