true leaves of green beans disappear

I find all mature leaves of green beans gone in the morning. Stalk is intact. Help.

Sounds like you have some critters. do you see any lurking around? bugs etc? If not, go out tonight with a flashlight, and see if you see anything. I had this happen a couple of years ago, and to my surprise, earwigs were having a major party and destroying everything!!

I have had major earwig damage in my garden also. I had some leaves stripped off the plant and some with lots and lots of tiny holes and the rest of the leaf left, sometimes not much left. it took me awhile to realize I had a bad infestation because I didn't look at night and didn't look at the soil. Do you have mulch in the bed? I had a good layer of straw which was supposed to be a good idea but it was a nesting area for the earwigs. Going out at night with a flashlight is a good idea. If you do have earwigs and you have bedding, get rid of the bedding. You can roll up newspapers and put a rubber band around that or staple it, wet the newspapers and put it on the ground. They will go in there during the day. Take those newspapers and put them in a plastic bag, seal it up (even with tape) and throw it away. Also cut down plastic cups or use cottage cheese containers and cut them down or bury them most of the way so about 1-2 inches are above ground. Pour some type of cooking oil into the cups. You can also add a little soy sauce and molasses to really attract them. I have done just oil and oil and soy sauce. I don't have any molasses. You can also use used cooking oil or bacon fat.

I was able to pick six green beans today, hurray! Hope you find what is eating your beans.

Becky, Welcome to the Forum! Where abouts do you live? How tall are your bean plants? If the leaves are all gone, my first thoughts are deer or bunnies. Is your garden fenced in?

Central PA. Lots of bunnies, but fence is too high and no footprints, etc. Thinking Chipmunks, maybe, so next step is to cover fencing with chicken wire and just in case it is birds, a screen lid. THe area is only 2x3. I don't know what an earwig looks like, but I will check it out. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum Becky, sorry I didn't notice you were new and good luck with your investigation!

beckyhomecky wrote:Central PA. Lots of bunnies, but fence is too high and no footprints, etc. Thinking Chipmunks, maybe, so next step is to cover fencing with chicken wire and just in case it is birds, a screen lid. THe area is only 2x3. I don't know what an earwig looks like, but I will check it out. Thanks.

What kind of fence do you have? Around here I have seen bunnies and squirrels go thru the chain link fence. If you use chicken wire get the one with holes no larger than 1 inch.

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