Help, I killed my beans

MeliB 7/8/2021, 4:31 am

Help, I killed my beans,
hi everyone, I’m hoping someone can help me. Something with eating my green bean plants and I was told to spray them with a mixture of water and Dawn dish soap. I did and my leaves all turned brown. I think, that I sun burned them.
Is there a way that I can fix this? Or do I have to pull out the plants and start over. Thanks very much for any help I can get

**Scorpio Rising** 7/8/2021, 7:05 am

Hi Meli,

That’s a pretty harsh mixture! Are all the leaves affected? Can you take pictures?

There are a bunch of recipes on this site for pest control, use the SEARCH box in the upper left hand corner. That being said, I believe you would have time to replant. Pics would really help us though!

OhioGardener 7/8/2021, 7:44 am

Sorry to hear that, Meli! As SR said, that is a pretty harsh spray to put on the plants, and it will plug their pores so that they cannot breath. One should never, never use Dawn detergent for a plant spray. You will find a lot of articles and recipes for soap spray on plants, but Dawn is an anti-bacterial detergent, and not a soap. For plants, use a pure soap such as Castile.

If you sprayed that on in the heat of the day, the sun would have "burned" the leaves with sun magnifying through the water. However, the plants may not be lost yet, the plants may be able send up new shoots from lower on the stalk and start growing again. If you have not already, spray the plants with just water early in the morning or late evening to wash the detergent off the plants.

MeliB 7/8/2021, 9:12 am

I will send pics thanks for your help

MeliB 7/8/2021, 12:27 pm

I can’t seem to upload a photo

**sanderson** 7/9/2021, 2:00 am

The plants may not be fatally affected. I have had spider mite damage where I burned the leaves with Neem oil and water solution. Surprisingly, the plants sent out lateral vines at the leaf/stem joints.

Castile soap and water is better for plants. I like Dr. Bronner's Liquid peppermint soap.

https://shop.drbronner.com/collections/all/products/peppermint-pure-castile-liquid-soap

Yardslave 7/9/2021, 6:54 pm

Dawn is a strong detergent that works great on oil soaked waterfowl, but as you witnessed, can desiccate plants as well as kill insects. Castile soaps are made from vegetable oils that suffocate bugs, and when applied in the evening can cause the wet bugs to die from exposure to cold temps.

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