climbing French bean dying

[littlemoney]

My climbing French beans Blue Lake are dying. The leaves start to go yellow between the veins, the all yellow, then brown and crisp. They have been watered. What has happened.

[burnie]

I'm growing some and have had a few leaves die back, but green higher up and are flowering, they seem to be hungry plants, mine get a weekly liquid feed.

[ameno]

If it's just the lowest few leaves and the rest are green and healthy then I wouldn't worry. The leaves don't last forever; the old ones die off.

If the whole plant is dying, it'll be root damage of some sort, likely either a root rot or something is eating the roots.

[Peteyd]

Something very similar is happening to one of my "Firestorm" runner bean plants. Most of the plants are fine apart from one which, in the past weeks seems to have just died off. It's not the end of the world as i have plenty of others that are producing, just more of a shame really.

[littlemoney]

Unfortunately it's not just one plant, over half are in the same condition.

[peanut]

Could you post a pic?

[littlemoney]

[Snadger]

I would hazard a guess that its either water shortage or fertiliser scorch? I know you say that they have had plenty of water but judging by the lawn behind them, maybe not enough? I may be wrong, but that's my two penneth.

[ameno]

I would hazard a guess that its either water shortage or fertiliser scorch? I know you say that they have had plenty of water but judging by the lawn behind them, maybe not enough? I may be wrong, but that's my two penneth.

I can see a drip hose feeding the plants, and the ground looks pretty damp, so I doubt it's water shortage.
Also, in terms of survival of the plant, beans are actually pretty drought tolerant (obviously if you actually want a good crop it's another matter), so you'd need a pretty extended period of drought to kill them like this.
If anything, too much water is more likely, although even that doesn't seem to probably in high summer, unless the soil is very poorly drained.

I think it's worth digging up the most dead of the plants and examining the stem near the ground and the roots.

[Jungle Jane]

I think it’s lack of water with brown crispy leaves. Is there a dripper there,I can’t see one,just the frame? I’d use a liquid feed like seaweed or nettle,to help the leaves/plants recover. Cut down the brown growth,could you sow a few more direct?

[ameno]

I think it’s lack of water with brown crispy leaves. Is there a dripper there,I can’t see one,just the frame? I’d use a liquid feed like seaweed or nettle,to help the leaves/plants recover. Cut down the brown growth,could you sow a few more direct?

Look by the bean poles. Both sides, in line with the poles, there is a black drip hose. You can see where the soil is damp by the colour, too, compared to the paler soil nearer the path.

Also, lack of water to the leaves doesn't necessarily mean lack of water at the roots. All it means is that the roots are unable to give the plant enough water.That could be due to dry soil, but it could also be due to root damage caused by waterlogging, root infection, or something eating the roots.
Given the drip hose and the fact that beans are usually very drought-tolerant, I strongly suspect root damage of some sort.

[BeatriceCallan]

I don't think it's a watering problem. It's dying from the roots really. The reason can be in something that brings damage. Look carefully at soil and roots. You can find there some insects. A plant to near or plant pest could cause this problem also. If you see that soil is lax but you don't see the reason why dig a bit up and see how does it look from inside. If it's not watered enough, you will understand it really. Hope you won't have such problems next year.

[Jeremy424]

My French beans have similar problems and are now dieing prematurely. This has been the first year out of the past 10 that I have experienced what you have. I couldn't diagnose the problem precisely but I think it is:

1. Aphids transmitting a virus (aphids were horendous this year and when hardening off the beans their leaves started curling despite rubbing them off. They also had a yellowish tint which I didn't think was healthy.)
2. Root damage (couldn't see any obvious insect damage but our garden is used by foxes and they do trample almost everything and rub against things to mark scent)

I noticed that I had far fewer leaves on my beans than every other year. The cane is usually almost completely covered.

We had that seesaw in the weather a while ago when night temps dropped quite low. Could be something weather related as we have had extremes in temps.

[Dorothyrouse]

Some of mine like this also, have been well watered and fed, but I think temperatures of over 30 deg, is just too much and they actually just got ‘frazzled’! I’ve removed the burnt crispy leaves and hope the plant will continue to grow

[littlemoney]

Dug up 4 plants yesterday, the roots pulled out easily. I think something must have attacked the roots. They had been growing very well and I was giving away lots and they were growing taller than the bean poles. What caused it I don't know.

Thanks for all the help and advice.