This is the Water Spike, a manual watering tool used to give each plant the same dose of water, slowly dripping (Version 2.1) or flowing (Version 4) onto the ground next to the plant. This limits the horizontal spread of the water, applies as much as possible directly to the plant and as less as possible to the unwanted weeds nearby.
This is the basic idea, at least. Depending on the structure and clay content of the plant bed's ground it might work more or less well. I would advise to only make a few, test them carefully and then decide what's working for you.
Notes:
PLA should work, PETG is recommended since the ground can get surprisingly hot in the summer sun.
How to make the Water Spike
The image below shows how the Water Spike is built. It is actually pretty easy:
Different Versions
As shown below the Water Spike can be used in different configurations.
Known Issues
Version 2.1 can clog relatively easily when the holes touch the ground itself. This is especially true for clay-rich soil. On the other hand Version 4 let's the water flow out more quickly. It is much harder to clog (still possible by clay-rich soil) but it can lead to a lot of water flowing away if the ground is not level.
Best practice would be to maybe print both and experiment around with them.
The author marked this model as their own original creation. Imported from Thingiverse.