I’ve been growing pole beans and bush beans for as long as I can remember. They’re so productive and we use them a lot in cooking. But I’ve encountered some weird bean problems that I thought you might be interested to learn about.
The great news is that both types are beans are very easy to grow. Give them some sunshine and regular water and they’re happy as can be. And be sure to provide pole beans with at least 6′-tall supports.
This year, I’m growing ‘Fortex’, my tried-and-true pole bean. And for the first time, I’m also growing ‘Yellow Monte Gusto’ (pole) and ‘Red Swan’ (bush) varieties. We are keeping the harvests from the two pole beans. But we’re donating all of the bush beans to our local food bank.
It’s been a good year for beans but I’ve encountered a few things that are the reason for this post. Some of the issues are ones I’ve seen in the past as well. But no matter what, my goal is to help you understand what causes them.
Holes in the bean pods
Take a close look at this photo. You’ll notice that “something” has chewed holes into both pods. What the heck?! I don’t recall seeing holes like these in past garden seasons. It’s only happened to just a few pods this year, so at least it’s not a widespread problem. I kept looking for the culprit(s) but couldn’t find anything. Last week, I caught a small green worm in the act. After doing some research, I’m pretty sure it was a Lycaenid bean pod borer.
This definitely makes me a bit nervous. One of the educational sites I visited is University of California Integrated Pest Management. They indicated that their natural enemies tend to keep the borers in check. They also said Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or Spinosad are effective on the larval stage. Both of those are organic products. I will keep you posted on this but am hopeful that predatory insects have been handling this for me! By the way, the adult stage is a tiny butterfly. I looked at photos of them but don’t think I’ve ever seen them.
Here’s my photo of the Lycaenid bean pod borer. Sorry about the lousy quality but it was challenging to photograph! If you do a web search on the name of the borer, you’ll see better photographs. But my photo definitely matches the appearance of the ones on the web. The back of the caterpillar has several ridges on it.
Hollow pods
Have you ever been picking beans and come across hollow pods? This is usually due to hot temperatures and not enough moisture in the soil. I tend to come across a few hollow pods later in the season, which certainly makes sense. Be sure to increase the amount of water you give your plants as the temperatures heat up each summer.
A lot of folks have asked me about this bean problem over the years.
Curlicue bean pods
There are actually 2 instances of curling bean pods that I’ve encountered. Just like with hollow pods, both are caused by insufficient watering and hotter temperatures. Remember that hot weather really stresses the plants and adjust your watering schedule as needed. It’s also a good idea to place a mulch on the soil surface to help keep the moisture in it.
Look at the two pods on the left. I’ve never seen pods this curly! But I’m very familiar with what I call “fish hook beans.” Those are the two pods on the right and it’s definitely a late-season issue. This bean problem is very common.
Best time to harvest your beans so they’re tender
The photo of several bean pods at the top of this post’s text is purely for illustration purposes. You want to pick the bean pods while they are nice and tender, but as large as possible. That requires a bit of practice and testing! In my photo, the two bean pods on the left are ideal sizes. When the pods feel thick and you can see the seeds are enlarged, that’s a bit too late to pick. The beans will have varying degrees of toughness. Those are illustrated with the three pods on the right.
While it’s nice to save bean seeds by leaving them on the vines, I recommend doing that a bit later in the season. That’s because once you let a fair amount of pods go to seed, the plants tend to shut down pod production. So you’ll need to play with the timing a bit.
Check out my bean-growing guide!
OK, enough about weird bean problems! Did you know that I have a special Grow Vegetables guide on this website? It is totally free and packed with helpful tips. And you’ll definitely want to check out my How to Grow Beans page.