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Old June 6, 2020   #1
soozbz
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Default Help - something is eating my stems!

Hi, all! Something is taking gigantic chunks out of my tomato stems and totally destroying them. See attached photos. I've never seen anything like it!

Does anyone know who the culprit might be? I've picked a few brown caterpillars off of these plants, but I've never seen a caterpillar do this to a stem. I've also got squirrels and birds around who like to steal my tomatoes, but I've never seen them take in interest in stems, either.

In addition, any thoughts on how I can save plants whose stems have been devoured? Can I wrap them with something, or should I just leave them be and hope for the best?
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Old June 7, 2020   #2
MissS
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It looks like some kind of rodent got to them. Chipmunks, rabbits maybe a squirrel but unlikely.
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Old June 7, 2020   #3
slugworth
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rats or mice
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Old June 7, 2020   #4
JRinPA
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maybe for water? i have never seen that before. how high up is that?
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Old June 7, 2020   #5
Tonio
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Definitely rodents... you can see the 2 teeth carving in the scrape of their bite.

I've seen rats eat into plastic food bin around the lid, that appear just like that. They need to chew(grind the teeth) on something to keep their teeth from getting too long.

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Old June 8, 2020   #6
tryno12
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I just posted a question in "pests" forum wondering what chopped off 2 10" dwarfs right to the ground and left no scraps anywhere? seen rabbits chop seedlings but never a 10" thick stemmed dwarf!! Vole maybe?
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Old June 10, 2020   #7
soozbz
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Now this has happened to four different tomato plants, kind of close-ish to the bottom - generally about 6-12" up the stem. So weird - the only rodents I've ever seen in my yard are squirrels, but I've never seen them do anything like this. Maybe y'all are right that we have rats or mice or something?

Any advice on how to stop this? I've been hoping to avoid putting netting around everything, but maybe it can't be helped. Or if they're doing this for water, maybe I should just put out some water for them...?
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Old June 10, 2020   #8
JRinPA
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I don't know...trail cam time? Maybe a wrap a little wire cage from 1/4" or 1/2" hardware cloth, like for deer protection on a sapling? If it was 1993 I would say chupacabra?
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Old June 10, 2020   #9
JRinPA
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At 12", groundhog? Or whatever you have down there. I hope they are not rats that big...
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Old June 11, 2020   #10
Soilsniffer
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Groundhogs, that's what I was thinking as I read through the thread. I've seen similar destruction on various plants here.

What I think it is: Groundhog is hungry, takes a big ol' bite out of a stem, says 'Yuck!' (it is a tomato stem after all, yuck), and moves on to something more palatable.

Sometimes on my smaller stems, groundhog bites thru the entire stem, the top 95% of the plant falls and lies horizontally right beside the stem stump that remains after groundhog takes a single big bite, says 'yuck' and moves on.

Groundhog solution? A 2' high wire fence (groundhogs laugh at netting), with an additional 8 inches buried underground.

I guess plan B is ... *Bang!*. We're allowed to do that to groundhogs here in VA.
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Old June 13, 2020   #11
soozbz
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Ha, love the idea of some rodent trying to snack on the stems and then realizing they are to gross to eat!

I don't think we have groundhogs in Texas, but maybe it could be a possum or something? Kind of surprising that most of my other plants are fine - whatever it is isn't bothering with the cucumbers and zucchini, and is barely stealing any tomatoes. If it's looking for a snack, it has plenty of options that it's ignoring for some reason. So maybe the theory that something is just sharpening its teeth on my stems is right?

Anyway, I will try to find some kind of wire netting to wrap my stems with and see if that works!
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