I used old cotton shirts. The difference in water movement is the thickness of the wick. The shrink wrap certainly helps keep the wicking action where it should be. Hanging coco lined baskets dry out fast and these will buy me at least a day on the small bottle system and at least 2 days on the gallon system. In other on ground containers it will certainly add up to a bigger window. I am sure a glazed pot 3 gallon pot with good water holding soil would last a week. All the small bottles now have feeder hoses like my initial prototype. the materials used were a 12oz water bottle, sleeve from an old cotton shirt, old hose, yogurt container funnel, old blue berry bush container, reusable twist ties and shrink wrap growing a volunteer Roma seedling found in a cold compost pile. The wick is fully in the bottle runs down the side into the soil. Since the other two sit above the wicks were shrink wrapped before reaching the soil. One of my wicks is made from cotton balls wrapped by burlap.

Arif, what is'PETER engine'? Sorry! In this case, the wheel is driven by the force of the running water in the river. You can see that people have made a "wall" by bamboo sticks in the river bed across the river width to force water to flow through the narrow opening on the left where they positioned the wheel. Having been stopped by the "wall", the water would move faster and more powerful at the opening, thereby causing the wheel to turn. So, it's a kind of 'eternal power', I guess... :-) The noise you heard was from the rushing water and from pouring water, actually. No pump. Maybe in this age of 'global warming' this method should be used more to save us from environmental pollution...LOL! Xuan

Well, essentially what you want to do is 'tole' painting (a centuries old form of folk art that is generally said to have originated in France, although I have also read it has been traced further back to China, where furniture was painted with decorative art). History lesson aside, it's a great project for the kids! I'd encourage you to check the Tole Painting board here as well. You'll probably find someone who's done a mailbox. I've done lots of tole and have worked on some metals, but no mailboxes. The 'general' process is: seal the piece, apply the decorative paint, then seal with a finish sealer. If it were me, and the surface is already glossy, I'd probably skip the first (prep) coat of sealer. (It's done to seal porous surfaces, such as bare wood or fabric, so the decorative paint will 'glide' onto the surface rather than absorb into it. Since you're working on a mailbox it's not porous and won't suck up the decorative paint like bare wood or fabric.) However, if the mailbox is 'chalky', then I'd do the prep sealer. You can get a tole sealer at any craft store, just be sure to get one that says it won't yellow with age. I prefer Blair sealer products for that reason, sometimes hard to find, but there are other good ones. I have a birdhouse I painted morning glories on, the paint still looks good and a little wren comes back to it every year. But it hangs in a tree only in warm months, so is not exposed to beating sun, ice or road salt splashed, etc. So I'm not sure I'd use 'traditional' craft paint (Delta, Deco Art). I would suggest a bit sturdier paint made for exterior projects (Deco Art Patio Paints) or the small cans of rustoleum (lots of color choices and it's made for metals/exterior use). For finer detail areas, you can even use auto touch up paint. That stuff tends to be thin and set up quickly, so it's not as 'workable' as prior products mentioned. (A practice run might not be a bad idea, so the kids can get a 'feel' for the paint they are working with so they'll have better success working on the mailbox. Shiny poster board would work.) The most critical part is the final sealer. Wouldn't use polyurethane (more suited to interior). Would suggest a heavy duty sealer (such as marine varnish) that can grab to metal, etc. and still withstand the elements. Another tip you might want to consider: paste wax. I bought some expensive wrought iron pieces for outdoors and applying a good coat of paste wax to help repel water, preserve and protect it was suggested. But that would be the final step after sealing (and allowing sealer to dry completely).

Congrats. I haven't successfully rooted anything, but I've never tried the time of fall. What color flowers does your mini climber have?