Keep mice out of old animal barn grow room

How could a indoor grow room be built in a old farm barn that has mice getting into the warm area ? What material and build process help ? I guess a sealed tight inner room within the room. Maybe spray foam to seal gaps ? Any special building material ? My fear is mice getting into the grow area. Of the old animal barn space. Thanks for advice.

I would find a way that they don’t want to come in grow area moth balls works pretty good

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Seal it up, insulate the floor for your pots. Ventilation and sealing your penetrations for cords and duct would most likely be your biggest time consumption. I would use a 3/4” plywood shell with a wrap and some Mylar inside. There are some good organic peppermint sprays that repel rodents and nuisance bugs also. Good luck, happy growing!

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Park my 4 wheeler nearby, and they’ll all nest inside the air cleaner… :man_facepalming:

Seriously though, I’d add to this list: traps and poison, if you don’t have pets to worry about. Those little buggers can get in anywhere.

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they will chew through almost any barrier you put up. Only thing they do not like to chew is steel wool
If you have a room barrier, MOTH BALLS—it burns their eye membranes and they do not like it. Problem is the smell of camphor and you gotta keep that out o f the grow area
Curr Dogg is really on point with “GIVE THEM SOMETHING ELSE TO GO AFTER”
I have a client who has cat issues…they keep eating the computer wires (mouse, kb, cables). I had her make a ball of wires and now its their favorite toy and they have not chewed the wires in about 6 mos now

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Cut irish spring soap in chunks snd spread them around the space. It ain’t perfect but it works pretty well

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If it was me i would take them out when you catch one they will be 100 more if you have no pets Tom Cat mice and rat killer works awesome

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Or go to your local shelter and adopt some stray cats lol. That what a buddy of mine did. He’s got six cats but no more mice…

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@afid your options are UV-lights outside of the tents during lights off, ultrasonic deterrent devices, or using companion plants and essential oils.

I personally have great luck with companion plants and essential oils to deter rodents.

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Where are the barn owls when you need them, eh?
There are a few owls in my area. I think they do a better job than the ultrasonic plug ins.

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Well a barn cat or 4 is the easiest and most effective option. Their smell alone will keep most mice away. No matter what you need a sealed room. Elevated if possible, even just 6 inches will help tremendously., with hardware cloth (a.k.a. rabbit wire) all along the underside and up the sides.

If no pets are around then poisoning and traps are the way to go. Theres a some great YouTube channels that covers various mousetraps. By far the most effective and cheapest is the 5 gallon bucket trap.

If the structure you have is in good shape, theres a ton of option/ideas you can pull off.

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@Rye I’ve used cats myself and they work great until they decide they want to break into the tents and eat the plants. :joy:

My cat definitely loves to chew on some leaves and stems.

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Mice can squeeze through really tiny spots, a cat would help, but mice love peanut butter so buy some mice traps bait with chunky peanut butter there smell is very good and cannot resist, once you kill off a few the other mice associate the peanut butter with death and will usually move on, you could bait traps put in grow room and they will go for the peanut butter before they get at your plants and once you kill a few off the rest move on, that is best advice I know, a mouses teeth are always growing so you would not bealive what they can chew through or squeeze through, good luck.

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