Indoor Self Watering Herb Garden. I'm just getting started with Origin and Fusion 360 so I wanted to do a project that was simple and useful. Only two parts come from Fusion and the rest are onboard CAD.
1/2 Ply- 3/4 sheet
2) Water Jugs- Walmart
1) 2 mil contractor Garbage bag
1) LED Grow Light- Amazon-Cholas LED grow light with timer. ASIN # BO7T8H9HJB
1) Flex Seal (optional)
Screws, nails, glue
4) pots- Walmart 4 1/2" across top and 4" tall
Cotton rope (for the wick)
Origin
Screw gun
Drill with countersink
Nailer
This is a pretty straight forward project for a beginner. I wanted to make something useful for myself and i love to cook. I tried to keep it simple and only needed to layout two parts in Fusion, The sides and the pot layout panel. All other parts are using the rectangle and text tool. All joints are butt joints however, you could do fancier box joints on the box if you wish.
Full disclaimer now. I'm new to Shaper, Fusion and this is my first attempt at posting a project. I may have missed something for you to follow but that's all part of learning.
I made the box to be 7" wide by 28 1/4". The ends stick up above the box 1/2" (see HerbEndView photo). This makes a pocket for the Pot layout panel to fit into (end Panel rectangle 7" x 6 1/2). The bottom of the box is 7" x 28 1/4", and each side is 6 1/2" x 28 1/4". You will need two side panels.
The light bar is quantity two- 1 1/2" x 7" rectangles attached to the end of a 7" x 20 1/2" rectangle.
The hole pattern piece on the riser is a duplicate of the pot layout pattern cut down to fit.
Once cut out and painted as you wish, I attached the two sides to the box first. When I attached the sides to the box, I used a 1/4" spacer to lift the box up a little. Make sure the sides are aligned with one another.
Then screwed the LED's to the bottom of the light bar then mounted it 3/8" from the front. run cables as you see fit.
I took the two water jugs with the 4" fill cap down and cut it 6" up. then took an extra 1/2" off the neck "fill tube" so when you fill the water it doesn't overflow the sides. I tightened the caps and sprayed Flex Seal on the inside for added measure to prevent leaks. Line the box with 2 mil bag. Mine was able to fold lengthwise twice so 4 layers of 2mil become secondary containment.
Put the two cut jugs in (necks to the middle) to hold the plastic up and next to the sides. Tuck where necessary. Place the pot tray panel on and your ready to plant. See pot detail for the setup. Make sure you use cotton or some other natural fiber so the plants can wick up water from the reservoir. Fill with water to where it is an inch below where the bottom of the pots are. Note this level in the neck as this is your max fill. I ended up cutting a cover for the center hole and engraved " Water Here". I used the onboard circle tool and made it to fit the 3.90" hole
I hope this works out as I have just built it and the watering system may need tweaking. I should only have to fill the reservoir once or twice a month which is perfect because i travel for work and can't seam to keep plants alive. Drop me a line if you build one and how it's working. gschleiff@gmail.com
Cheers!