Customizable plant watering bulb

I downloaded a 3D-printable plant waterer that I can no longer find. The angled shape made it very easy to print in vase mode and to make it water-tight. Given its utility and the fact I think others may find it useful, I created my own version in FreeCAD that you can either print using the existing model or customize using the included FreeCAD project file.

Maximizing your chance at a watertight print

I have found that you can really increase your odds at a print that holds water by taking the following steps.

1. Set your layer height to 0.15mm
2. Either turn on vase mode, or set your perimeters to 2 perimeters, no infill, no top layers
3. Increase your extrusion width to 0.6mm (yes, you can do this with a 0.4mm nozzle successfully)
4. Print at a slower speed - “quality” settings versus “speed” settings

Customizing your waterer

If you wish to customize the bulb, you will need to install FreeCAD. Once you have done so, open the Plant watering bulb.FCSTD project.

To adjust the parameters, you first must open the spreadsheet by double-clicking on its icon in the Combo View:

There are only three parameters:

• The base size determines how large the base of the water bottle is and, consequently, how large the water vessel ultimately is.
• The nozzle length is how long the thin nozzle, that is to be plunged into the dirt, should be.
• The nozzle diameter is how large the nozzle opening is at its tip.

By adjusting these parameters you can easily make a waterer that is smaller or larger, and adjust the length of the nozzle depending on how deep you wish the water to go.

Once you are satisfied with the size of your model, click on the “WateringBulb” in the Combo View:

Then, select File-Export:

You can then save the bulb as an STL or AMF file to import into PrusaSlicer or another slicer of your choice.

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