If the critters are just nibbling on the outer vines and not close to the main root it should be ok, but of course stop it in it's tracks. GHs here eat in a straight line and eat to the bone, rabbits eat around the edges. Deer like SPs too but there should be tracks from them.. Last year I culled (cut vines) on one of my SP plots to maintain a 5'x4' square and got a good set of taters from it by seasons end.

Your Season is a bit longer than mine. I didn’t even get these in the ground till June 10.

The ones with minor damage are eaten around the edges, the ones with major damage it seems like they just kept going in.

Other than a few of the tips, there is no notable vine damage at all, it looks like the main “crown” of all of them is fine. Some of them actually appear to be sending out new shoots in the axils of the leaf stems.

Looks like the leafs were eaten from above like by a deer maybe? If your ground is as wet as mine there should be tracks in there.....or a Big Rabbit on its hind legs :) ..... a Groundhog doesn't range too far from it's den so it may be close if you have it, the worse of the 3.

My SP were planted mid May so digging on the primary roots will be around Labor Day. The side rows by first frost close to Halloween.

If it were a deer, they would’ve had to jump a 7 foot fence. There would be some evidence that that happened.

Impact marks, hoof marks, something.

I don’t see any evidence of that.

It’s a groundhog. I went back out there and I saw the little bastard, standing right outside the fence where I just repaired it. As soon as I walked out there, he ran off into the woods.

With a little exploring you should be able to locate it's den, it shouldn't be too far away.

I saw run into the edge of the woods and dive down, then it disappeared.

I assume it went into it’s den at that point. I have to walk out there and see if I can find it.

Problem is that’s no longer my property, this is the property behind me.

The den is at the edge of the woods in a stand of weeds.

I haven’t seen the fat little SOB today yet.

Tomatoes.

What about tomatoes? I’ve read groundhogs tend to like tomatoes. It hasn’t bothered mine, but probably wasn’t able to figure a way into the homemade wire cages…plus, the tomatoes are 50’ past the sweet potato vines, so the groundhog may not have bothered even looking.

I have too many tomatoes, usually harvesting 15 – 20 lbs per picking at the moment. I always have at least a half dozen “culls” that are either too afflicted with BER to be worth keeping, or have cracks or bruises that render them less than ideal. If I place a nice pile of tomatoes close to his/her den, but along the path to the garden, could I possibly distract the groundhog enough to keep him/her occupied, since they tend not to venture too far from their dens? I should be able to replenish them every couple days until at least late Sept.

When I had 2 bouts of GH attacks over the years but they didn't eat my tomatoes, there was a wide choice out there and their favs were SPs and Bush beans, and asst greens. GHs can have a backdoor nearby too for a quick escape. They may go for ground tomatoes but if he's got a taste for SPs he may return.

For what it’s worth, in just a couple days’ time there is already significant regrowth.

Would row cover over the vines be of any benefit here?

Maybe, but the best thing you can do now is to get rid of the GH before it finds a mate, otherwise you'll have your hands full later on.

I can’t catch the SOB. It’s burrow is about a straight line back 100’ from the garden, but I can’t actually find it.