Contents
- Mice and Grow Bags Don’t Mix
- 3 Hot Tips To Deal With Mice and Grow Bags
- MEG’s Edible Landscapes
- Final thoughts
Mice and Grow Bags Don’t Mix
Mice and Grow Bags don’t mix!
I used to think mice were cute…
I don’t hold that viewpoint anymore. If you do hold my former viewpoint, it’s ok. Nature will run its course, and then your viewpoint will most likely change to reflect reality—as mine did. Mice are not our friends even though they seem to desire sharing our home with us. It’s an odd paradigm really.
Here’s the brutal reality.
Mice want to reproduce just like all living beings. However, the rate at which they can reproduce is insane. Newborn female mice can start making babies after only a couple of months. A typical female mouse can produce 25-60 babies in a year!
When a female mouse is pregnant and wants to start building a home for her little pups, she looks for suitable materials to build a nest. This is where the mice and grow bags come into the picture. Since grow bags are made of soft fabric, it makes an attractive looking material for a nest. Grow bags are also easy to chew through and will not put up any type of fight with a mouse. The result is destruction of a grow bag which is no longer suitable for holding soil.
3 Hot Tips To Deal With Mice
Sure, it’s not great when a mouse eats away the container growing your favorite peppers. There are strategies and ways of preparing to defend your fabric grow bags against these pests.
1. Elevate your Grow Bags
This is a fairly straightforward strategy. We recommend elevating the grow bag at least 12 inches off the ground. Mice can jump. If they’re motivated enough, they’ll find a way to your grow bags and plants. 12 inches is high enough to where even the most motivated mice won’t be able to access your grow bags.
Examples of elevating grow bags: tables, chairs, stumps, railings, elevated deck.
2. Fencing
Fencing is another effective method to prevent mice access to your grow bags. Be careful about the type of fencing you select. We prefer wire mesh or hardware cloth. The smaller the squares the better. If you use this method, be sure to bury the bottom or somehow secure it so mice can’t burrow under the fence. The top of the fence should be bent out away from the plants. Chicken wire and chain link will not be suitable since mice can easily slip through the links and openings.
3. Sticky Traps
Sticky traps are a great method of controlling mice if you only have a few plants. These work especially well for places like shops, greenhouses and hoop houses where mice will be the only real threat in those areas.
Final Thoughts
If you’re just starting out with using grow bags, congratulations! Grow bags are some of the best containers you can use for plant performance. However, take care and plan now for protecting your fabric containers against mice. It’s better to be proactive on this subject rather than reactive.
MEG’s Edible Landscapes
MEG is continuing to add new and exciting products to the lineup every year. This year, we’re adding more than half a dozen new hot and mild pepper varieties alone plus special projects like Operation Cup of Joe!
Have you checked MEG’s new CSA starting this Spring? We had requests for CSA memberships last year and thought “why not”? It’s a brilliant idea coupled with MEG’s tried and true method using grow bags. Our automated watering system is complimentary to each CSA package this year too! No more worrying about watering plants. We’re taking that chore off your plate. Check out the premium membership here and the basic membership here. Don’t delay, we only have 20 CSA memberships available for 2023!
Keep growing!
Andy
MEG’s Dad and Founder