Expert: C.L. Fornari - 6/8/2006

Question
I live in Fairbanks, AK.  Because we've had frost in the last week, I've just put out my impatients in the ground.  Today, I noticed something is chomping off the stems. I didn't see anything...on the stems or the leaves, and we don't presently have any moose in the neighborhood.  Some of the flowers and leaves are left on, but the stems are just cut off.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
Mary

Answer
Mary,
I'd suspect one of two culprits - cutworms cut off plants almost at soil level - dig in the soil around the impatiens and see if you come up with a tan, greenish, or grey worm.  (Do a google image search on cutworm and you'll get some examples) Usually you have only a few and if you dig around you can find them and smash them.

The second possiblility is squirrels - I have seen squirrels bite off a stem and then lick the water that comes up from the stump that is left...their own private water fountain.  I haven't seen them do this with impatiens, but in the natural world, most anything is possible.  Could be chipmonks doing the same thing.  

If your hunt for cutworms comes up empty (dig first around the plants that were cut, then around the plants closest to those cut.) you might try sprinkling cheyenne pepper all over and around the plants - this is a good short-term repellant for small animals, and after it wears off, the animals have usually moved on.

I hope this helps!
C.L.