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Is this mosaic virus? rust?? on green beans? Is there a cure or should I pull them up? #877442

Asked July 16, 2024, 10:31 AM EDT

Beans are being grown in a 3' x 3' x 3' container on a second floor balcony. Plants started out healthy but developed brown spots, some leaves fell off. Plants blossomed heavily but produce few beans. At first I thought it was heat or drought but noticed almost every leaf has yellow or beige discoloration.

Baltimore City County Maryland

Expert Response

This looks like heavy spider mite feeding damage, which can be typical in situations of high heat, limited rainfall, and sites with reflected light or heat from hard surfaces, like in containers on a deck or balcony. Since you probably don't have access to a garden hose in that location, it may be hard to address for now, since no pesticide can be applied while temperatures are above 85 degrees. Once it cools, either insecticidal soap or horticultural oil might help to suppress mite populations, but could cause greater damage to the leaves that are already bearing heavy mite feeding; this will unfortunately be unavoidable.

Although high heat can affect a range of vegetable plants, its impacts tend to be more pronounced on crops like tomato and pepper; still, it can kill pollen, which can affect pollination rates, even for self-pollinating plants like beans. If the plants aren't receiving full sun (6-8 or more hours of direct light in summer), then harvest yield can also be reduced. Ironically, giving the plants a bit of afternoon shade can help to reduce their heat stress, but the trade-off could be less of a harvest.

Miri

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