From your description of the damage I am suspecting that you have a digger rather than a mole or vole. I don't think you have armadillos in NJ yet (they do this to me annually) but groundhogs and even squirrels digging for their buried nuts will do this. Dogs and cats will dig things up also but it is usually spotty in appearance - a hole here and another there.

Any of these possible?

Dave

PS: the onions should do fine since you got them replanted so quickly.

Raccoons do that kind of thing as well. A few years back I planted 200+ bulbs, and came out the next morning to find them all dug up.

Thanks for the replies. I should have been clearer about the row cover that I am using. It is secured to the ground on the sides and ends so that nothing could get inside, especially a groundhog or squirrel. The other thing I should mention is that the soil was not disturbed at all, as would be the case if something was digging at the surface. I'm going out there late tonight with a flashlight to see if I can find anything.

Well, I went out to the garden last night at about 9:30pm and found about 15 plants uprooted again. No sign of surface digging or any other disturbance to the soil. I replanted them again and when I returned to the garden this morning, it was a disaster. Half of the plants were uprooted and there were a few little "piles" of plants away from where they were planted. No damage to the plants at all..not chewed, eaten, etc., just uprooted and scattered. Some were pulled almost all of the way into the ground like I reported before.

I really need help on this, as I have no idea what is happening!

Thanks...

Your problem is night crawlers or large earth worms. The worms are trying to take them into their borrow in the earth.Go to your garden after dark with a flashlite and you can see them at work. Just keep replanting them and eventuly they will take root and the worms can't pull them out YOPPER P.S. The worms plant them with the root sticking out of the earth Lol!!!

I agree with yopper. I blamed everything but the worms until someone told me to go out at night and take a look.

I just lost 3 out of 5 of my peppers this morning to squirrels' pea sized brains looking for stuff they buried long ago.

Is it food time? *dig* No. Is it food time? *dig* No. Is it food time? *dig* No. Is it food time? *dig* No.

Fun stuff.

VERY glad I had extra seedlings.

Thanks again for the help! Of course now I have to know...how could an earthworm "carry" a 5-inch onion seedling and how are they able to pull the seedling into the ground? I guess I need to read up on earthworms, as they obviously have some skills that i wasn't aware of! LOL
Also, are nightcrawlers commonly found everywhere? I've never seen one in my garden.

I just had the same issue and the freshly planted yesterday plants were pulled out and the top end pulled down a worm hole! Seems like they used it to plug their hole!