Perhaps it can be modified with holes and screens added.
I'm going to be starting seeds soon...
Oooo! I have plastic tub chick brooders that I've promised we won't be using this year!!!big brown horse said:How many seeds are we talking here? And how long do they need to be in the basement?
If it is just a few can you invest in those shallow-ish clear storage bins? The light still gets in but the cover keeps the mice out.
Unless I find some silkie pullet chicks I can use those!
The spot I have is unfortunately in the unfinished part of the basement with a light that hangs from the unfinished ceiling... and the table is built in. If I need more space than that AND I don't get any chicks I can set up a card table in the computer room where the chick brooders usually go.....patandchickens said:Ooh oooh! I know this one! I was in exactly your shoes several years ago. Lost two successive sets of seedlings before I figured out the solution. Since then I have had ZERO problem.
Start your seedlings on a table(s). I use a card table, anything would do.
Rodentproof the table legs by taking pie tins, or anything else like that, and cutting a hole through the center so you can run them up the table legs to a height of at least 2.5' and tape them there securely. I used plastic ice-cream tub lids, about 10" diameter, but there are any number of things that'd work. The key thing is that they need to be taped VERY SECURELY to the table legs, so they can't tilt over and don't have gaps around the leg where a mouse could squeeze through.
Rig the lights so they either rest on the card table (a bit wibbly tho), or hang from a ceiling that does not have mouse access (i.e. not an exposed unfinished basement ceiling where mice can go across wires and plumbing to climb down the light chain and hop onto your plant table).
(e.t.a. - mouseproof the light cords similarly. I just ran mine up along one table leg where they could be protected by that leg's guard; but if you have ceiling-hung lights you might have to add an additional baffle on the cord itself)
Presto. No mice on plant table
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
