something is chewing off my new corn seedlings

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kurtjenvb Hackettstown, NJ May 28, 2009

Hi there,
This is my first post on this website - I'm hoping someone can help me. We planted our first vegetable garden this year and are anxiously watching what will come of it. We were so excited to see our corn seedlings start to come up, only to be quite disheartened by the discovery that something seems to be chewing off the stems of the new seedlings. They don't seem to eat the stems - they're left strewn on top of the soil. Also, some seeds seem to be pulled up out of the ground, rootlets and all. I just don't have enough knowledge to figure out if this is being done by some critter, bird or some worm, so I'm hoping someone can help me. On another note, our sunflowers (in the back of this same vegetable garden) have been all dug up out of the soil, and some of their stems chewed off as well. The garden is not fenced. Is there anything I can do to prevent this? (I've planted marigolds, but the worst damage was done last night, after I planted the marigolds yesterday) Thanks for any advice!

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LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL(Zone 5b) May 28, 2009

The list of potential suspects is long. My first guess would be rabbits.

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) May 28, 2009

Agree with L. Tilton. However corn pulled up is usually birds, Crows and Grackles are bad about it. Rabbits will cut the plants off like you used a knife and cut the stem at an angle. Rabbits here rarely bother corn or sunflowers, they want beans, peas and sweet potatoes. If it is rabbits, a little blood meal sprinked over plants takes care of the problem until the next rain.

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kurtjenvb Hackettstown, NJ May 30, 2009

Thanks so much for the replies. I was afraid there might be no easy answer! Wishing for a nighttime security camera to post in my yard to help discover the culprit. I appreciate your help!

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cinski Terrace, Canada Jun 03, 2009

I've had mice do that to seeds. Dug them right up in the seed trays in my greenhouse. We put out traps and had the two mice the next morning and no more problems! Good luck!

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LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL(Zone 5b) Jun 03, 2009

I had something digging in my most recently-planted hills of corn - tore the markers right out of the ground. But the corn came up anyway.

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