Green Bean carnage....

Hi Follow Sufferers.

So this is the deal. The green beans are starting to sprout. Just as soon as the first two leaves grow, something comes and eats it?    What is doing this and how do I control it?

Thanks
Bart

Hi Bart. In my garden I've seen 2 types of critters behave with such bad manners.... Chipmunks and Rabbits.

Bart wrote:Hi Follow Sufferers.

So this is the deal. The green beans are starting to sprout. Just as soon as the first two leaves grow, something comes and eats it?    What is doing this and how do I control it?

Thanks
Bart

Hi Bart.  I feel your pain.  Sounds like it may be another case of pill (sow) bugs.  They love green bean sprouts and usually get them right at hello.  If there are any at all in your green bean bed, they are a likely suspect.  You might be able to catch them red-handed if you go out at night with your flashlight.  If so, get some Sluggo Plus.

I have chicken wire fencing around the garden. So I don't think it's Chipmunks or Rabbits. So perhaps it's Pill Bugs. What is Sluggo Plus and where do you find it?

Thanks
Bart

Here's the product info, Bart.

Sluggo and Sluggo Plus product info

I found it at the local garden center.

There seems to be some concern that it can kill bees. Has that been your experience?

Would Diatomaceous Earth keep the bugs at bay?

Thanks
Bart

It may, but from what I've read, DT can also be toxic to bees if they get into it. In my opinion, SP, when applied according to directions on the label, will not affect bees, since it is applied in locations they are not generally attracted to. The pill bugs are most definitely attracted to it. I have pretty good (and increasing) bee traffic in my garden, and I have yet to see them around anything but yellow or white blossoms, or water.

Thanks for the info. I think I'll go to the store and get some....

Bart

Hope I'm not committing a "forum foul" here, but the topic already started seemed to be the perfect heading for my question.  Got something getting one batch of my beans, I THINK mine is fungal and I think the beans will survive and still produce, overall they still appear to be doing o.k., just something is affecting the leaves.  Few chew marks also, but appears to be more of an infection of sorts.  Patches of brown on the leaves,   
anybody know what causes this and/or what it is?  

Zmoore wrote:Hope I'm not committing a "forum foul" here, but the topic already started seemed to be the perfect heading for my question.  Got something getting one batch of my beans, I THINK mine is fungal and I think the beans will survive and still produce, overall they still appear to be doing o.k., just something is affecting the leaves.  Few chew marks also, but appears to be more of an infection of sorts.  Patches of brown on the leaves,   
anybody know what causes this and/or what it is? 

I'm going to suggest sunscald. Compare with pictures elsewhere on the web and here:
https://ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/hot07/7-12.html

I have the same thing going on in my garden.  The Dragon Tongue beans were the worst.  Almost all the first leaves were eventually affected.  So after the later healthier leaves started growing, I just cut one affected leaf off and then came back a few days later and cut the second leaf.  Some of the leaves that set on later also had this happen, but not nearly as bad as the first leaves.

Bart wrote:There seems to be some concern that it can kill bees. Has that been your experience?

Thanks
Bart

OMG! I had no idea! It's always something with these things...

CC

Sun scold or slugs?

Green beans? Could be rabbits, but, I had a lot of rain. First night, lots of green bean leaves eaten, but rain washed away any tracks. Next  night, rain had quit, and the rest of the leaves eaten, not the stems, just the leaves. Also eaten were most of the leaves of my peppers. They left tracks this time, went over a 4 ft. fence. Deer. I've been told only way to get them to leave my garden alone. Well, hunting season doesn't start til Aug.

As far as the bees getting into the sluggo, plus type insect killer. The bees I get do not go down to the dirt, but, I only put a small bit, not as much as called for. Then get a handful of mulch, leaves, dried grass clippings, even paper, and put over the sluggo plus.  Sluggo plus is the only way I can get rid of the millipeds and pill bugs.

Jo

Diatomaceous Earth seems to be working for my beans....... Been a couple of days now, and the leaves are still there.

Something was eating my Morning Glory leaves. Put some of the DE on the leaves around the base and it worked. Now the leaves that are higher up the vines are getting munched. I swear, if it isn't one thing, it's another......

