[shokkyy]

The mice go for the smell of the germinating peas - DDs method should stop them getting to the peas but I have had success in just dusting the ground with curry powder to mask the pea smell or spraying with hot chilli sauce solution onto the surface of the ground once I have backfilled my peas. Give it a try if you dont want to use netting - curry powder is fairly cheap and less harmful than paraffin.

Yes, I'll give that a try. I really don't like the idea of putting paraffin anywhere near my soil or veggies I'm eventually planning to eat, but curry powder is worth a try, though I suppose that would need reapplying after rain. I caught another one of the little blighters last night, and they got through my netting and took more peas. Once they've found the food source they take a lot of talking out of it.

[savbo]

The mice go for the smell of the germinating peas - DDs method should stop them getting to the peas but I have had success in just dusting the ground with curry powder to mask the pea smell or spraying with hot chilli sauce solution onto the surface of the ground once I have backfilled my peas. Give it a try if you dont want to use netting - curry powder is fairly cheap and less harmful than paraffin.

... and if you sprinkle some cheese around, you'll be able to grow matar paneer as well

[sunshineband]

The mice go for the smell of the germinating peas - DDs method should stop them getting to the peas but I have had success in just dusting the ground with curry powder to mask the pea smell or spraying with hot chilli sauce solution onto the surface of the ground once I have backfilled my peas. Give it a try if you dont want to use netting - curry powder is fairly cheap and less harmful than paraffin.

... and if you sprinkle some cheese around, you'll be able to grow matar paneer as well

 

[heygrow]

Did you have netting laid down before the mice got in?

Also what do you mean by planting in modules? Do you mean you grow seedlings somewher safe and then plant them out?

[sunshineband]

Did you have netting laid down before the mice got in?

Also what do you mean by planting in modules? Do you mean you grow seedlings somewher safe and then plant them out?

The modules are  trays divided into sections.

I sow into these and then plant out the small plants when their roots are just showing through the holes in the base.

The idea of the netting is to stop mice getting in to eat the seed-- you put it in place as soon as they are sown.

Hope that helps 

[heygrow]

 

 Yes I thought this what you meant by modules. It's a bit of work to do this, so I have sown directly into ground and placed netting flat over them. Then I have put a low poly tunnel over them to give them a quick start I hope.  I am a bit concerned that the mice may still get in!

[NN2Blue]

Last week I sowed about 500 Alderman peas. Earlier in the week I caught 2 mice in that bed, and last night I caught one more. Then I noticed that there were neat little holes all along the pea rows, at approximately the same distance apart as I planted the peas. I have no idea how many of the peas they ate, nor whether I've got all the mice that were doing it. I've popped a new seed in everywhere I could see a hole and then covered the whole lot in some old bird netting (mass of netting rather than laid flat) in the hope that might deter any remaining mice. And I've put another trap in so there's one each side of the peas. But until they come up I won't know how bad the damage is.

I hadn't yet sown my mangetout, so I had the horrible task of sowing that lot in modules and strips and anything else I could find, because I daren't risk sowing those direct and losing those too. And when they've come up I'll have the very tedious job of planting that lot out.

Any suggestions for anything other than the netting I could do that might deter the little blighters? I don't find the idea of soaking in paraffin very appealing, and in any event the peas are in now. Last year I had a lot of problems with the mice eating all my parsnips and carrots, but they didn't touch the peas so I don't know why they've suddenly made a bee line for them this year.

Have a look around; neighbour found 150 of his missing peas germinating under a piece of wood he was using as a doorstep into his pea cage. 

[shokkyy]

I found something on Google saying that if you plant seeds deeper, about 3 to 4 inches, the mice won't bother them. Anybody ever tried that?

[azubah]

You clearly have a bad mouse infestation, shokkyy.
I have heard that if you sow peas when it gets warmer the mice are less into storing food at that time. Don't know if it is true or not, but perhaps worth a try.

[richrua]

I had mice too this year. They actually dug into the bottom of germinated broad beans and ate the bean but left the severed stalk.

When I put in new plants to replace them I scattered course pepper all around them - and plenty of it. (only 60p for a tub of it..) I could even smell it off the bed so I'm sure it might fool the mice.

I also put this on a row of peas and sowed the peas deeper than normal.

No sign of damage yet.

My plot neighbours also reported mice. Must be the mild winter....

[shokkyy]

I always have a huge mouse population in my garden, and it's a constant battle to keep them off things. My garden is surrounded by pasture and woodland in all directions, so it's really not too surprising. Yes, I do put traps down but you'll never catch enough to make a significant dent in a large population. The answer is always to find an effective barricade, and that's difficult with mouse because they're so good at digging, climbing and wriggling through small gaps.

I have found a method that looks very effective, on an Allotment Diary video on Youtube. He bent 6mm wire mesh panels to make a 3 sided box shape tube which he just sat over the top of the pea seeds, with the edges embedded in the soil, and weighted it down with a couple of large stones. It's simple but looks extremely effective. Sadly, I've been trying to get some of the 6mm wire mesh (from Wickes) in the past few days without success. Wickes have sold out and can't get any new stock, and I can't find any other supplier selling 6mm mesh. The only size I can get is 13mm, and I have a feeling mice might manage to squirm through that. But if I can get hold of some 6mm wire mesh that would also give me an effective barricade for my strawberries, which were all taken by the mice last year. And with a bit of thought I might be able to come up a box for my parsnips as well, which they also took.

[NN2Blue]

I had mice too this year. They actually dug into the bottom of germinated broad beans and ate the bean but left the severed stalk.

Fortunately, even though it is mousetastic on the lotty, they tend to leave those alone for the pea and bean weevils to give the leaves a nice serrated edge. 

[heygrow]

Well my peas are starting to come up nicely under the polytunnel. I think sowing directly into the ground with some netting to protect from mice and the polytunnel to give some wrmth seems to have worked. Also with the heavy rain and wind we've been having the polytunnel protected them from this.

I'm ony sowing one stretch of 10 ft long, so polytunnel is OK. Shoots are quite small still, so maybe vulnarable to mice still I guess? Maybe I'll put down something smelly like curry powder as previously suggested. Thanks for all your comments!

[gavinjconway]

I had a short double row in my home garden and the pesky Magpie ate all the seed.. not mice!! Not seen a maggie for ages prior to his luncheon visit or since then!!