We have lost a lot of beans this year. I’m not sure what has done the damage. There are black spots that look like bites. There is also kind of a rusty appearance to the skin of the beans. I see very few bean beetles so I don’t feel I can blame them. We had a terrible amount of huge green sheened beetles people here call June bugs and we have a horrible infestation of Japanese beetles this year. So I wonder about them. Also we’ve had so much rain in the last 2-3 weeks I wonder about a fungal thing with the rusty crust. If anyone has advice or knowledge of what’s going on let me know. I think alot of the beans although not great to eat green will still be good as a dry bean. I’m also hoping that they will keep putting out blossoms and we will get a good second run on them.
The featured pic is of an orange beetle with black spots that is especially attacking kale, cabbage, rutabaga and such. It’s doing a lot of leaf damage.
I’ll ask Mark or David next time I see one of them.
Hello! I talked to Mark and he led me to a few links that might help identify the kind of problem you’re having with your beans:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/edible-bean-disease-and-disorder-identification/
https://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/insects/mexican-bean-beetle