In past years, I've grown my herbs in DIY self-watering planters made from gatorade bottles. Since getting my 3D printer, I've been searching for something a bit nicer to grow small batches of herbs and start seeds... but most of the ones I find here on Thingiverse are more direct watering systems. I.e., since water seeks level, I was looking for a solution that used the wick watering method. Not finding anything ideal, I decided to design a planter that would make use of recycled gelato containers as the reservoir.

What's included?

• Two sizes to fit different brands of containers (OD = outer diameter; ID = inner diameter)

  OD 89mm / 3.5" ID 82mm / 3.23" (fits Talenti gelato containers)
  OD 83mm / 3.27" ID 71mm / 2.8" (fits Gelato Fiasco containers)

• Fusion 360 models and instructions if you want to create a different size pot -- see How I Designed This.

Materials And Assembly

The hole in the bottom of the pot accommodates a 1/4" wick. If you're going for inexpensive, you can make a wick using kitchen-grade cheesecloth. However, you'll get much better results if you use a nylon capillary wick like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CLNGBRL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

Beware of 100% cotton wicks. Cotton has a tendency to spawn algae and might promote other forms of bacterial growth.

If you've never used this style of planter, here's how it works:

• Thread the wick through the hole in the bottom of the planter.
• Leave a 4-6" tail that will drop into the water reservoir. The tail needs to reach the bottom of the reservoir.
• Fill the bottom third of the planter with soil and coil the wick around the pot on top of the soil ... about 1/2 - 1" from the outer edge.
• If you're repotting a growing plant, position the plant in the center of the pot. If the plant is root bound, loosen the roots and make several slits in the root ball to get some air in there.
• Add soil until the pot is 2/3's full and make a second wick coil on top of the soil.
• Cut the excess wick and fill the pot with soil.

If you decide to use a DIY wick, make sure it's big enough to fill the hole in the bottom of the planter. Otherwise, you'll lose soil into the reservoir. It's not an issue, but the dirty water isn't visually appealing.

Print Settings

These planters take 5 to 6 hours to print. 0% infill is quicker and it works, but it's pretty flimsy. I had better luck with 10-15% infill, 3 perimeters and 3 top/bottom layers. After you've printed the base, you can usually increase the print speed to 120-130% without sacrificing quality.

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