Picture below.
So I went outside today to water my sunflower and came to find out that someone or something literally snipped the developing bud off. The variety is short stuff sunflower so the flowerheads get massive, but this bud was still very small and weeks out from blooming. I thought maybe the wind or a bug got it, but then I would of found it nearby on the ground. Plus it looks like someone cut it straight across in a straight line with a pair of scissors. What do you guys think? I'm so frustrated that this happened. There is no way the wind or a bug could of done this.

Deer like to do that to my sunflowers.

The rabbits are usually the ones who eat my tender plants in spring. Is that sunflower low enough for them to reach? They will eat almost any kind of plants.

Bummer. Never underestimate the ways Mother Nature can thwart your gardening plans. Do you have more seed? Let that one keep growing, though. There is a chance it will send out lateral bloom stalks (and maybe not, but give it a try!).

This are in Florida is basically a concrete jungle. There isn't very much wildlife such as deer or rabbits. The sunflower was in a large pot that faced a large open field. So who knows, maybe some animal got it. I still think maybe someone came by and snipped it off :/

Maybe it was a fellow gardener who thought snipping off the first bud will help give your plant more blooms? One day I found my rieger begonia's flowers and stems snipped. Later I found out it was done by my neighbor who was trying to help me revive my plant. Turned out looking better than ever. I understand your frustration because I wouldn't want that to happen to a sunflower plant.

I've had someone come in my gate and snip off my tulips. They just cut the blooms (very little stem) so I don't know what the point was. I told my mother and she said that decades ago there was a woman who would bring a little basket and go in all the neighbors yards to cut bouquets for herself.

Anyway, it only happened one year. After that I planted orange and yellow tulips which I guess they didn't like so they left them alone.

Hello Peter,

I have had birds land on a zinnia bloom hard enough to break the stem, but then the bloom is usually still hanging there. Maybe a deer ate it, but deer have sharp hooves and they leave tracks in the dirt. A human may have taken the bloom. But the good news is that your sunflower plant will eventually put out side branches, and you will have more blooms. The removal of the central bloom should actually accelerate the appearance of side branches.

ZM

ZenMan said: Hello Peter,
But the good news is that your sunflower plant will eventually put out side branches, and you will have more blooms. The removal of the central bloom should actually accelerate the appearance of side branches.

ZM

I sure hope so. It's been two weeks since this happened and no sign of side branching or new stems for blooms. Fingers crossed.

Maybe a guide to bite mark patterns by specific critters might help to identify what made the cut on your plant? - http://www.biokids.umich.edu/g...

I wish you luck in adapting to your flower challenges - I suspect mine are human.

karen

Looks human to me. Looks nothing like the chewed off stems in the photos from the link. Scissors will leave an clean oval shape with one side of the oval tapered. Does it look like a right hand cut?