CoffeeShopSeeds Sponsored Grow: Emmie’s Huge 1 Month Interval Constant Harvest

If a mouse or mice have been hanging out there, you should find their droppings. They crap a lot. If you don't know what they look like do a google search. Little bitty pellets, about the size of a pencil lead tip.
I forgot to check for scat. I will do that next time I am up there. Once again I was shocked to see a significant amount of soil moved since this morning.
So I set up Veg Cam. This camera is a WYZE ver 3 camera which has an extremely sensitive light detection chip.

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In most situations, this camera can see in color in the dark using ambient light... but up here in a very dark grow room overnight, I have turned on its stealth IR light setting, using 920nm which is not visible to the human eye. It is set to record at the very slightest motion and alert me on my phone to watch the video. I have given this notice a very insistent vibration pattern so I am sure to notice it if the phone is on me and overnight Ms J. will alert me as it shakes on the nightstand. Now we wait, to see just how big this critter is and what weaponry we need to martial against it.
 
Last evening I went up to check on my 5 beer cups, fully expecting to find small plants pushing up above the surface. What I found was the answer to the mystery as to what has been happening, and the start of a new problem that needs to be solved.

I hope you can tell from these pictures what happened in the last 24 hours. I left the cups after a pretty good watering and I know there was some water weight in the cups. The surface was flat and smooth, not at all like what I found last night... something had been digging! Some critter got in here, got up on top of 4/5 cups, and dug several holes in the soil all around the cup, presumably looking for my young plant or the seed!

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Is this something a young mouse might do? I have never seen this happen before, so I need to confirm with some of you... have you ever seen mice steal and eat seeds and/or seedlings? I am going to war against these critters and will have something more appropriate for them to chew on very soon... something that will kill them. The dogs are no longer allowed upstairs, so this should not be an issue... the seedling munching critters need to die.

So am assuming this seed run to be a total loss for me and a small snack for my unwelcome visitor. I am going to relocate seed starting central downstairs again, around the aquarium, where there is high humidity and hopefully no attic mice. I had a special request from a patient, so we are going to start a flock of photo regular White Widow seeds... some of my oldest seeds in my collection. Let's see if we can get 3 or 4 of these to show female and get our veg rooms moving.

Considering that 2 of the plants in bloom are longer running sativas, we still haven't hurt the timing of the perpetual harvest garden yet. This time I am going to use @Jon 's seed starting method since he seems to have good success, and because this time I want to keep a pretty good eye on the old seeds. Time's 'a wastin, and it is time to get going with some new plants asap!
I am 100% positive a mouse ate some of my seedlings. Signs of digging in the soil and mouse droppings in the tent. I keep snap traps set at all times now.
 
I forgot to check for scat. I will do that next time I am up there. Once again I was shocked to see a significant amount of soil moved since this morning.
So I set up Veg Cam. This camera is a WYZE ver 3 camera which has an extremely sensitive light detection chip.

1646183110037.png


In most situations, this camera can see in color in the dark using ambient light... but up here in a very dark grow room overnight, I have turned on its stealth IR light setting, using 920nm which is not visible to the human eye. It is set to record at the very slightest motion and alert me on my phone to watch the video. I have given this notice a very insistent vibration pattern so I am sure to notice it if the phone is on me and overnight Ms J. will alert me as it shakes on the nightstand. Now we wait, to see just how big this critter is and what weaponry we need to martial against it.
I want Veg Cam! Gimme gimme! Where can I find this camera? Killer tech!!!!!
 
Definitely go to their website... much cheaper ordering direct. Just search for their name, WYZE... there is only one. This ver 3 camera, that is now waterproofed for operation outside is available for $35.98 I am pretty sure that there is no camera on the market as capable as this is, for even three times the price. I use WYZE for everything, motion and climate sensors, smart lights, switches, scale, doorbells, locks, watches and fitbits... and I can link everything to Alexa. Most of my rooms have motion sensors so that lights go on automatically when I enter the room or open a door. They have a version 2 camera that is a bit cheaper and a rotating scan/pan motion tracking camera (indoor only) for around $40 and a battery powered outdoor camera for around $50. The products are not perfect and constant software revisions are sent out as they get tested, but the products all continue to get better and better as time goes on. If you don't mind a little bit of growing pain as the company matures, you can't beat the prices and quality, anywhere.
 
There were no alerts overnight... why is it that critters are always smarter than we are? For now, I am leaving those cups up there as bait but tonight I am starting some new seeds downstairs where I can better watch over them, this time being much more careful. I will start the 24 soak this evening, and will be planting them @Jon style tomorrow when I see tails emerging.
 
