If the cut is on the slant, I would suspect rabbits. They have sliced my asparagus and kale that way (although, so far, my tomatoes and peppers are fine). I guess it could also be groundhogs.

That said, I was surprised to learn that cutworms can cut plants higher than soil level, so that might be another possibility.

I hope you can discover who the culprit is!

Linda

Yes - we have climbing cutworms here in FL.

But if damage is all at the same height I think rabbits may be much more likely.

"The plant stems are chewed about 6 inches off the ground so I don't think it's a cut worm. The tops aren't eaten."

Cutworm is the only pest I know of that just crews to topple over the plant and doesn't consume it. If you're certain that nothing is eaten I'd go with that. That being said it sure sounds like a lot of damage, like it's a plague of cutworms, and big suckers too. Glad my local cutworms only chew on the very young plants at ground level around here.

With that type of damage so widespread, that sounds like vole behavior - and probably more than one. They bite through stems & kill the plants, but don't eat them... never could figure out why. Voles bit off a lot of my gherkin vines last year, and were nesting under the weed cloth. When I exposed the nest (and killed the young) the neighborhood cats took care of the adults.

If vole damage is happening often, there is probably a nesting site nearby. Look for anything which could provide a hiding place; piles of compost or debris, rocks, logs, dense shrubbery, etc., and clean out those areas if possible.

When voles show up in my garden, I put out traps near the plants they are attacking, baited with pieces of dried apricot. It is very effective... and you might be surprised how many you catch. It may be necessary to check & clean the traps more than once a day at first.

Thanks for the update. Good to know who the culprits were!

Linda