Bart

Zmoore wrote:Hope I'm not committing a "forum foul" here, but the topic already started seemed to be the perfect heading for my question.  Got something getting one batch of my beans, I THINK mine is fungal and I think the beans will survive and still produce, overall they still appear to be doing o.k., just something is affecting the leaves.  Few chew marks also, but appears to be more of an infection of sorts.  Patches of brown on the leaves,   
anybody know what causes this and/or what it is?  

Looks like sun scald. I have to keep my beans away from direct sunlight. Even an hour or less of intense sunlight scorches them and they look just like that. I use row cover fabric that lets in some light but blocks at least 15% of it. The decreased light has not affected the growth negatively in any way. Keep them protected and the new growth will be fine. The beans seem to especially vulnerable.

Sun Scald it is then !  Thanks for the input.
Wouldn't have guessed that, My area around my house is heavily wooded, I feel like I fight to try to get boxes where they will get enough sun.  Didn't think I had too much   I think the key may be type of plant (beans) just a little more susceptible and someone provided a link I read where big changes in humidity can lead to it and we certainly did have that here recently, went from cool and wet to hot like someone flipped a switch.  

Anyway, so far beans seem to be doing well overall.  So I'm not concerned about decimation of my "crop", just curious.  Interesting.

If it mostly lower leaves, sun scald. I scalded my melons' cotyledons, lost 2, me being too eager to get them into real sun from under lights. Last re-seeds did great, I was more patient. The latter re-seed overtook the scalded watermelon for leaf size.

They should be fine.

Dragon Tongues first picking.  With the photo, I can see clearer and can see the leaves aren't as healthy as I thought! I'll use the loupe tomorrow to see if the red spider mite has made an early appearance with the heat. 

Here are my first casualties of the season, and the WAR ON VEGI PREDATORS is on! These nasty creatures attacked on a dark cool night, took me by complete surprise. I met the first attack with a plastic wall to keep the villains at bay. My next step is to research the situation and rely on my advisors for the next plan of action.
So now that I have that bit of theatrics out of the way, I will show what I have, or don't have maybe, and what I did, then sit back and contemplate what I should do.
first four pics are three different varieties of beans, and one hardly gets touched (these are the purple beans that turn green when you cook them).








This next pic shows what I am doing right now, It has worked in the past, but when it doesn't work I lose it all quickly. Thank you for any advice or knowledge you share with me, I do appreciate it. Rock

BigDog, are you committed that the pest is what you think it is? What are the upside down milk jugs supposed to do? Against what?

Not sure, but ringing in:have you seen any beetles? They skeletonize plants horribly!

Rock, Have you peeked under the weed fabric to see what is lurking? slugs, sow bugs? Have you tried Sluggo Plus around the base of the plants? I have young grasshoppers but I can't imagine you have them at this time of the year. Maybe spray with Neem oil solution as you won't be spraying it directly on the beans.

A real quick reply for those that are asking.


The milk jugs "seem" and I type that with deep inhale, they seem to stop whatever is eating my beans. I may be howling at the moon crazy, but it has worked in the past, not all the time, but many times.

Don't know what is doing this, although I would think it is a smaller insect such as a pill bug. The problem is, I have never seen what is doing it to my beans. They just take the green leafy part of the leaf, leaving a skeleton of leaf veins (or what ever the little veiny looking things are, how's that for vocabulary) and the stem.  

I have not seen any beetles, or pill bugs, and I have looked for slugs (no slime trails either) but I have looked at 5PM, 8PM, 12Midnight, 3AM, and 6AM.

If you have any thoughts as to what is doing this, like it is a beetle of a certain type, PLEASE post your thoughts and a picture of it goes a long way for me (I am a visual kind of guy).

I am wondering if Sluggo kills pill bugs? I don't see snails. Thanks again, Rock

I think Sluggo at least controls pill bugs....and sometimes you just never find out who the culprit is! Try it, keep notes.

bigdogrock wrote:
I am wondering if Sluggo kills pill bugs? I don't see snails. Thanks again, Rock

Sluggo Plus is more for just grubs and a few other ground-dwelling pests. Sluggo Plus kills everything Sluggo Plus kills, plus pill bugs.