I have had a tomato and two peppers cut off since I set them out on Sunday, I put seven dust on everything last night and today my rocoto de sada has the top cut off!!! Cut worms??? What do I do
I lost two lettuce plants to grub worms this week- the plants withered and died and upon removing them sure 'nuff, there was a single grub in each case. I throw the grubs out where the robins can find them. I don’t want to use sevin so I accept the loss.
But for cutworms, since apparently you have them, you can place little collars around the plant just above the roots and sticking above the soil line. You can also go out in the evening and poke around a bit in the top inch or so of soil and likely find your culprit. Feed 'em to the robins.
Good luck,
M
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It might be rabbits too. The tiny baby rabbits can squeeze through tiny holes and chew on leaves and tops.
Cutworms attack the stem just above the roots. That clean cut higher up suggests rabbits
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That’s two rabbits as suspected culprits, it is happening at night but as you can see they didn’t eat the plant just cut it off. It seems like a rabbit would have eaten it… maybe not , I’m not a rabbit expert.
I agree w/ @ltilton. Cutworms level the plant at soil level.
Rabbits or other varmints prefer the tender tops but I wouldn’t think they would leave them. Maybe time to bring out the game camera.
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I think rabbits do not like peppers, but if nothing more appealing they can try and drop. I had two phlox plants just planted near my tulips and rabbits started to fest on them. So I covered them with wire mesh trash baskets. Next morning several tulips around them were beheaded, but not eaten. It looked like an act of rage, if they capable of such things 
. For the pepper beheaded - do not remove it, it will start growing on the sides. But cover it with something, while it is small.
https://www.dollartree.com/Essentials-Wire-Wastebaskets-10-75-in-/p361079/index.pro
These things are very handy! Sometimes you can buy it by the basket in Dollar Tree store, or you can order a pack of 48 online. $1 a basket.
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Galina,
That’s a great idea. How tall those baskets are? I’ll to see if I could cover my bud 9 rootstocks with those baskets.
Don’t rule out squirrels. Last few weeks somebody has been eating my lettuce. I have a fenced in veggie patch so I was trying to figure out who was either flying in or digging into the veggie patch. Today I saw a squirrel actually stealing a piece of lettuce and climb up a piece of lumber that was leaning against the fence and then disappear! Never would’ve thought squirrels eat lettuce!
The rabbits will not come in my yard, I think it might be the dog urine smell, or maybe the milorganite on my grass? It keeps deer away too! Raccoons on the other hand figure it must be something good if it smells like humans. Often digging up at my cottage anything I plant to see what’s there, even ornamental plants.
10.75’’ tall
I think it was the chipmunk that nipped off the tops of all the lettuce and bok choi plants I was hardening off
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some garlic or onion spray might be in order, worth a try at least. btw they should recover fine from that, no biggie
I did see a squirrel on Monday but I removed him
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I talked to my brother he thought maybe army worms, I put seven dust on the plants and on the ground around the plants and the damage stopped.