..... why is it that critters are always smarter than we are? ....

I will start the 24 soak this evening, and will be planting them @Jon style tomorrow when I see tails emerging.
You could get some humane mouse traps.
I have at least 3 styles of live traps.
It's fun relocating the little guys to that farm house down the road with all the barn cats! Kitty Treats!
Plus you could create compassionate videos of the mouse asking to relocate by voluntarily stepping into the shuttle craft and then the trip to the release point! *Born Free plays as mouse scurries away!*
You might even catch the Kitty Treat part....:( I'd give it a 'Like' and 'Subscribe'!:D


That used to be my method until a feral cat adopted us! Now no small ground dweller survives.:oops:

Good on you for starting new seeds!
It's inspiring. I'm going to start seeds today too!
I'll do the soak and then into 'seed starter soil'. I'll have the 3" pots in a 10x20 tray over a temp controlled heat mat and a dome for a while.
I guess I'll start a journal at some point.

I was waiting for single digits to stop so I didn't need a lot of electric heat in the grow room.
Crazy weather we're having,,, for some unexplainable reason...:rolleyes:
Yesterday was 75° and today it's going for 83°.
I went from needing to heat the grow room to having to buy and install a vent system in just a few days!
 
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have turned on its stealth IR light setting, using 920nm which is not visible to the human eye.
Hey Emilya,

I love those cameras.
But I'd turn that light off. I've found that everytime I've left the IR on during lights off, the plant closest to the camera gets a bit on the crispy side. And those were autos for what that's worth.
I just wanted to give you the heads up, hopefully the newer V3 is different, but all the same I thought I'd let you know.
 
Hey Em. Those critters didn’t show up because they know there is nothing left to eat. Take a few minutes of your time to look up a mouse trap made out of a five gallon bucket. The “Paul Harvey “ of the set up is a bucket about half full of water. Dowel running through the center at the top of the bucket. PVC pipe or cans for the “roller”. Smear peanut butter all around the “roller”. You can even make a convenient ramp to the top of the bucket. Kill them All.

NTH
 
Hey Emilya,

I love those cameras.
But I'd turn that light off. I've found that everytime I've left the IR on during lights off, the plant closest to the camera gets a bit on the crispy side. And those were autos for what that's worth.
I just wanted to give you the heads up, hopefully the newer V3 is different, but all the same I thought I'd let you know.
There are no active plants in there right now, so the light doesn't concern me at the moment. The v3 has two light settings... the invisible 940nm and the traditional red lights that can be seen operating at 850nm. I will have to do some testing to see if the 940nm lights can be seen by the plants... at the moment I have no idea.
 
Hey Em. Those critters didn’t show up because they know there is nothing left to eat. Take a few minutes of your time to look up a mouse trap made out of a five gallon bucket. The “Paul Harvey “ of the set up is a bucket about half full of water. Dowel running through the center at the top of the bucket. PVC pipe or cans for the “roller”. Smear peanut butter all around the “roller”. You can even make a convenient ramp to the top of the bucket. Kill them All.

NTH
That is probably what is happening. I think while I am starting anew downstairs, I will just put some peanut butter out, just to entice them onto the camera view... Once I am sure what i am dealing with, then I will take action. I saw one of those rolly top bucket traps online I think... seemed to be extremely effective.
 
Hey Em. Those critters didn’t show up because they know there is nothing left to eat. Take a few minutes of your time to look up a mouse trap made out of a five gallon bucket. The “Paul Harvey “ of the set up is a bucket about half full of water. Dowel running through the center at the top of the bucket. PVC pipe or cans for the “roller”. Smear peanut butter all around the “roller”. You can even make a convenient ramp to the top of the bucket. Kill them All.

NTH
Those things work great. I use them for chipmunks. Instead of the roller I sprinkle sunflower seeds (which float) to cover the surface. Looks like a huge pile of seeds to the critters. That is until they hop down and find six inches of water underneath.
 
Hey Em. Those critters didn’t show up because they know there is nothing left to eat. Take a few minutes of your time to look up a mouse trap made out of a five gallon bucket. The “Paul Harvey “ of the set up is a bucket about half full of water. Dowel running through the center at the top of the bucket. PVC pipe or cans for the “roller”. Smear peanut butter all around the “roller”. You can even make a convenient ramp to the top of the bucket. Kill them All.

NTH
Find someone with a hungry python
 
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