What is happening to my beans?

13 years ago

This bed is 10 feet long, one half of the back are these green beans, the other half are purple hull peas. As you can see from the pics, the beans are not very dark green, and the lower leaves are yellowing or already yellow. They are still climbing, but slowly now it seems. The peas just beside them(not pictured) are a dark lush green, no yellowing or anything.

The ground is wet not from all the rain we got yesterday, but otherwise the top of the soil was dry, but down around the roots they were just moist. The roots look good and white, no nodules and no browning that I could see.

I suck at guessing if something is over or under watered, but I don't think it is either of those this time. A deficiency of some sort maybe? Any other ideas?

Thanks

Wes

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Comments (12)

User
13 years ago
Wes,

Your beds are moist and fertile, high in nitrogen? If I were a betting man I would say you are low in sulphur. If you don't have any sulphur try adding a couple match heads to the soil around the plant and see if it corrects it. I get it in my garden also as the rabbit manure and high levels of organics make the sulphur less available or less abundant...really not sure how all that works.
WesN
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks BR, I will try that. Should it take a few days or longer before I see a change?
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User
13 years ago
It should not take very long but the change can be gradual of course.
tomncath
13 years ago
Way to wet! Beans/peas definitely DON'T like wet feet in a raised bed or containers.... Don't judge the moisture by the top 3 inches of mix, they don't drink much...don't water UNTIL the leaves start to wilt.

Tom
WesN
Original Author
13 years ago
I got 2.5 inches of rain yesterday, that is why they look so wet. I have no control over mother nature. :)
gardengimp
13 years ago
Wes, what kind of soil is in those beds?

~dianne
WesN
Original Author
13 years ago
The top 4 inches or so are a mixture of vermiculite, composts and peat, under that for about 8 inches or so is "potting soil" I moved in bulk from a landscaping place, under that is just the ground. Why do you ask?
tomncath
13 years ago
...under that for about 8 inches or so is "potting soil" I moved in bulk from a landscaping place....

Uh oh, unequal soil drainage/moisture retention....
WesN
Original Author
13 years ago
I can see how it would be unequal soil drainage, but it has got to be better than just the plain sand I have in my backyard without the beds.
gardengimp
13 years ago
There are a whole lot of people who know more than I do, so please take what I say as from a preschooler :)

Basically, your soil is not draining fast enough. It is retaining too much water. If you dug down if front of your beans/peas you probably will find very shallow root systems and very wet conditions.

Is it possible you can dig out the soil in the front of the beds, mix it up and add something (for me it would be a sand/leaf mulch mixture) - Tom, Lou, Pat, Sylvia - what would you all think? Then as you are putting it back in rummage around and mix up the soil under the growing plants? Maybe start some more seed as back up in the new section?

I'm not sure, just thinking out loud. I also got a bunch of rain that day, and dug out some potatoes the next day. Much to my surprise, the soil was nice and crumbly - balling it up & squeezing did not result in water drops.

~dianne
WesN
Original Author
13 years ago
Ouch, this is disheartening to hear. All three of the beds I built are filled with the same stuff. I figured the bulk "potting soil" was going to work the best. The potting soil looks to just be topsoil with a good bit of pine bark mulch in it. It's too late to start over now, I have all the beds filled up with plants now. What can I do at the end of the summer to make the beds better? I have about 4 inches to spare at the top againn because of settling, what would you add to them to make them drain better?

How far down should I have to dig to discover moist earth? Surely the ground shouldn't just be dry all the way down right? Since all my beds are the same why isn't everything else experiencing these issues? Are the beans just not tolerant of wet feet at all?

Thanks for the help with my ignorance. :)

Wes
whgille
13 years ago
Wes

My beds are originally made lasagna style, newspaper, cardboard, hay, peat, potting soil, black cow and anything else I had at the moment. It all decomposes eventually, one product I will not use is mushroom compost, but that is only me it might work for others.

We should all be more questioning consumers, when you went to get the soil if they did not tell what was in it, it was time to ask the questions, that is important.

Any well composted organic materials are good for the raised beds, now with all the rain that we are having, none of us need to add water and the soil is going to be wet, some crops will like it and others not. Rainy weather also brings out the fungal diseases.

Sometimes it is also the variety that do well or not for us, I usually plant an assortment and see what produces the best and the flavor that I like.

Pole beans in my garden, I have about 6 varieties growing and I can see the difference between all of them.

Silvia

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