I would think squirrels, I have a few brave ones that in the fall dig holes in our pumkins we put on the porch to get seeds. I pored some pepper vodka and then covered with hot sauce and reapplied. They dug up my peppers last season exposing the roots of two. I just covered them up a d watered, they turned out fine. It only happened once, but if they made a habit of digging I would have to get rid of them. I would paint the rim of the pot with hot sauce inside and out.

Mark

Skunks also leave these little holes. They are after grubs and you should be thankful that they found them. Nothing worse than a pest that you can't see. As for the damage, I bet your naga will recover just fine. These little guys are tough.

Sorry to hear that, I hate going out to find problems. So far this year I have lost 2 plants. I would say cut worms caused my damage, but both stems were chewed up the side. It appeared that whatever was chewing on them chewed the most around the base and cut them off. Due cut worms chew up the stalk? Mine had chew marks from ground level up about 3 inches. but only on one side. One was my Padron, and the only one I had, the other was my only Mulato Isleno. :-(
Pam

This post was edited by kuvaszlvr on Wed, May 15, 13 at 14:44

Could also be gophers. I've already lost 2 maters and 1 bell this year because of them. I'm actually trying to nurse the bell back in a pot. There were some roots still left on it, so I pulled it and transplanted to a small pot with 5-1-1--- Fingers crossed. It's pretty tough for me to control them because they dig under the fence, nip the roots and then head back to the neighbor's yard. I've already gone through a container of bait so far.

Pam:

From my experience, cutworms pretty much just clip the seedlings at the soil level. What I found to be very effective--- when planting, put 2-3 toothpicks right up next to the stalk when transplanting. About a half hour after watering so the soil settles a tad. This prevents them from being able to wrap around the stalk and "cut." I haven't lost a seedling yet since i started doing this a about 5 years ago.

Good luck.

Kevin

Hey Kevin... Similar to my dad's technique. He always told me to put a nail on either side of the stalk when I plant. But, I've been bad about doing it for years, mostly cos I never really have had any cut worm issues.

So, what do you think would eat up the stalk? I think the only reason the plants were cut at ground level was because that's where the insect/critter did most of it's munching. Very frustrating.
Pam

Pam:

Not sure. Maybe slugs? Earwigs? Mice? I'm far from an expert on "pest" control. In fact, I'll have several posts later this year in the "pests and diseases" forum. ;)

I have, however, mastered cutworms and hornworms.

One would figure if it was a critter that the whole seedling might be gone. With cutworms, it's snipped at the soil level and you walk out the next day and see a perfectly good seedling just lying there. With gophers, they just come from under the ground and eat the roots and you walk out the next day and see a perfectly PLANTED plant that's totally wilted.

That's about the only critter I have trouble with here in suburban San Diego.

Good luck.

Kevin

Yeah, it looks a lot like a cut worm, except the chew marks up the stem... that's just weird. It could be mice, but I agree, I'd think they'd eat the whole thing. or maybe not. I was so furious this winter, I was overwintering my peppers in the greenhouse and ripening fruit was mysteriously disappearing. When I cleaned out some pots I found a huge stash of fruit. The mice had apparently picked them then stored them elsewhere in the greenhouse. of course the little $#($*#(*)$ didn't eat them, since they were all really hot, they just picked and stored them.
Pam

Pam: Then it just may mice if you've never had probs with cutworms.

If you really want to eliminate the cutworm possibility, then do the cutworm trick. If it happens again, no cutworms.

.

Good luck.

Kevin