top of pepper seedlings sheared off

[tsnider1520]

The tops of our newly planted pepper plants have been completely sheared off by something overnight. We have rabbit issues so I put up a chicken wire fence around them but that didn't seem to help. There isn't any evidence of animals digging under the fence either. It's to early in the season for large cutworms. Could birds be doing this? We haven't had this issue before. WE're out of seedlings after 2 replantings.

[applestar]

Losing tops isn’t a complete loss if the bottom part of the plant is intact and has 2 or 3 leaf nodes — new side shoots/branches will grow.

Were the tops left anywhere nearby or are they gone completely/eaten? Could it be deer reaching in? How tall is the chicken wire fence?

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear about your peppers. I was also thinking something like deer as the culprits. I never even had a problem with rabbits liking my peppers plants, even though they loved my beans and kohlrabi.

[applestar]

FWIW — my cats get into my Winter Indoor Garden spaces and nibble on the foliage of the overwintering peppers. Then throw them up. They do leave tell-tale fang marks and torn leaves on the plants.

[tsnider1520]

Good to know about regrowing. In all of our years of gardening I'm not sure we knew about that. Thanks!
No deer in our yard although there are some on the sides of the development. We haven't seen any cats outside either. So maybe the mystery remains. Hopefully the plants we regrow leaders.

[imafan26]

Could it be slugs or snails. Those are my usual night time harvesters