What ate my hop shoots?

Hi all,
I could use some help with identifying what may have eaten my hop shoots, and how I should protect future shoots. I've posted a picture here of how small they were when they were eaten off at dirt level.

Some information about this plant:
It is being grown in Arkansas.
It lives in a very large pot on the second story of my apartment balcony (not the most ideal growing conditions, I understand, doing the best I can with what I've got).
It was eaten at night.

If I can offer any more information let me know.
Also, will these shoots continue to grow, or are they finished?

Thanks, all!

Josh

My guess is squirrels. Damn squirrels.

To protect them, you could do something like I do in my garden - build a wire cage to put over them. I used some salvage wire fencing and stretched poultry wire over it.

I would guess that once the plant is a little larger, the vermin will likely leave them alone. I don't grow hops, but I am an avid gardener and it only seems that early spring is when the critters like the tender young shoots. More mature plants they tend to leave alone.

Since hops grow from roots as perennials, I would guess they will come out of it. They might struggle a bit and need a little TLC, but I would think they'll still grow and you should still get a harvest out of them.

Cheers!

The homebrewer's garden book says that deer and rabbits are very fond of hop shoots. Which reminds me that I need to put up some wire around my planter...

Rabbits were my downfall on my 1st attempt at hops growing last year. Ate the tops off all my shoots and killed the whole year.

This year I've smartened up and put them in large planters, no problems so far!

On a second story balcony I would doubt the culprit are deer or rabbits

It's possible that it could be a squirrel if you have squirrels nearby/around.

One bug I'm aware of that likes to trim a stem (soft greenage) perfectly at ground level is the cutworm. They crawl out of the soil at night to do their damage. The cutworms I have around are medium-large, green caterpillars. You can usually spot the hole they crawled out of if they are any significant size. If you spot a hole you can usually dig them out a bit below the surface of the soil (a few inches); or just jam a stick down in hopes of squishing them .

A lot of growers trim off the first shoots anyway, to allow the second, bigger shoots to sprout up. You should not have any problem with the plant coming back. Hops grow like crazy, and its hard to keep them from growing, once established.

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone! I appreciate the feedback. It's my first time growing hops, so this is a learning experience for me. Squirrels are a bit of a concern; they are certainly around. I'm also worried about a bug problem - I will look for signs of cutworms. Thanks again!

Garden gnomes. They're legit.

Throw the vegans out befor it gets dark! But I have had crows eat some shoots in my field. Put some hardware cloth over them, should work fine.

Chicken wire is going to be youre best friend.