File cabinet grow box mouse proof indoor plant starts

I love used file cabinets.
I have a lot of them.
We have a mouse issue, and the file cabinets keep them out of our food and dishes.
I want to start some plants indoor.
My past experiments in growing trays of fodder for the bunny shows me the mice will be a problem.

I plan on turning a two drawer cabinet into a plant starting unit.
I will either be  cutting the bottom out of the top drawer  or removing it all together.
I think a basic wicking reservoir will work for watering.
I have some Mylar insulation material to line the insides with, I don't think I need insulation, but it should be easy to apply.
I have some strong magnets to hold my lighting platform at what ever level it needs to be at.
I plan on adding a compartment on top of the cabinet, and have any electrical/plumbing  connections to enter there.

That's a lot of "I" statements!
A fan will probably be needed.
Mounting it on top is my preference.
Having it suck air out of the cabinet is the current ideal, but I'm not certain if this makes the most sense.




My goal with this project is to grow tomato and pepper seedlings to about two foot tall and then hold them there via judicious pruning.
Once the weather permits planting out, the bushy plants can be source material for cloning.
I'm hoping for about six, maybe 8 plants per cabinet.

Any ideas  on this project are welcome.

I had an elderly neighbor one time who hit me up for a new stove. Her old cheap gas stove had about finished rusting out and only one of the four burners could still be ignited. So I bought her one AND delivered it, but OH NO! That won't do at all, she said. First I had to go back to town and buy 6 feet of hardware cloth and cut it to fit the back and bottom of the stove "to keep the mice out" -- THEN I could hook up the gas and test it to make sure everything was working property, and only then be on my way at last. She was not one of those you want to be on their bad side (if she had one).

Interesting idea William. I think it will work except for one thing - how do you access the plants once they get taller than the lower drawer?
I've drawn a (very rough) sketch of the cabinet with the top drawer partially open, and even with the bottom removed it is going to slice through the plants (where the lightening bolt is). The same will happen if you open the lower drawer.
Maybe they will bend enough to get out of the way, but you may need to go in from the top?

How big do you envision the pots will be to support the growth without getting root bound? That would be one of my worries.


I managed to get a three tiered filing cabinet that my work was getting rid of. It is even fire rated!

Nancy, great diagram!
The "enthusiasts" who build these cabinets  to hide their plants tend to discard the actual drawers and turn both the draw fronts into a single removable panel.

I was planning on joining the two drawers together with some pallet wood or scrap sheet metal.
Maybe I'll just build a cabinet door, but even then the metal support between the upper and lower drawers would have to go, lest the plants be sliced asunder, like in your illustration !
Edited to add photo:

I might be a little too optimistic about this, but I've never noticed a problem with rootbound plants, as long as I take the time to pull the rootball apart at planting.

All I have to say is last year a mouse or five got into my little plant starting box I have in my pumphouse and ate all my starts down to the soil line. And I was pretty sad about it.

I like your plan, I am trying to devise a mouse proof plant starter myself. Following along....

William Bronson wrote:I was planning on joining the two drawers together with some pallet wood or scrap sheet metal.
Maybe I'll just build a cabinet door, but even then the metal support between the upper and lower drawers would have to go, lest the plants be sliced asunder, like in your illustration !

Thanks for the explanation William.
I think if I was doing that then I'd be very tempted to find some glass or perspex for the front to let light into the cabinet, and for viewing. They may still need grow lights, depending on location and time of year, but maybe much reduced.

I'm torn about adding windows.
I have lots of cool ideas for windows and plenty of materials, but the light contributed  via said windows will be negligible.

If anything, the lights inside the cabinet would contribute to the ambiance of the room.
I imagine melty green glass with copper trim and agaist a rust patina...

I'm my quest for the best cabinet to use, I've done a lot of cleaning and moving of cabinets, but not any building.
Useful for my life in general, but not for this project.
I did find an old project to scavenge.
I cut the bottom out of the top drawer in this cabinet so it could carry an air compressor.
Worked pretty well, but the way I added the bike wheels didn't.