Green Beans turning Yellow

BeckieSueDalton 6/28/2015, 12:27 pm

Several of the pods on my Blue Lake bush green beans are turning yellow. Any thoughts as to why?

**Scorpio Rising** 6/28/2015, 12:40 pm

Have you been harvesting yet, BeckieSue?

BeckieSueDalton 6/28/2015, 12:42 pm

Yes, we've had about two pounds of beans from our plants so far.

**Scorpio Rising** 6/28/2015, 12:46 pm

Might just be a pod that has gotten old, overlooked and aging perhaps? Old pods do that. Pods also change shape, get distorted toward the end of the life of the plant, or if diligent harvesting isn't happening. If pods are left on, this tells the plant to stop putting more pods on and concentrate on setting seed. Possible?

BeckieSueDalton 6/28/2015, 12:52 pm

I check every morning and snip the beans that seem ready. The one in the picture wasn't harvested because it didn't look like it was finished developing the beans inside the pod. There are a couple like that, so yeah, maybe they just got old. I'll go ahead and snip those.

Most of the ones turning yellow, though, are newer beans about the length of a toothpick and no bean bumps and with the flower still on the tip of it. Should I go ahead and snip those, too, with the hope the plants will make more beans, or does this signify that the bush beans are through producing?

**Scorpio Rising** 6/28/2015, 1:49 pm

BeckieSueDalton wrote:Most of the ones turning yellow, though, are newer beans about the length of a toothpick and no bean bumps and with the flower still on the tip of it. Should I go ahead and snip those, too, with the hope the plants will make more beans, or does this signify that the bush beans are through producing?

Could be....let's see what the other SFGers think!

**sanderson** 6/28/2015, 2:06 pm

I'm not a bean expert. Sometime one of the beans seems to only have one or two seeds but I still pick and eat them when they are ready. Right now, my beans have slowed down but there are new green leaves so I figure they are taking a break during the heat wave of 100+. I also battle spider mites in the heat waves but spraying with neem and water from the hose helps with the mites. (I spray at sundown to avoid killing the bees) If a pod escapes proper harvesting, I let it go ahead and dry out for the seeds. Why yours are tiny toothpicks, I don't know. Hope someone from your area can explain if this is just a seasonal event and whether they pick back up later.

Marc Iverson 6/28/2015, 2:09 pm

Excessive heat? Uneven watering? Uneven watering can produce beans that curl like that. I'm hoping it's not a disease process.

CapeCoddess 6/28/2015, 4:31 pm

Far as I know Blue Lakes will give you approximately 1 flush harvest period and then start to peter out. I've seen them pick up again later on and produce a second sparse harvest. Whether it's worth it to wait or not is up to the individual growing them. Some varieties of bush beans will continue producing for quite a while. I'm trying out some Landreth bush beans this year because they are supposed to produce for a longer period. We'll see

CC

**camprn** 6/28/2015, 5:01 pm

That one looks like poor pollination. How many of them are like that?

**Scorpio Rising** 6/28/2015, 5:19 pm

I have better luck with Kentucky Wonder, but I do pole beans exclusively. I have grown a purple variety, but can't remember the variety. I grew a wax bush bean once, but it was just OK.

Sounds like maybe your plant has hit the wall. I know, here, once the pods get weird shapes, it is all over.

momvet 6/28/2015, 7:13 pm

sanderson wrote:I'm not a bean expert. Sometime one of the beans seems to only have one or two seeds but I still pick and eat them when they are ready. Right now, my beans have slowed down but there are new green leaves so I figure they are taking a break during the heat wave of 100+. I also battle spider mites in the heat waves but spraying with neem and water from the hose helps with the mites. (I spray at sundown to avoid killing the bees) If a pod escapes proper harvesting, I let it go ahead and dry out for the seeds. Why yours are tiny toothpicks, I don't know. Hope someone from your area can explain if this is just a seasonal event and whether they pick back up later.

I have had great success with my bush beans in my SFG beds. Not so much with the pole beans in containers (I pulled the first ones out and am trying again). I also planted a few pole beans around my corn and they look OK. It is HOT here (and humid which is unusual). Main question - I have not used anything on my plants that I considered toxic or dangerous to bees. Is Neem OK? I have neem oil (which I haven't used) and a commercial organic spray with neem that I have. My biggest problem after the babies got eaten is ants. I have tons of bees around (they loved the nasturtiums, cosmos, and my flowering thyme) but the last thing I want to do is kill them.

BeckieSueDalton 6/28/2015, 7:42 pm

At this point, about half of the pods on our bushes look like that.

After reading everyone's thoughts and chatting it over with The Boy, we've decided to just go ahead and harvest what we can from the bushes, pull them up, pick up a packet of pole beans, and do two-week sows for the rest of the summer.

As for Momvets question about Neem Oil, I'm not sure, but I've seen it talked about positively for that use in other threads here and on the garden reference websites I've read to better understand pests and diseases.

**Scorpio Rising** 6/28/2015, 10:07 pm

According to the experts, neem is not OK for bees. It may have something to do with timing....like early might not be good....

**sanderson** 6/29/2015, 12:37 am

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/neemgen.html

Neem is a toxin. Use it safely. Bees, frogs, fish and cats are susceptible to neem poisoning.

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